Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach tweeted out a meme about old married couples, and some turned that into a debate on racism, which didn’t need to happen. A professor and a few players were upset about the tweet including Mississippi State defensive lineman Fabien Lovett, who entered the transfer portal on Friday.
Leach tweeted out a meme with a caption that said, “After 2 weeks of quarantine with her husband, Gertrude decided to knit him a scarf..” and the photo shows an old woman knitting a noose.
Fabien responded Leach’s now-deleted tweet with, “Wtf” and retweeted comments that went after Leach.
I have entered the transfer portal with 3 years left of eligibility.
— ? (@fabo_54) April 3, 2020
In an article in the Clarion Ledger, Lovett’s father questioned Leach’s leadership and said there was no discussion of a transfer until the meme was sent out.
So what is the future for Lovett?
Lovett was a 3-star recruit according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and he started all 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He finished with 19 total tackles with 2.5 for loss and a sack. He should have plenty of teams going after him.
According to Jon Rothstein, the NCAA will probably not alter the rule to allow one-time transfers without missing a year till at least the 2021 season, but we’ve seen similar situations like this before.
We don’t know all the facts, but it sure looks like Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields was allowed to transfer from Georgia without penalty because a Bulldogs’ baseball player used a bad word talking about Fields. Will Lovett get the same treatment?
Mississippi State knew what they were getting with Mike Leach and despite no intention of racism, opposing coaches will definitely use this to negatively recruit against the Bulldogs.
Photo: Mississippi State University Athletic Communications
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