I don't do it often, but seeing as they made the College World Series in Omaha, now might be the best time to bring back a story that I witnessed happen along the social media circuits.
John Cohen has lead the Bulldog club for 5 years now and has accomplished with his own recruiting classes a trip to Omaha. For a while, every Bulldog fan wanted him gone because they had not seen results his first few years.
I remember his second year, Ole Miss traveled to Starkville for their regular season series. The second and third games were going to be televised regionally. In both games, the fan support was extremely bare to the point Rebel fans outnumbered Bulldog fans.
During the third game (which was an Ole Miss win that finished the Rebels' last sweep of the Bulldogs), a Bulldog fan - which I won't name - came out and wanted Cohen fired for the lack of fan support and the lack of success he has had in two years at MSU. At the time, he was 15-44 in the SEC and 52-62 overall.
Cohen was the head coach at Kentucky before coming over to Starkville and led those teams to two NCAA Regionals - unheard of before hand at Big Blue Nation - and led the Wildcats to an SEC Regular Season Crown.
So when I tried to tell this fan that they should give him more time that it took until his third year at Kentucky to make them winners, of course the fan tried to out-talk me in the situation being that I was simply an Ole Miss supporter. I eventually got across that Cohen should be given two years before getting the pink slip. The Bulldogs made a Super Regional next year and within 1 game of Omaha which was quite the accomplishment considering they were a regional 3-seed that year.
Look where we are now. Cohen has led the Bulldogs to the College World Series and those same fans that wanted him fired are tooting their own horn and letting the Rebel fans know about it.
I wish I could tell him 'I told you so', but for one he wouldn't listen to that today and argue about it and two in that I have blocked this fan from Twitter and Facebook for waking me at 3 AM last September and then later on in November during my Thanksgiving Vacation getting me stuck in a movie theater I wrote about back then bashing about Ole Miss which he continues to lie about today.
Besides the point, Cohen is leading the Bulldog club to where it was in the 80s and 90s when Polk ran things even under the new bats and doing so in the SEC. In the regular season, he has been flirting with a .500 record - but just ask Vanderbilt sitting at home right now if that is what it takes. Cohen is still 27 games below .500 in regular season SEC play in his 5 years, but he has been to three NCAA Regionals in the last 3 years (hosted one), 2 Super Regionals (hosted none), and his first trip to Omaha as a head coach.
There is no better feeling than being right about something at your rival school, even if it is a good thing for them. Cohen is the right coach for the job there. This group will certainly see more success in the future, maybe not over Ole Miss (as Ole Miss won the series from MSU this year and should have swept them), but in postseason play - where it is there that you are loved or hated in every sport (see Ole Miss Men's Basketball 2013 Edition). Very well could see more host spots in Starkville where seemingly the fans love them when successful (who wouldn't?).
Just one thing: Support your team, celebrate, THEN rub it in our faces days later. State fans (and players I've found out) seem to not know to not bring Ole Miss' fans' feet into their celebrations when Ole Miss isn't even involved in their accomplishment.