Either Mississippi State is moving to a 3-4 base defense (three linemen + four linebackers) or we're putting some really weird pieces together.

The circumstantial evidence points toward the conclusion that Mississippi State's football team is transitioning to a 3-4 defensive scheme. The significant turnover MSU has experienced on the defensive coaching staff was nerve wracking, but a scheme change could be a good, positive explanation for coaches leaving.

Every defensive coach State has hired over the past few months comes from a team that ran a base 3-4 defense in 2015 with the exception of Maurice Linguist. However, even Linguist worked in a 3-4 defense as recently as 2013 while coaching the secondary at the University of Buffalo.

Starting with the obvious, Peter Sirmon, the Bulldogs new Defensive Coordinator, comes from USC. Sirmon worked in a 3-4 defense for two years at Southern California, and previously worked in the 3-4 scheme at Washington and UT.

Around the same time we learned that Peter Sirmon would be State's DC, we found out that Terrell Buckley would be State's cornerbacks coach. Buckley played in a few 3-4 defenses in the league and comes from Louisville, which ran a 3-4 scheme in 2015.

Prediction?Pain. posted an article on MSU's new defensive line coach Brian Baker yesterday, outlining his previous coaching stops. While Baker has made several stops in his coaching career, he has spent the last five years or so in various 3-4 schemes.

Since 2009, MSU has used a base 4-3 defense (four linemen and three linebackers). But, as more and more offenses use hurry-up, tempo, and the spread, linemen become tired and less effective. A 3-4 defense allows for more athletic/fast players to be on the field defensively. This helps a defense keep up with the tempo of the current college game. Several folks have also mentioned the logjam Mississippi State seems to have at linebacker, so having four linebackers on the field as the base defense means having more of our best players on the field at the same time.

Critics of the recent defenses under Dan Mullen's tenure should be happy that Mullen is willing to try something different. Currently the only team to use a 3-4 base in the SEC West is Alabama (many expected LSU to eventually transition to a 3-4 under John Chavis, but now he's at A&M). Mullen really is stepping out of the norm here if his intention is to move to the 3-4. Bravo Dan, bravo.

The worrying thing about switching defensive schemes is the learning curve. Will we have to sit through a year of growing pains? With so many new coaches, how long will it take for the staff to jell? How will our established players adapt to new roles? We already know we'll be going through a lot of change on the offensive side of the ball without having Dak Prescott next season. The coaching staff has 6 months to put everything together.