100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 98 Days - No. 98, DL Ashun Shepphard

Jeff Lebby’s era of Mississippi State football has arrived.

The Bulldogs are on their third coach in as many years as Mike Leach’s tragic passing opened the door for defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s debut as head coach last year. That experiment failed before the year even ended for State and now it’s Lebby’s turn to take the wheel.

While there is always a risk in hiring first time head coaches, Lebby brings to Starkville an exciting offensive scheme that has been productive everywhere he’s been. The coach has also brought with him some swagger that has the fanbase ready to see what’s next.

Over the course of the next 100 days, we will take a look at Lebby’s roster and even some fun historical rewinds that will bring back memories for Dawg fans of all ages.

Today, we take a look at a player that’s hoping to make an impact on the defensive line.

100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 98 Days – No. 98, Jr. DE Ashun Shepphard

In year one of the Coleman Hutzler defense, the Bulldogs have a whole lot of question marks.

One of those questions is on the defensive line where veteran coach David Turner’s unit is going to have a whole lot of inexperience up front. There’s no reason to pencil in a struggle this year for the front, but there has been nothing proven to this point from the group that should bring some guaranteed optimism.

With that said, the Bulldogs do have some interesting prospects on the line this year. One of those is a late bloomer in Ashun Shepphard who comes to Starkville after two seasons at East Mississippi Community College.

Ranked No. 36th nationally by the ON3 Composite, the 6’3, 285-pound Shepphard was the No. 8 defensive lineman in JUCO last season and picked the Bulldogs over offers from West Virginia, NC State, Illinois and several others.

The Brandon native had a great high school career for the Bulldogs with 147 tackles and 5.0 sacks and helped his team to the state title game in 2021, but he flew under the radar for most colleges. He landed in Scooba and would have two productive seasons for coach Buddy Stephens with his production becoming greater and greater with each passing game.

After making just 12 tackles as a freshman, Shepphard would rise to second-team All-MACCC as a sophomore. His defense helped EMCC make it all the way to the National Championship game last season as he made 39 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, and his best work came in the playoffs as he became a force for the Lions.

This spring was big for Shepphard as he tries to work his way up the depth chart. Earning a starting spot is still something that will take some hard work but he’s in position for playing time this fall at defensive end. We’ll see where the fall takes him, but Shepphard has some potential to help out the Bulldog defense this year.