Mississippi State Football has hired Kevin Barbay as their new offensive coordinator.
The Mississippi State football coaching staff has been looking for an offensive coordinator since the end of the ReliaQuest Bowl. Mississippi State Football Head Coach, Zach Arnett knows how important this hire is for the Bulldogs moving into the 2023 college football season.
The 2023 Mississippi State football team is returning some of the best talent they have had in many years. It almost reminds me of Joe Moorhead’s 2018 college football season with Nick Fitzgerald. That 2018 may have been the most talented Mississippi State football team ever, but the expectations were not met that season with coaching changes and everything else that played a part in losing four games that season.
At the beginning of January, the big rumor going around Twitter and the college football world was that Kendal Briles (Arkansas) would be Mississippi State’s offensive coordinator. That rumor was shut down after Arkansas football upped his salary, but it is known that Mississippi State football definitely interviewed and sought after the Arkansas football offensive coordinator, Kendal Briles.
Today, on January 12th, the rumors are no more, and Mississippi State has hired an offensive coordinator. Zach Arnett added Kevin Barbay to the Mississippi State football coaching staff as the offensive coordinator.
Mississippi State is finalizing a deal to hire App State OC Kevin Barbay as its next offensive coordinator, sources tell @SINow.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) January 12, 2023
Barbay, a Jim McElwain disciple, has captained offenses the last two years at App and Central Michigan that have ranked in the top 32 in the nation.
Kevin Barbay was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Appalachian State Mountaineers during the 2022 college football season. Barbay spent the 2020 and 2021 college football seasons with Central Michigan as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
This hire was essential and the most important hire of the offseason for Mississippi State football. Head Coach, Zach Arnett was promoted from the defensive coordinator, and he will continue to have a say in how the defense will run along with defensive coordinator, Matt Brock.
Expect the 2023 Mississippi State offense to look a little bit (maybe a lot) different than Mike Leach’s “Air Raid.”