Mississippi State football coaching search: 3 underwhelming hires MSU could make

Please, don’t make a conventional Mississippi State football decision

This isn’t a coach, but rather a line of logic that some are following right now.

There are some who want Mississippi State to make a conventional Mississippi State hire. And we really need to remember what conventional Mississippi State football results look like. Because historically, this program does not succeed at a high level.

Let’s focus on some recent, conventional decisions.

Joe Moorhead, a blue collar coach from Pennsylvania, was picked and it was thought he was in the same mold as Dan Mullen (a young offensive coordinator from a place with colder weather who seemed to be innovating at a college football blue blood). I think Moorhead was a good hire in theory, it just didn’t work out. But honestly, in some ways, it was a bit of a safe hire for the Bulldogs to make.

Zach Arnett, a blue collar defensive coordinator who was thought to be able to restore Mississippi State’s running game and emphasis on being tough while also somehow simultaneously building upon what Mike Leach established (despite ditching everything that made the offense work), assembled former Mullen and Moorhead folks around him. I think Arnett could have been a successful head coach if he recruited well or if he gradually transitioned from the Air Raid. But that didn’t happen.

And it didn’t work with either of those coaches.

Mississippi State can choose to be bold and move in a new direction. Bring new life to this program. Find ways to change things up. The Bulldogs have a massive amount of NIL momentum right now and are about to go into a new era of the SEC.

We don’t have to accept conventional MSU football results. We can, and should, think bigger than that.

Zac Selmon was an outside-the-box sort of hire for the Bulldogs at athletics director. Hopefully, given his connections and the fact that MSU is financially committed to competing in the SEC, the Bulldogs can find an inspiring hire here.

Dan Mullen was an outside-the-box hire when he was picked up. Mike Leach was out of nowhere and definitely an outside-the-box sort of hire by John Cohen. Here’s to hoping for something intriguing and fun in this coaching search.