Moorhead?s staff

[Shake 'n Bake]

So it looks like Moorhead?s originally 9man staff will be:
QB Breiner
RB Huff
WR Joe Brady
TE Hud
OL Johnson
DL Baker
LB Tem Lukabu
CB Ambrose
S Shoop

Question is who is going to recruit players. Cohen made claims of us saving money to spend on the staff and we didn?t hire a single recruiter outside of Huff

[msstate7]

First I have heard of lukabu. Any good info on him?

[dawgday166]

http://www.49ers.com/team/coaches/Tem-Lukabu/2a9aa01f-3a7b-4963-842d-267805cd5db0?qwr=fullsite_temporary

[msstate7]

http://www.49ers.com/team/coaches/Tem-Lukabu/2a9aa01f-3a7b-4963-842d-267805cd5db0?qwr=fullsite_temporary

Moorhead hire or shoop? Is Ambrose Moorhead or shoop hire?

[BeardoMSU]

https://media.tenor.com/images/92a0f291b50984d073279075d293b752/tenor.gif

[dawgday166]

Moorhead hire or shoop? Is Ambrose Moorhead or shoop hire?

I imagine Moorhead on Iukabu. He worked as DC for 2 months at Fordham then jumped to NFL. There's nothing definite on his hire yet tho. Just some good sources on 247 are saying they have heard some things along these lines.

https://www.ninersnation.com/platform/amp/2016/3/4/11162404/chip-kelly-adds-tem-lukabu-vince-oghobaase-to-49ers-coaching-staff

I don't know who would be hiring Ambrose if he gets hired.

[MafiaDawg]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the amount of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

[ShotgunDawg]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the about of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

Pretty atrocious take here

[MafiaDawg]

None of these guys have any pre existing relationships with Mississippi high school programs. Well maybe hud does but it's been a while since he's hit the trail hard. We whiffed big time. It sucks.

[dawgday166]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the about of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

I'm a little disappointed in a couple maybe, but in wait and see mode. Trusting Moorhead for now. He should be able to win 8 next year regardless. I mean Mullen was constantly going through coordinators, position coaches etc.

Only 8 wins next year may be a little disappointing, but I always give a coach 3 years anyway when they first come in. I'm hoping the transition isn't too difficult for team and the team leadership will help out a lot too.

I think Moorhead will be much better recruiter than Dan. Figure Johnson will crush Hev at recruiting. I believe Hud is good at recruiting. Huff is supposed to be outstanding. Don't know how Shoop is. Then you're keeping all the off-the-field guys. I think recruiting will be ok ... probably can't be worse than it has been as a whole unless they're terrible.

ETA: I sorta believe Moorhead may have whiffed on a couple to 3 hires a good bit.

[gravedigger]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the amount of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

Astute observation. If you haven?t been proven to convince someone to come to an sec school it is obvious that you will be pitiful at it.

[MetEdDawg]

Ties are important but overrated. Kids these days like relationships and it isn’t always about where you came from. Can you talk to the kids? Can you make them see your vision for their future? What credibility do you have?

Take it from me as a high school teacher that has taught and currently teaches kids who are being recruited by P5 and G5 schools. They like relationships and people who know how to relate to them. They don’t care where you are from. They care about where you’ve been and there’s a difference. Our staff as it seems like it’s going to be established has HC experience, will have some NFL experience both playing and coaching, will have some MS guys on it, and will have guys that have extensive P5 experience.

What more do we want? Some of us want splashy names that look good on paper but may not have any substance. We don’t need personalities. We need people willing to sacrifice for the greater vision of MSU. I like what we’ve done so far and I believe Moorhead wouldn’t do anything that would hurt us.

[MafiaDawg]

Yes. It makes it a hell of a lot more risky. Again none of these guys have current relationships with Mississippi high schools. They've been all out of state either their whole life or at least the last few years. It would have been too smart and too easy to keep 2/3 guys on staff (DJ/ Tbuck) who could check those boxes. But we like to make it hard.

[Todd4State]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the amount of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

Huff was rated the fourth best recruiter in the country. He was at Vanderbilt and has hit the ground running. Hud certainly is proven in the SEC- and it would have been even better had he not left in 2011. Johnson and Ambrose are both from Mississippi and then Ambrose is from NOLA originally. Baker is with us and is a good recruiter and Shoop is a good recruiter as well who has been at Vandy and Tennessee.

I like the staff a lot.

[msstate7]

Yes. It makes it a hell of a lot more risky. Again none of these guys have current relationships with Mississippi high schools. They've been all out of state either their whole life or at least the last few years. It would have been too smart and too easy to keep 2/3 guys on staff (DJ/ Tbuck) who could check those boxes. But we like to make it hard.

Idk... I thought safety and TE performance was very disappointing this year and I thought we had some talent at each position

[dawgday166]

Yes. It makes it a hell of a lot more risky. Again none of these guys have current relationships with Mississippi high schools. They've been all out of state either their whole life or at least the last few years. It would have been too smart and too easy to keep 2/3 guys on staff (DJ/ Tbuck) who could check those boxes. But we like to make it hard.

I think you may be overemphasizing the Mississippi ties stuff. We have some guys on staff that have those.

I think Moorhead is going for extremely good coaches too. Not sure DJ & TBuck are that great as coaches. Our corners and safeties left something to be desired at times this year (too many big passing plays given up). And since TE plays such a role in passing game with Moorhead, DJ probably isn't a good fit there. And he doesn't have enough experience on OLine either, although I kinda would have preferred Moorhead had gotten someone with more experience there myself. We'll see though.

ETA: I would imagine JoMo has watched a good bit of film on us this past year, which is most likely the reasons they aren't being retained.

[Liverpooldawg]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the amount of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

We now have the view from Oxford, lol.

[Todd4State]

Yes. It makes it a hell of a lot more risky. Again none of these guys have current relationships with Mississippi high schools. They've been all out of state either their whole life or at least the last few years. It would have been too smart and too easy to keep 2/3 guys on staff (DJ/ Tbuck) who could check those boxes. But we like to make it hard.

Don't forget that we still have Peterson, Austin, Gibson, Bowen and whoever else I am forgetting as our recruiting machine as far as Mississippi goes. That is unchanged even though Dan has left and they have helped keep the class pretty much together despite Dan coming after them. In fact, we probably upgraded our connections by adding Hud.

This group probably has as many or more connections than Dan had as far as Mississippi goes. More importantly until proven otherwise we rid ourselves of all of the lazy recruiters.

[Todd4State]

I think you may be overemphasizing the Mississippi ties stuff. We have some guys on staff that have those.

I think Moorhead is going for extremely good coaches too. Not sure DJ & TBuck are that great as coaches. Our corners and safeties left something to be desired at times this year (too many big passing plays given up). And since TE plays such a role in passing game with Moorhead, DJ probably isn't a good fit there. And he doesn't have enough experience on OLine either, although I kinda would have preferred Moorhead had gotten someone with more experience there myself. We'll see though.

ETA: I would imagine JoMo has watched a good bit of film on us this past year, which is most likely the reasons they aren't being retained.

And I will add I would love to find a place for Looney as one of the recruiting gurus in the front office but I don't think he would do that if he can find another coaching position.

[RougeDawg]

Idk... I thought safety and TE performance was very disappointing this year and I thought we had some talent at each position

I think the meddler had a lot to do with why position groups and his teams underperformed.

[maroonmania]

Overall this staff is disappointing with the amount of money available. zero proven SEC recruiters. That's pitiful.

I'm OK with the staff but I guess I'm not really seeing the type hires that would require Moorhead to hold his salary down to pay them. Some of the bigger names (Shoop and Hud) don't have jobs right now and some of the others are not ones you would think that would draw major salaries given their experience level and the programs we pulled them from (like Duke and Boise St.). Now if we were pulling people like a Don Brown THEN it would make sense to move some of the HC pay over to an assistant.

[Todd4State]

On top of that, we're probably adding Scott Fountain as a special teams coach- has been at Auburn and is currently an analyst at Georgia and we're likely to keep Boniol so that upgrades our special teams as well. That's one of the good things about Hevesy leaving- we don't have to waste a spot on someone that can recruit solely because he can't or won't.

[Todd4State]

I think the meddler had a lot to do with why position groups and his teams underperformed.

If you look at recruiting, we've won most of the battles on the defensive side of the ball. Even when Ole Miss was offering money- Chris Jones, PJ Jones, Leo, Kobe, Willie Gay, Jamal Peters, Gerri Green, etc. when it comes to four star talent. On the offensive side of the ball we've done well at QB and RB but WR and o-line we have not done nearly as well with the in state battles there- Tobias Singleton, Brassell, AJ Brown, Rod Taylor, Aaron Morris, Patterson, Markell Pack among others. I have a feeling if we had better recruiters things would have been different. And I need to include guys that went out of state like Lashley, Kevin Norwood, Steen, Womack, Saahdiq Charles, maybe/probably Cole Smith. The only highly rated in state TE I can recall was Octavious Cooley and maybe Sammie Epps and we didn't get either one of them either.

[basedog]

Wait, some are complaining about a Staff that hasn’t signed a player, coached a game but yet the naysayers know way more than Joe Moorhead?
I think some of you guys need to wait and see what happens with this staff before jumping off the cliff.
Time will tell. At least give them a chance before judging.

[RougeDawg]

Wait, some are complaining about a Staff that hasn?t signed a player, coached a game but yet the naysayers know way more than Joe Moorhead?
I think some of you guys need to wait and see what happens with this staff before jumping off the cliff.
Time will tell. At least give them a chance before judging.

We have too many positives and too much momentum for the old school MS State fans to handle. They have to find something to bitch about and act like the sky is falling for comfort.

A portion of our fan base does not know how to win and act when we are winning. A large portion of our fan base is constantly waiting for the ?MSU crashes? of old and never allows a different tack record of recent success to influence current thought processes.

[Big4Dawg]

Watch out Mafia. If you disagree w/ anything Moorhead does, you'll get crucified.

Before any of the staff was hired, everyone here said "I like Moorhead, just hope he adds some SEC recruiters on the staff." Now that he literally didn't hire one, everyone is spinning this. This staff may work out greater but I'm not a fan of the Johnson, Lukabu, Brady, or Ambrose hires. The two assistant NFL coaches are really odd hires/fits to me. If you look at this staff compared to the staff the Pruitt is putting together, it's not close.

Pruitt's staff:
OC: Tyson Helton (USC QB Coach/Pass Game Coordinator, former WKU OC under Jeff Brohm)
DC: Kevin Sherrer (Georgia OLB Coach)
RB: Robert Gillespie
OL: Will Friend (Colorado State OC/OL Coach)
DL: Chris Rumph (Florida DL Coach)
DL: Tracy Rocker (Former Georgia/Auburn DL Coach)
DB: Terry Fair (Colorado State DB Coach)

Lance Thompson also joining the staff as something.

That's a hell of a staff w/ SEC experience.

[Todd4State]

Watch out Mafia. If you disagree w/ anything Moorhead does, you'll get crucified.

Before any of the staff was hired, everyone here said "I like Moorhead, just hope he adds some SEC recruiters on the staff." Now that he literally didn't hire one, everyone is spinning this. This staff may work out greater but I'm not a fan of the Johnson, Lakabu, Brady, or Ambrose hires. The two assistant NFL coaches are really odd hires/fits to me. If you look at this staff compared to the staff the Pruitt is putting together, it's not close.

Pruitt's staff:
OC: Tyson Helton (USC QB Coach/Pass Game Coordinator, former WKU OC under Jeff Brohm)
DC: Kevin Sherrer (Georgia OLB Coach)
RB: Robert Gillespie
OL: Will Friend (Colorado State OC/OL Coach)
DL: Chris Rumph (Florida DL Coach)
DL: Tracy Rocker (Former Georgia/Auburn DL Coach)
DB: Terry Fair (Colorado State DB Coach)

Lance Thompson also joining the staff as something.

That's a hell of a staff w/ SEC experience.

Since when did coaching in the NFL become a negative? Brady and Lakabu are young coaches who have been able to make it to that level at an early stage in their career and Lakabu was already tabbed to be a DC. Baker coached in the NFL and he has done well in recruiting. If I'm a recruit and my position coach has NFL experience I would consider that a bonus. We hired a DC that had dominating defenses at Vanderbilt and Penn State and Pruitt hired a guy that has Sun Belt experience as a DC- but you want that over what we got? Johnson and Ambrose are coaches that have ties to Mississippi and I've heard nothing but positive things about Johnson and his personality. I would imagine he would be a really good recruiter. Moorhead us also a better OC than the one that they picked up too.

Just because we didn't hire a bunch of Mississippi good ol boys doesn't mean we hired a bunch of guys that can't recruit.

[yjnkdawg]

So it looks like Moorhead?s originally 9man staff will be:
QB Breiner
RB Huff
WR Joe Brady
TE Hud
OL Johnson
DL Baker
LB Tem Lukabu
CB Ambrose
S Shoop

Question is who is going to recruit players. Cohen made claims of us saving money to spend on the staff and we didn?t hire a single recruiter outside of Huff


Well on your completed staff, the ones bolded are actually on the staff. Although the others could be hired, right now it is just message board talk. Baker is trending more in being kept, but there is nothing definite on that.

[yjnkdawg]

Wait, some are complaining about a Staff that hasn’t signed a player, coached a game but yet the naysayers know way more than Joe Moorhead?
I think some of you guys need to wait and see what happens with this staff before jumping off the cliff.
Time will tell. At least give them a chance before judging.


Some of the ones complaining here are also complaining on GP, and some of this so-called completed staff has not been confirmed. It's message board talk right now. I agree basedog.

[Dawgtini]

Ties are important but overrated. Kids these days like relationships and it isn’t always about where you came from. Can you talk to the kids? Can you make them see your vision for their future? What credibility do you have?

Take it from me as a high school teacher that has taught and currently teaches kids who are being recruited by P5 and G5 schools. They like relationships and people who know how to relate to them. They don’t care where you are from. They care about where you’ve been and there’s a difference. Our staff as it seems like it’s going to be established has HC experience, will have some NFL experience both playing and coaching, will have some MS guys on it, and will have guys that have extensive P5 experience.

What more do we want? Some of us want splashy names that look good on paper but may not have any substance. We don’t need personalities. We need people willing to sacrifice for the greater vision of MSU. I like what we’ve done so far and I believe Moorhead wouldn’t do anything that would hurt us.
+1 Dilly Dilly

[InTheIttaBenaHotSun]

If Looney doesn't stay on with us, I think he ends up reuniting with Campbell down at South AL.

[Todd4State]

If Looney doesn't stay on with us, I think he ends up reuniting with Campbell down at South AL.

That might end up being the best thing that ever happened to him long term. He can go there and be the o-line coach and the head coach there is a guy who has been an o-line coach for a long time including at MSU. If he does well there he might be able to come back and be our o-line coach one day.

[Cooterpoot]

Moorhead was an outside the box hire. There?s a big risk-reward factor. I?m not going to sit here and blow sunshine up your ass and I?m not going to get too caught up in the staff stuff. We whiffed on some of his top guys. Just have to see next season. Too late to worry about it now. But I don?t think this staff can possibly be a worse recruiting staff than what we had. All we really had was Mullen?s name as a QB coach and our local staff guys. I?m betting Mo Head will be way more willing to fire a lazy ass than Mullen too. I think we?ll be ok. I think TN will have an incredible recruiting staff though. That?s the only disappointment for me right now. I?m jealous of that staff. But I like our HC better.

[gravedigger]

Yes. It makes it a hell of a lot more risky. Again none of these guys have current relationships with Mississippi high schools. They've been all out of state either their whole life or at least the last few years. It would have been too smart and too easy to keep 2/3 guys on staff (DJ/ Tbuck) who could check those boxes. But we like to make it hard.

No, it makes it uncertain for you.

[maroonmania]

We whiffed on some of his top guys. Just have to see next season. Too late to worry about it now.

Which is quite disappointing given we had roughly 2 million more dollars set aside for assistants if needed this year than what we had last year. I say that based on the fact that Moorhead is taking roughly 2 million less in salary this year than what Mullen was going to cost. Probably even more like 2.5 million given we were apparently willing to go as high as 5.5 million to keep Mullen around.

[basedog]

We have too many positives and too much momentum for the old school MS State fans to handle. They have to find something to bitch about and act like the sky is falling for comfort.

A portion of our fan base does not know how to win and act when we are winning. A large portion of our fan base is constantly waiting for the ?MSU crashes? of old and never allows a different tack record of recent success to influence current thought processes.

I agree, I laugh when I read we "wiffed" on certain coaches, please post who actually got offered and declined?
Also I say bull on ONE needs or has to have Miss or Sec ties, if you can sale, coach, develop relationships and players I don't care where you are from. The Sec sells itself over every other conference in the country first off, Mississippi is a smal market for recruiting compared to our neighbors in the south. Mississippi players leave the State a lot.

As a ex Coach who recruited at one time and have done sales for many years, plus having so called ties means less than what some of you naysayers think. Loosen up up Francis on the new staff and time will tell, like RougeDawg has stated "act like a winner"! Snowflakes indeed we have Rouge!

[Cooterpoot]

Which is quite disappointing given we had roughly 2 million more dollars set aside for assistants if needed this year than what we had last year. I say that based on the fact that Moorhead is taking roughly 2 million less in salary this year than what Mullen was going to cost. Probably even more like 2.5 million given we were apparently willing to go as high as 5.5 million to keep Mullen around.

Cohen took a huge risk. I’m going to give them some time before I say I’m disappointed. These guys might be great. And I’ll say again- they can’t be worse than the recruiters we had. That’s a fact. I feel like Mo Head is putting a greater emphasis on coaching too. He seems to be bigger on the coaching side. Won’t be anymore 3 year blocking plans.

[basedog]

Cohen took a huge risk. I’m going to give them some time before I say I’m disappointed. These guys might be great. And I’ll say again- they can’t be worse than the recruiters we had. That’s a fact. I feel like Mo Head is putting a greater emphasis on coaching too. He seems to be bigger on the coaching side. Won’t be anymore 3 year blocking plans.

Having ex Head Coaches is huge, those guys can recruit and I'm betting they are a big upgrade from the previous staff.

Funny, ED folks bitched about Dan bringing in 2 and 3 star players, now they same ones are bitching about a staff that hasn't even coached or recruited much. Moorehead himself has secured what Dan had committed while Dan, and the two CC boys can't keep what they inherited, go figure.

Btw, Moorhead > Pruitt He has proven himself while Pruitt is really unknown plus he ain't even close to the salesman that Moorhead has shown to be!

[maroonmania]

Cohen took a huge risk. I’m going to give them some time before I say I’m disappointed. These guys might be great. And I’ll say again- they can’t be worse than the recruiters we had. That’s a fact. I feel like Mo Head is putting a greater emphasis on coaching too. He seems to be bigger on the coaching side. Won’t be anymore 3 year blocking plans.

Well its pretty well know that we whiffed on Brown for DC but I personally don't know where these other guys stack up on Moorhead's pecking order. I'm just saying IF he missed on most of his top guys then it is disappointing given our budget for assistant coaches was theoretically much bigger this year. And I agree that this staff should recruit as well or better than what we had.

[1bigdawg]

I really like the actual hires to date and am not going to complain about others until they happen, at least.

[smootness]

It should never be disappointing to us that we didn't pull Michigan's DC for the same job.

Is it disappointing we weren't able to get Saban as HC?

[basedog]

It should never be disappointing to us that we didn't pull Michigan's DC for the same job.

Is it disappointing we weren't able to get Saban as HC?

LOL, so true smootness!

[tcdog70]

I would rather have Coaches that Coach Mo feels good about than Coaches message board Heros feel good about. MOORHEAD knows who and what he wants, if He feels good about his Coaches then I will sit back and watch them before I declare the sky is falling.

[maroonmania]

It should never be disappointing to us that we didn't pull Michigan's DC for the same job.

Is it disappointing we weren't able to get Saban as HC?

Agreed, and I don't know any other specifics of guys we might have missed on. Maybe we didn't, but Moorhead hasn't hired any assistants yet that would demand a high pay level. I mean certainly nobody like Grantham did last year coming over from Louisville.

[BuckyIsAB****]

I'm a little disappointed in a couple maybe, but in wait and see mode. Trusting Moorhead for now. He should be able to win 8 next year regardless. I mean Mullen was constantly going through coordinators, position coaches etc.

Only 8 wins next year may be a little disappointing, but I always give a coach 3 years anyway when they first come in. I'm hoping the transition isn't too difficult for team and the team leadership will help out a lot too.

I think Moorhead will be much better recruiter than Dan. Figure Johnson will crush Hev at recruiting. I believe Hud is good at recruiting. Huff is supposed to be outstanding. Don't know how Shoop is. Then you're keeping all the off-the-field guys. I think recruiting will be ok ... probably can't be worse than it has been as a whole unless they're terrible.

ETA: I sorta believe Moorhead may have whiffed on a couple to 3 hires a good bit.

8 wins next year with the team we have would be extremely disappointing and would make me worry about Moorhead

[dawgday166]

8 wins next year with the team we have would be extremely disappointing and would make me worry about Moorhead

I'd be a little disappointed, but also realize it takes a little time for a new coach (see Kirby). I also believe we'd have had 10 at best with Don, and probably only 9. He'd screw up 1 to 2 games.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

I'd be a little disappointed, but also realize it takes a little time for a new coach (see Kirby). I also believe we'd have had 10 at best with Don, and probably only 9. He'd screw up 1 to 2 games.

Don would lose to Ole Miss, Auburn, BAMA and LSU next year if he was still at MSU...

[dawgday166]

Don would lose to Ole Miss, Auburn, BAMA and LSU next year if he was still at MSU...

Bama no doubt. LSU most likely (he wouldn't catch Aranda off-guard again). AU that might have been a 60-40 deal. They returning a lot on D, but lose 4 starters on Oline and it's in Vegas. OM probably due to flirting with new job opps (glad he took one this year).

I have moderate expectations with Moorhead next year, but figure he can probably win 8 at a minimum. TAM may be tougher due to Jimbo.

[Commercecomet24]

It should never be disappointing to us that we didn't pull Michigan's DC for the same job.

Is it disappointing we weren't able to get Saban as HC?

Right on!

[BuckyIsAB****]

Only hire Im truly worried about is the Lukabu guy from San Fran.

[Bothrops]

Moorhead was an outside the box hire. There?s a big risk-reward factor. I?m not going to sit here and blow sunshine up your ass and I?m not going to get too caught up in the staff stuff. We whiffed on some of his top guys. Just have to see next season. Too late to worry about it now. But I don?t think this staff can possibly be a worse recruiting staff than what we had. All we really had was Mullen?s name as a QB coach and our local staff guys. I?m betting Mo Head will be way more willing to fire a lazy ass than Mullen too. I think we?ll be ok. I think TN will have an incredible recruiting staff though. That?s the only disappointment for me right now. I?m jealous of that staff. But I like our HC better.

CJM alone will be a better recruiter than Mullen's regime. But it's not exactly easy to get coaches to come to Starkville because of the propaganda that's dished out, every year, about the place. Most folks these days prefer city life, and Starkville has a very rural feel to it. I like it fine myself, but for an outsider, it takes some getting used to, and others simply can't hack it.

Tennessee is going to continue to be a big recruiter. But if we can execute our offense like CJM says, we are going to win at least as much as Mullen did, regardless.

[Bully13]

Outside influence will be a breath of fresh air. nothing wrong with that. new blood and shit.

I would put my asparagus up against anyone's. I broil mine. lime juice, tony's, garlic powder, & olive oil. after I roll it around in that, I sprinkle it with parmesan cheese.

2 minutes later, it's ready and you take it to the H.S. coach and ask if Pruitt knows what it is. The commit to us happens the next day.

[maroonmania]

CJM alone will be a better recruiter than Mullen's regime.

This I feel confident in. One thing we know, rural location or not, we aren't having much trouble reeling in high end talent in basketball and baseball with coaches that actually like recruiting and are competent at it. I feel like we will now finally have that in football.

[preachermatt83]

Ambrose is a really good coach and he recruits hard. HS Players love him.

[Cary Hudson's little bro]

Hope we keep Niel Stopczynski too!