My coaching staff thoughts
Wow! It seems like a couple of days ago people were freaking out because no one was hired. Well, Coach Moorhead put an end to that. And I like what I'm seeing and hearing.
HC/OC- Coach Moorhead. We landed one of the top offensive minds in the college game who also has some head coaching experience at the FCS level. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does and maybe to a more "smarter" and "analytical" approach to MSU football. I don't believe that there are any analytics that would suggest that running Brandon Holloway up the middle ad nauseum is a good idea. Moorhead is an upgrade in recruiting as well and I think he is going to do really well and help us take that next step to going from an 8 win team to a 10 win team.
QB- Andrew Breiner. I think he is going to be at least as good as Elliott. It's kind of a necessary hire in a way because Moorhead needs someone tthat can manage the offense when he is doing other head coaching things. Breiner helped him develop his offense and was thought well enough to get the head coaching job at Fordham.
RB- Charles Huff. Yes, he was at Penn State but he is also rated as the fourth best recruiter in the country by 247 sports. He has coached in the NFL and also at Vanderbilt and is from Tennessee. He's the guy that coached Saquon Barkley. Upgrade over Knox.
WR- Joe Brady (rumored). Getting someone from the NFL who was the Saints offensive assistant this year is a good move as well. If there is one thing Ole Miss loves it's an in state 4-5 star WR and they go all out to get them. A guy with NFL coaching experience to sell could benefit us in that arms race. Upgrade over Gonzalez.
TE- Hud. I LOVE IT! Tons of connections in Mississippi including some of the more difficult places for us to recruit. If Hud stays I don't think the Army AA Game debacle of 2011 happens. He's also a pretty good coach- the main reason he started to lose was because ULL was on probation because of David Saunders. It's also probably not a coincidence that Dan's offense became pretty boring after Hud left. I think he is going to bring that creativity back to MSU as well. I do feel bad for DJ Looney and I hope we find a spot for him maybe as a recruiting analyst if he wants it.
OL- Marcus Johnson. Yes, he has ties to Ole Miss, but he also has Coach34's phone number and that pretty much cancels out the Ole Miss ties. The Ole Miss thing doesn't bother me at all. See Joe Lee Dunn, Bob Tyler, Tom Goode, and Melvin Smith among other examples. He's a young guy with Mississippi ties who can also probably fill Joe Moorhead in on about how the Ole Miss Network works. And I know the bar was set low, but I think this is a HUGE upgrade over Hevesy.
DC/S- Bob Shoop. An aggressive DC with SEC experience to replace Todd Grantham? Here you go. This guy is one of the main reasons why Vanderbilt had success on defense under James Franklin and then he continued that trend at Penn State. Tennessee was probably a poor career choice- but he gets a pass on that from me. And let's not forget that Grantham had some "concerns" coming in to us- remember the third and Grantham warnings? So, we get a guy that has been a head coach in the Ivy League and went to Yale. It seems like a logical fit for our new staff. I also like the fact that he coaches safeties because that means that they will get his undivided attention this year. I'm going to say push here because Grantham did a really good job.
DL- Brian Baker (rumored to be staying). Good defensive line coach with NFL experience. I kind of have to call this a push for obvious reasons.
LB- ?????? (Rumored to be a NFL guy). I don't know who it will be but I would imagine anyone with a NFL background would be attractive to recruits.
CB- Ashley Ambrose (rumored). I like this hire. He coaches at Boise State and is from the New Orleans area. He also played at Mississippi Valley State and might help out in the delta some. He also has NFL experience as a player and was pretty good. I like T-Buck but I think Ambrose will be a slight upgrade.
ST- Scott Fountain (rumored). He would be the 10th coach so he wouldn't come on board until January. He has a lot of SEC experience at Auburn and is an analyst for Georgia. He has also coached at Florida State and Middle Tennessee State and he looks like a ST guru pretty much. The good thing about Hevesy leaving is we can use this spot on a special teams guy and maximize our staff spots. I like this hire and it's good to see Joe paying attention to special teams unlike someone else we know.
K/P- Chris Boniol (rumored to be staying). I love having a NFL kicking coach on staff because that is only going to help us to attract really good kickers and punters. Boniol is a big reason why our special teams turned around under Dan.
