We could also consider Matt Entz, who won 2 national titles at North Dakota State after Bohl, and then was solid in his first year at Fresno State in 2025:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Entz
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We could also consider Matt Entz, who won 2 national titles at North Dakota State after Bohl, and then was solid in his first year at Fresno State in 2025:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Entz
Man I remember on here there were a bunch of preferred Klieman during that hiring phase and voiced it. There was plenty who also thought Moorehead was going to be pretty good with accolades and was ok with either. The jump was a concern because he would be following Bohl who was good but not great in low D1. Was Klieman going to be that or better. And many (still believe this today as well) do not want a defensive HC. I think on average they have a good track record of success personally, so I was good with Klieman and many voiced that on here too.
So instead we just hire coordinators over and over who don?t work and have no business being SEC head coaches? Cignetti practically did it when JMU was FCS. They were actually the best G5 team in 2023 but didn?t get a chance to prove it because of the rule about not playing the first year you move up
I am not aware of any head coach having ever gone directly from the FCS to the SEC. Plenty of successful FCS head coaches have gone on to become successful FBS head coaches, the most notable being Jim Tressel. There a bunch of active ones (DeBoer, Entz, Chesney, Cignetti) who didn't go straight from FCS to P4 but probably would have won if they had gotten the chance.
If you are serious about MSU football winning then you don't hire a coach from the FCS level. That is the same level of experience Moorhead had. It's almost as much of a gamble as a coordinator to head coach. If someone starts out at Samford and then they go to Tulane and win there then that is different.
I know I will be shouted down but percentage wise, coordinators from big programs still have as good of track record of success as G5 HC's. It's all a crap shoot because it really is about fit, timing and who has a good program game plan for what's needed in that moment. It's why Mullen worked here, he was very very prepared and the program was right for him at the hire. Jackie had a good track record and knew how to build a program. Leach was who we needed to run the program after Moorehead and always ran good programs. A coordinator, fired retread, and sitting P5 coach with success. All with varying degrees of success here because they were right for the time and prepared to run good programs. Scheme really doesn't matter in the end.
The right man for the job is Dan Mullen at $6M/year for 5 years with a $24 Million buyout clause both ways. If he goes to another job then they would have to pay us damn near a years worth of NIL salary immediately. Have $500k escalator for Egg Bowl win, $500k for bowl appearance, $1 million for playoff appearance, $1 million for semifinal appearance, $1 million for championship appearance, $1 million for winning it all. Stacking obviously.
Keep Dan's eye on the prize and search for more money. Work with Target to build near Walk-On's and the Green Walmart.
If Dan doesn't agree to that - then he's not the right man for the job and would be looking at us as a stepping stone. If all he negotiates for is more money on the salary and is fine with the reverse massive buyout - then it should assuage everyone's biggest concern - that he'll be job shopping.