GREAT HIRE!

[msbulldog]

This is from the CL, I know a no-no (but you don't have to click on it). We have hired a very qualified individual!

STARKVILLE - Andrew Warsaw landed an attractive gig in December 2016.

He had anticipated that he may soon be in need of one, because Purdue was undergoing a staff turnover. But before he formally accepted the job as one of only two directors of game operations for the NFL, Warsaw made a phone call.

That was to Joe Moorhead. At the time, Moorhead was in his first season as Penn State's offensive coordinator and was a popular name on the hot boards of some media outlets covering searches for new head football coaches.

Warsaw asked Moorhead during the call if Moorhead was going to take a job.

"Because if you are, I'm not going (to take the NFL job)," Warsaw said. "If you're not this year, then I'm going."

As Warsaw recalled the exchange, Moorhead responded by telling Warsaw he wasn't leaving State College and that they'd possibly revisit this conversation the following year.


Warsaw, 32, trusted Moorhead's word, accepted the NFL job and moved to Connecticut. He was a liaison of the league for teams, spent six weeks in London while planning for the NFL?s international games there and helped coordinate team logistics for last year's Super Bowl. And when it comes to the behind-the-scenes stuff that few people ever think about - picking out teams' hotels, selecting teams' practice sites and securing airplanes, buses and rental cars - Warsaw is linked to Sunday?s Super Bowl in Minnesota as well.

He won't be there though, because he is now in Starkville. Warsaw was one of the first hires Moorhead made and, as Mississippi State's director of football operations, was the only new staffer to be involved with the TaxSlayer Bowl (Warsaw is actually still working with former interim coach Greg Knox on ring designs).

"The NFL was really great - don't get me wrong," Warsaw said. "I could've had a really good career there."

Warsaw replaced Jon Clark, who went to Florida with Dan Mullen, and Warsaw said he took a salary comparable to what he was making at the NFL. Warsaw?s future at his previous job was more secure than his peers? jobs in the college ranks because he wasn?t tied to the success or failure of a team or coach.

Like how it is for football coaches, the NFL is the destination for many working in operations. But not everyone.

Warsaw grew up loving football in Maryland and played in high school, but knew he wasn't talented enough to play at the next level. He went to West Virginia because he wanted to be around a big-time program and spent four seasons as a student-manager. For Warsaw, working last year in football for the first time in his life without building bonds with players and coaches and without a rooting interest was "weird." If he didn't join Moorhead, his future planning would've probably included trying to be a director of football operations for an NFL team.

"Still," Warsaw said, "I know some people probably would think I'm crazy because I probably would have had a really stable career there."

Without any context, sure. This isn't the first time Warsaw made a somewhat unconventional move to join Moorhead.

Warsaw left the director of football operations job he had at Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island, New York, to join Moorhead at Fordham in 2012. It was a step up from the Division III ranks to Division I. But it also meant Warsaw was leaving a government job set to pay him $56,000 a year on a three-year deal for a $15,000 job with no benefits at a program that went 1-11 and had just hired Moorhead as its new head coach.

"I went and interviewed with Joe and, man, I just ... I knew I had to be a part of it," Warsaw said. "But if it wasn't for my wife, I wouldn't have been able to do it."

Warsaw said he never intended to leave Moorhead, but even though his wife, Ashley, held a solid corporate job, living in NYC and making that kind of salary doesn't work. When Warsaw left Fordham for Arizona in 2013, he said he told Moorhead, "Hey, this isn't it. Down the road somewhere, we are going to get back."

Warsaw's journey has taken him to Starkville for a job he expects to receive professional fulfillment from, that allows him to be closer to his family with less time on the road and with a boss he believes in. Warsaw is one of several new staffers who left attractive positions to join Moorhead. So maybe he isn't crazy, after all. Warsaw wouldn't have left the NFL for just any location Moorhead took, either. At Mississippi State, Warsaw sees a job he doesn't view as temporary, a program that is in line for success and a place he wants to raise his two children, who are 3 and 1.

"Look," Warsaw said, "you would not see me at any other college job in America right now."

[Turfdawg67]

Great story! It seems anyone who works with Coach Mo, is enamored with him. We’ve got ourselves a hell of a coach, I just hope he loves it in MS and stays a long time!

[Cooterpoot]

When we hired Moorhead, I wasn’t sure...but it’s becoming obvious he’s a person that moves things forward. We joked about his list of coaches but he’s sharp. If he can get players, he’ll do great things here.

[Commercecomet24]

Coach Joe knows what the heck he?s doing and he has a plan. This is a sharp sharp man that?s not afraid to work. That?s what is the winning combo. He?s not just intelligent but he knows how to get after it. Read the story about when he was HC at Fordham and his office that he also shared with janitorial equipment. This is one fascinating man. I don?t have as much insider knowledge as some on here, but I do know some folks that have first hand knowledge and he has impressed the heck out of them. These folks don?t easily impress. Country club days are gone.

[Bothrops]

We are going to win with Coach Jo, anyone that says otherwise is a fool.

[tireddawg]

Seems like Coach Joe has put some impressive individuals together to take Mississippi State Football to the next level. Has a first year head coach ever made championship level type noise?

[Todd4State]

Joe Moorhead is the football genius that Dan wanted/pretended to be.

[TXDawg]

I posted it a while back, but I feel it needs t be said again. I know a lady whose son played for Moorehead at Fordham. She’s a dyed in the wool, purple & gold Tiger. When I asked her about the hiring, her quote to me was, “I’d gladly wear maroon for Coach Mo”.

Whatever it is that he has, it’s infectious and the people he has contact with love him.

[Commercecomet24]

I posted it a while back, but I feel it needs t be said again. I know a lady whose son played for Moorehead at Fordham. She’s a dyed in the wool, purple & gold Tiger. When I asked her about the hiring, her quote to me was, “I’d gladly wear maroon for Coach Mo”.

Whatever it is that he has, it’s infectious and the people he has contact with love him.

This x 1000. This man has an ?IT? factor and it ain?t that baggy arrogant I know more than you type, he?s the real deal.

[FISHDAWG]

great post - rep awarded

[Lord McBuckethead]

Joe Moorhead is the football genius that Dan wanted/pretended to be.

Boom.

[Matt3467]

Occasionally I'll go back a few thousand pages to read threads on here when I'm bored and this was too good to not bump.

[BrunswickDawg]

Occasionally I'll go back a few thousand pages to read threads on here when I'm bored and this was too good to not bump.

Yikes. All I can say is wow.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We bought the hype. We overlooked the fact that he was trying to teach calculus to a QB that needed to be in Algebra 2. We overlooked the fact that his offense had always had the built in advantage of having a talent advantage over other teams. And we overlooked the fact that he wanted to lose his way rather than win someone else’s way.

Look as a person, I liked Joe a lot. His confidence in himself and his scheme was absolutely unmatched. But it was kind of like the CEO who has posted 8 straight quarters of losses. Eventually there has to be positive results.

[CaptainObvious]

It was a great "on Paper " hire. Too bad football isn't played on paper!

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Joe Moorhead is the football genius that Dan wanted/pretended to be.

I really think Joe Moorhead is a pretty good X and O guy on a whiteboard. The problem is that a lot of his stuff didn't translate from the whiteboard to the field. You can draw up all the cool play designs that you want. They can effective on the whiteboard. But the offense still has to be implemented. So are the plays and decisions too complicated for your players? Do your players have the skillsets to run the play designed? If the plays have lots of built-in options, will the 11 guys see it the same way?

You can draw up a play to throw it 60 yards. But what if your QB can't throw it that far? You can draw up a play with various reads with different options. But what if the 4 players who have to make the reads happen to read it differently from each other? I personally believe there was some genius in Moorhead's offense, but it simply couldn't be executed by 11 players. Most players don't see the game the same way that an intelligent coach sees it. They just don't. And it can result in paralysis by analysis.

So much of coaching is understanding and recognizing what your players can, and can't do. Then you design plays, implement plays, and call plays that allow them to be successful. I think that is where Moorhead struggled offensively.

[Tbonewannabe]

At the end of the day, Moorhead's offense kicked ass against lesser competition. If the QB had enough time to make his multiple reads then it was good. His problem was SEC football doesn't give QBs that kind of time regularly.

That is why we could put up 600 yards against a bad Arkansas defense and then barely cross the 50 against Bama. He refused to see that the speed on defense made all his QB reads impossible.

[Commercecomet24]

Dang I sure drank the kool aid on JoMo. Yikes was i wrong! My apologies!

[Hot Rock]

Apparently, as a group, "WE DON'T KNOW FOOTBALL!"

Individually, I don't for sure. I am just a fanatic (fan) and read or listen a lot about it. Obsessed could be used, I occassionally say I could live without watching sports but I never seem to do it as I love competition.

[FISHDAWG]

All of these optimistic comments were made long before we started seeing him run Fitz on 3rd and 3 or 4 to go ALMOST every time... and the entire world knew it was coming. We never saw that offensive "genius" actually come out of the locker room.