Joe Moorhead seems likely to welcome leaving Mississippi State for Rutgers
Joe Moorhead is a top target for the head coaching job at Rutgers, and it seems like he would welcome leaving Mississippi State.
Outside of Greg Schiano’s successful run as head coach, Rutgers has not had much success as a football program. So they surely couldn’t get a coach from an SEC school under most circumstances, but it appears this is not most circumstances. According to Keith Sargeant of NJ.com, Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead has emerged as the top candidate to permanently replace Chris Ash.
Moorhead is in his second season at Mississippi State, with an 11-8 overall record. The Bulldogs are 3-3 this season, with a loss to Tennessee last week and LSU coming to Starkville on Saturday.
Moorhead earned a reputation as something of an offensive guru, with two years as offensive coordinator at Penn State before taking the job at Mississippi State. But they were 10th or worse in the SEC (68th or worse in the country) in scoring, total and passing offense last year, and things have been a little worse so far this year (94th in the country in total offense; tied for 82nd in scoring offense).
This week, after that bad loss to Tennessee and looking toward welcoming No. 2-ranked LSU to town this weekend, Moorhead’s comments were telling.
"Coaching in the SEC for about a year-and-a-half now in a lot of ways has been a humbling experience,” “I don’t think you get to this point where I am without a certain level of success, and of confidence, but this game and the SEC, it has a way of keeping you honest."
Moorhead seemed like an odd fit for Mississippi State from the start. His coaching career had been strictly in the Northeast before taking the job, with success in the Bronx as head coach at Fordham (his alma mater) and becoming a key recruiter in the region when he was at Penn State. But when a head coaching job in the SEC comes open, even a mid-tier one like Mississippi State, you listen.
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Rutgers has a 20-47 record since joining the Big 10 in 2014, with their East Division brethren of course including Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan. So while it won’t be a great job for a lot of coaches, Moorhead seems sure to welcome the opportunity to be more comfortable closer to his roots and where initial expectations are naturally lower.