Following just two seasons and a winning record during his tenure at Mississippi State, Joe Moorhead is out in Starkville.

That news was made official on Friday by the school.

Following that announcement, MSU AD John Cohen met with the media to discuss his decision to dismiss his head football coach.

“Earlier I met with Coach Moorhead – after discussions with him, we informed him that we’re going to go in a different direction with our football program,” Cohen said on Friday. “Want to say clearly that Joe Moorhead is a terrific man, and an outstanding coach, I certainly wish the best to coach Moorhead and his family in the future. He will have a bright future in coaching down the road. As the athletic director Mississippi State I’m constantly evaluating the trajectory of all of our programs, always in the best interest of our student-athletes, our fans our alumni our staff.

“We’re football season now complete after careful review of our program. We feel like it’s in our best interest to move forward identifying a new football coach. One who is the best fit for Mississippi State University.”

After opening up for questions, Cohen was asked about Moorhead having a winning overall record and two wins in two games over Ole Miss. While winning is important, Mississippi State clearly had issues with other aspects of Coach Moorhead’s program.

“Yeah, certainly, you know wins and losses matter,” Cohen responded. “I coach long enough myself to know wins and losses matter. And Joe did win 14 games. In this case, it goes a little bit beyond just wins and losses, although I want to stay for sure that that wins and losses matter, but there were some other issues at stake here that we had to consider.”

When it comes to the next coach at Mississippi State, here’s what Cohen had to say he will be searching for in a leader for the Bulldogs.

“We will identify someone who will develop our student-athletes on and off the field. And we will identify somebody who will hold all of our student-athletes in football accountable,” Cohen noted. “We are family, we will find a head coach who connects with the most passionate fan base in all of college football. As you can imagine a search of this magnitude is going to generate a ton of interest and it’s going to generate rumors. I ask that you take what you hear, with a grain of salt, unless you hear it from me.”

Cohen also added this comment in regards to his next football hire.

“It’s going to have to start with discipline, it’s gonna have to start with having a hard edge it’s gonna start with helping student-athletes grow both on and off the field,” Cohen said. “It’s going to start with somebody who has a passion for Mississippi State specifically, as I mentioned before, this is a unique place, and we’re excited about finding that person.”