Media, fans react to Mississippi State firing Joe Moorhead
Mississippi State fired head coach Joe Moorhead after just two seasons in Starkville, according to college football insider Brett McMurphy.
The last month has been a whirlwind for Moorhead and the MSU program. After defeating Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl, Moorhead temporarily saved his job; however, just four days after losing to Louisville in the Music City Bowl, MSU had seen enough to know that Moorhead couldn’t get it done.
McMurphy’s report cited discipline issues within the team and the late-season swoon as reasons for his firing.
Obviously, not many coaches are fired in January, and this one is certainly the exception. Moorhead seemed to never be a great fit at MSU, and he finished just 14-12 overall, including 7-9 in the SEC. It was tough following the program that Dan Mullen built.
Below is how the media reacted to MSU’s decision to fire Moorhead:
Source: #MississippiState is firing coach Joe Moorhead after two seasons. Stadium first reported Moorhead's dismissal. Tumultuous situation before and after the bowl loss contributed to the decision.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 3, 2020
Wow. #HailState https://t.co/dVEql9Bcwo
— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) January 3, 2020
So it appears to be done. I never thought this would happen two years ago. He had the resume of a rising coaching star. https://t.co/scGjgkwKbM
— Justin M. Strawn (@JustinMStrawn) January 3, 2020
If two bowls in two seasons doesn't buy an incoming Mississippi State coach a third year, the bar there has moved. Moorhead's 4th- and 5th-place SECW finishes are exactly where Mullen lived, but the consistency of 8 straight bowls was supposed to be Mullen's crowning achievement.
— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) January 3, 2020
Miss St firing Joe Moorhead is more of them trying to counter the Ole Miss hire of Lane Kiffin from my perspective. I bet if Ole Miss keeps Matt Luke, then Moorhead stays put.
— Tim Givens (@TGGivens) January 3, 2020
Wow, Joe Moorhead fired at Mississippi State. Some program is going to get a really, really good, proven quarterback coach/offensive mind. Good time to have a vacancy on your staff in that area.
— Bruce Hooley (@BHOOLZ) January 3, 2020
I genuinely hope the best for Joe Moorhead. I think he’s a nice guy and probably had the right attitude.
Just not a good fit for an SEC West program.
— Kirby Cox (@kirbxtaylor) January 3, 2020
https://twitter.com/suckatsports/status/1213117598537277441
https://twitter.com/RJ_Writes/status/1213117339765530624
Moorhead got this pown job. He was given a loaded team and proceeded to destroy it. Discipline was non-existent. I imagine they got tired of watching him destroy the development and careers of young men. I wish him well. Maybe something like the Rutgers job will open up? In any case, don’t feel too sorry for him, he just got several million dollars for 2 years’ work in which he did very little as far as I can tell judging from his player’s actions on and off the field.
Yes and he totally deserved the pink slip and I bet we pay no buy out to him either. The Schrader incident and then acting like nothing happened is cause for termination.
Proven quarterback coach? Not as a head coach:
“The Bulldogs ranked No. 112 nationally in passing offense in 2018 and No. 110 this season. Mississippi State did not exceed 240 passing yards in any single game this season in finishing No. 12 out of 14 teams in the SEC in passing offense.”
Joe is probably a good offensive schemer but simply wasn’t a fit. He’s not a talent elevator. The timing to cut bait wasn’t going to get any better, and I wish him well. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove himself elsewhere. Not much confidence that we’ll end up better off as a program but at least would like to see someone hired that wants to be in Starkville not just in the SEC.
LOL, yeah and his replacement at Penn St had zero coordinating experience. In year 1 he matched Joes numbers and this season surpassed Joes numbers. It was never Joe, it was the Penn St system and the credit belongs with James Franklin.
He just let Rudy Gay our ILB play after PUNCHING our starting QB and breaking his orbital bone in Music City Bowl practice… and this after Gay was already suspended for multiple games this year. Kylin Hill repeatedly threw his hands up in the air at the coaches after play calls he didnt agree with on national TV and that is just a couple of instances of a team with NO discipline. GOOD RIDDANCE, bring on Billy Napier.
CowbellHell: Thank you for explaining why Moorhead should have been fired…months ago. The culture Moorhead instilled at Miss. State was an undisciplined team and a disaster.
(And BTW, Cohen and Keenan owe Keytaon Thompson an apology!)
100% agree and hope KT will stay now. I wouldn’t be surprised if Schrader’s parents made some waves about the situation as well.
Any ideas who they may hire? Hate to say it but Sark may be a great hire, as long as he has put away the bottle.
Moorhead rattles around college football for a couple years and ends up at LSU as OC…gets promoted to HC when impatient fans run Coach O out of Baton Rouge…JoMo’s Tigers goe on to win a national title.
Not going to happen but wouldn’t it be weirdly cool if it did?
Sometimes really good coordinators don’t make very good head coaches. Lots of examples of that. Kevin Steele from Auburn is one.
MSU was a shadow of what they were two years ago. Good luck to Moorehead and hopefully MSU can find a good head coach.
If im an AD for just about any school im calling Mike Entz.
Id throw some money his way and see if we could lure him to the deep south. I think it would be a great hire.
It’s Billy Napier.
Will Healy is who they need to counter Kiffin. High risk high reward shot.
Joe Brady could work too.
Watching Moorehead’s teams lose games they should win or at least be competitive in was painful and frustrating. Sometimes it looked like they weren’t even trying.
I hope we get someone good because Moorehead was a dud.
He took a loaded team and drove it right into a ditch.