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Mississippi State closing in on defensive coordinator? Mike Leach reportedly set to meet with candidate
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Mike Leach appears to have settled on his defensive coordinator hire at Mississippi State.
The first-year Bulldog coach is expected to bring over several of his former Washington State offensive assistants to run his Air Raid system in Starkville but the leader of Mississippi State’s defense moving forward remained a big question following Leach’s hire.
According to a recent report from Steve Robertson and David H. Murray of 247Sports, Leach is expected to meet with Navy defensive coordinator Brian Newberry on Saturday. According to Robertson, Newberry is expected to be offered the defensive coordinator position at Mississippi State during the meeting.
Newberry only served one season as Navy’s defensive coordinator but the team won 11 games last season. Before landing the Navy job, Newberry served as defensive coordinator at FCS program Kennesaw State.
At his previous stops, Newberry has run a base 4-2-5 defense, which is similar to the defense run and recruited by Bob Shoop the previous two seasons at Mississippi State.
FootballScoop is also reporting that former Washington State defensive assistants Darcel McBath and Jeff Phelps are now expected to follow Leach to Mississippi State.
If these are the hires made by Mississippi State, Leach’s first staff in Starkville will have come together in just over a week’s time.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
