More strangeness came from The Paul Finebaum Show Friday in Starkville.

After an awkward exchange between Finebaum and Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead occurred on his show Friday afternoon, things didn’t really improve much between Finebaum and Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen. All the awkwardness stemmed from the reports that Moorhead has emerged as the leading candidate for the Rutgers head coaching vacancy.

“It’s ya’ll’s job to have those kind of conversations,” Cohen said when Finebaum asked what his reaction was to Moorhead’s name mentioned in the reports. “It’s our job to focus on what’s in front of us, and I know that’s the answer he gave you, and you probably gave him a coachspeak right on top of him, and I’m a former coach, so I’ll give him coachspeak too.

“But the minute you start to focus on that stuff, you can get your brains beating out in the Southeastern conference.”

Like with his interview with Moorhead, Finebaum continued to press, but didn’t get anywhere with Cohen, who seemed to deny the validity of the reports coming from New Jersey.

Check out the full exchange below:

This interview came after Moorhead’s appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, which even the host admitted was “extremely strange.” Moorhead repeatedly said his focus was on LSU and his own team, but the interview left Finebaum unsatisfied because he says “I didn’t hear a denial” in Moorhead’s answers.