Ad Disclosure
Report: Miss. State O.C. Billy Gonzales interviews for job at Colorado State
By Ethan Levine
Published:
Former Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain returned to the SEC when he accepted the head coaching job at the University of Florida earlier this month.
Since then, two SEC offensive coordinators have reportedly interviewed for McElwain’s old job at CSU, including Mississippi State O.C. and former CSU wideout Billy Gonzales.
Matt Stephens of the Coloradoan confirmed via Twitter on Sunday that Gonzales indeed interviewed for the job.
I'm told that Mississippi State co-OC Billy Gonzales has now interviewed for the Colorado State job. Former CSU WR.
— Matt L. Stephens (@MattStephens) December 21, 2014
Gonzales is in his second year on Dan Mullen’s coaching staff at Mississippi State, and 2014 was his first year as the Bulldogs offensive coordinator.
MSU’s offense improved in a number of areas following Gonzales’ promotion last offseason, scoring more points and averaging more yards per game this season than in any of the Bulldogs’ last five seasons.
Gonzales coached the offense to the conference’s No. 2 scoring average at more than 37 points per game, and Mississippi State was the only SEC team to average more than 500 yards of offense per game in 2014.
Prior to arriving at Mississippi State, Gonzales served as the O.C. at Illinois in 2012 and as the passing game coordinator at LSU from 2010-11. He was an offensive assistant at Utah from 2003-04 and at Florida from 2005-09 during which time Mullen served as the O.C. of those schools.
Gonzales joins Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo as SEC coordinators who have interviewed for the CSU vacancy.
Colorado State has yet to make an announcement regarding its next head coach.
A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.
