When Dan Mullen left to become Florida’s coach, Mississippi State moved fast to find a leader for its football program. Joe Moorhead was hired away from Penn State that same week, and moving fast has become a theme ever since.

From recruiting to spring practice, Moorhead said the last six months have been a blur as he’s stepped into his role as the Bulldogs’ head coach.

“First thing was to hit the ground running. We had 20 verbal commitments that we had to secure, and at the same time getting to know the team and meeting with them, and at the same time trying to hire a coaching staff, so that was kind of the process for December and January,” Moorhead said last week, during a stop in Vicksburg with Mississippi State’s Road Dawgs Tour. “Got through that, then we got into winter conditioning, which was led by our strength and conditioning staff. Got through that, then got into spring ball, which was critically important to get our offense and defense and special teams schemes involved, and now we’re into spring recruiting.”

Without any ties to the south before stepping up to lead the Bulldogs, some questioned Moorhead’s ability to adapt to recruiting in a new region. Moorhead, however, said that hadn’t been a problem for him so far.

Prior to coming to Starkville, Moorhead was the offensive coordinator at Penn State. Before that, he was the head coach at Fordham in New York City. He was born in Pittsburgh and also played college football at Fordham. Other coaching stops included decidedly northern schools Georgetown, Akron and Connecticut.
Moorhead said the language of recruiting is universal. It also helps that he has a solid resumé to back up his pitch.

Penn State’s offensive output improved by almost 100 yards per game in his first season as offensive coordinator, and he helped develop running back Saquon Barkley into a Heisman Trophy finalist and No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. He had previously been named a top assistant to watch by Sports Illustrated and the offensive coordinator of the year by 247 Sports.

“At Penn State, and at Mississippi State in the SEC, you’re recruiting the best of the best in the country so I think the regional aspect of rescuing is somewhat overblown,” Moorhead said. “If you’re good at evaluating, good at communicating, good at building relationships and explaining what differentiates your program from the competition, I think that’s what can give your school success in recruiting. Aside from being in the south, the process has not been different.”

Since Mississippi State is replacing a coach who left for another job rather than rebuilding after firing a coach, Moorhead is tasked with not only maintaining the level of success Mullen had, but also building on it. Moorhead plans on doing just that and has SEC and national championship aspirations for the Bulldogs.

A key in doing that will be player development, which Moorhead saw plenty of in his first spring.

“I think kind of a guy who had redshirted last year offensively was (wide receiver) Austin Williams from Ocean Springs, did a really good job. The other guys are kind of known commodities,” Moorhead said. “Defensively, I think (linebacker) Willie Gay is a guy that was kind of a part-time starter last year but a highly touted kid from Starkville High, certainly excited abut him. Good talent, depth across the board, but those guys are two that really stood out.”