It looks as if the coaching vacancies in the SEC are about to shrink from four to three.
It was reported earlier Tuesday that Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead had emerged as “a very strong candidate” for the head-coaching vacancy at Mississippi State. Tuesday night, that report is about to come to fruition.
Sources: Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will become next coach at Mississippi State. Deal expected to be completed in next few days. https://t.co/fcxi8GKyeI
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) November 29, 2017
Mississippi State has hired Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as its new football coach, sources told ESPN on Tuesday night. Moorhead, 44, replaces Dan Mullen, who was named Florida's new coach on Sunday. The Nittany Lions rank seventh among... https://t.co/qaetphheIB
— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) November 29, 2017
The 44-year-old Moorhead spent the 2012-15 seasons as the head coach at FCS Fordham before taking over the Nittany Lions’ offense in 2016. In his last three seasons at Fordham, he led the Rams into the FCS playoffs each year and a record of 32-8 in that span.
Under Moorhead, the Nittany Lions are seventh nationally in points per game (41.6) in 2017 and finished the 2016 season 21st (37.6). In James Franklin‘s first two seasons, they were 113th (20.6, 2014) and 100th (23.2, 2015) in that same category.
Moorhead would replace Dan Mullen, who left Starkville after nine seasons for the same job at Florida.