STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead will be the next head football coach at Mississippi State, former ESPN college football analyst Brett McMurphy reported.
McMurphy reported that Moorhead to Mississippi State was agreed upon and that the deal will be finalized within the next few days. Moorhead's name was first linked to the opening Monday night, shortly after Dan Mullen was introduced as Florida's head coach.
Returning to the head coaching ranks is something Moorhead, a Western Pennsylvania native and Pittsburgh Central Catholic graduate, has desired to do since climbing his way through the ranks and then leading Fordham to a 38-13 record before coming to Penn State. However, this will mark his first time coaching in the SEC, and it is also the first time he'll hold a coaching job outside of the Northeast, after being a graduate assistant at Pitt and then coaching at Akron, Georgetown, Connecticut and Fordham prior to arriving at Penn State.
In Moorhead's two seasons in Happy Valley he helped resurrect an offense that was among the worst in college football and also was the Lions' quarterbacks coach. With Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley and Mike Gesicki highlighting the offense -- plus NFL rookie Chris Godwin putting together a dominant campaign last season in this offense -- it's certainly a big blow, but hardly a surprise for Penn State.
Moorhead was among the many coordinators rumored to be in line for a head coaching job last season after the Nittany Lions won a Big Ten title and put up 49 points in the Rose Bowl. With one of the most explosive offenses in the country -- and the Nittany Lions putting up 21 wins in the past two seasons -- Moorhead had the kind of success at Penn State that once made some skeptical when he made the jump from Fordham to Penn State in January of 2015.
Moorhead was named Offensive Coordinator of the Year in 2016 by 247 Sports for his success in helping the Lions to a Big Ten title, during a season where the offense produced 14.4 more points per game than it did in the previous season under then coordinator John Donovan.
The questions for Penn State now include who they target to be their next offensive coordinator and will there be anyone on this Nittany Lion staff that Moorhead wants to try and take with him to Starkville, Mississippi? Moorhead and Penn State offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, both Western Pennsylvania natives, have known each other since they were kids. That could potentially be one option.
And, with the Lions set to learn their bowl fate on Sunday, what will they do for the bowl game? With the early signing period in place for Dec. 20 Penn State also is better off getting a coordinator in place sooner rather than later. The Lions' 2018 class is a top-5 group and given the team's success the past two seasons losing Moorhead likely won't impact many of the Lions' pledges. However, knowing who their new coordinator is going to be before signing is something the recruits surely want to and need to know.
If Franklin's last search for an offensive coordinator proved anything it was this: The Lions' head man was more than prepared to quickly move in on a candidate. Franklin keeps an updated list handy and regularly meets with other coaches during conventions, which is where he first met Moorhead a few years back during a coaching convention in Pittsburgh where the then-Fordham head coach was a presenter.
Franklin and Moorhead later met in New York until the wee hours of the morning discussing Xs and Os and program philosophy before he was named the Lions' offensive coordinator. While this means more long days and nights on Franklin's horizon until he finds a replacement, this position should garner some big-time interest nationally. And surely after a plane reportedly touched down from Starkville into University Park airport Tuesday around 8:30 p.m. Franklin was more than prepared to make his next move.
With top-25 recruiting classes in place during Franklin's tenure, a quarterback in McSorley who likely returns for his senior season, a former five-star running back in Miles Sanders, highly-touted receivers and several four-star offensive linemen, this gig should be an attractive one. Still, would a new coordinator have any impact on what backup quarterback Tommy Stevens could decide to do in the offseason as well? Learning a new offense never thrills players, but learning a new offense to then still being in line to be the No. 2 quarterback could potentially have some impact on Stevens.
Now, would the potential replacement come from within?
Tight ends coach Ricky Rahne has worked with Franklin dating back to their time at Kansas State in 2006-2007 and Rahne has experience coaching several different offensive positions. It was Rahne who called the plays in the TaxSlayer Bowl after Donovan was fired and Moorhead was hired but used that time to evaluate the roster.
Franklin called Rahne, one of his closest friends and colleagues, a future offensive coordinator earlier this season, but whether or not Rahne is ready to make a leap from tight ends coach to coordinator will all be part of this process.
Andrew Breiner, who studied under Moorhead at Fordham and also at UConn -- giving him seven years worth of working with Moorhead -- is now the Rams' head coach. He could be an intriguing option for Franklin. As Moorhead proved, success at the lower level if it's done in a dominant enough fashion can translate well to the Big Ten.
For now, expect Franklin to be running through his list and maybe even adding a few names to it while championship Saturday plays out.