STARKVILLE, Miss. – Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has been named Mississippi State's 33rd head football coach, director of athletics John Cohen announced Wednesday.
"During our search, it became unequivocally clear who our next football coach was and that man was Joe Moorhead," Cohen said in a news release. "Joe is a winner, a man of integrity with a blue-collar work ethic and an ability to motivate others that our student-athletes will gravitate to. His innovative offensive philosophy is a perfect fit for our program and will keep us on a path to competing for championships.
“I was also impressed with his detailed defensive plan. He will demand excellence on and off the field and maximize the resources we have to continue to be successful in the SEC. We are proud to welcome Joe, his wife Jennifer, his daughter Kyra and sons Mason and Donovan to the Bulldog Family."
Moorhead will be formally introduced at a 10 a.m. news conference Thursday in the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex.
"It's a tremendous honor to be a Mississippi State Bulldog," Moorhead said. "I am thrilled to take the reins of an SEC program that has been as successful as this one has the past decade. I look forward to getting to know the young men on our team, hiring a staff and hitting the recruiting trail quickly. My family and I are excited about being a part of the Starkville community."
Moorhead, 44, arrives in Starkville after spending the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on James Franklin's Penn State staff.
Tabbed as Sports Illustrated and Yahoo's No. 1 rising assistant in college football in August 2017, Moorhead transformed the Nittany Lions offensively and spearheaded them to a combined 21-5 record, a 17-3 mark in Big Ten regular season play and the 2016 Big Ten Championship.
Penn State scored at least 30 points in 21 of the 26 games Moorhead coached, and it averaged 39.4 points per game during that span.
"We couldn't be happier for Joe Moorhead and his family," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "This is a tremendous opportunity for him to return to being a head coach and continue to move forward in his career. We are so appreciative of everything that he has done for Penn State Football in his two years.
"Joe's combination of leadership, X's and O's, and, most importantly, positive attitude brought the best out of our very talented offensive student-athletes. He has been a great mentor and coach to our student-athletes and friend to me and our staff. We wish Joe nothing but success at Mississippi State."
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