College Coaching Carousel: Moorhead the perfect fit for Mississippi State

If building a college football program is like building a house, then Fordham was essentially a vacant lot when Joe Moorhead took over in 2011.

Joining a team that won only one game the year prior, Moorhead led the Rams to four consecutive winning seasons, posting a 38-13 overall record. He turned that vacant lot into a respectable starter home.

In his next gig as the offensive coordinator at Penn State (2016-17), he helped turn a mediocre offense (112th and 62nd in Offensive S&P+ in 2014 and 2015, according to SB Nation's Bill Connelly) into one of the most prolific in college football (18th and 12th in Offensive S&P+ in 2016 and 2017). That got him hired to replace Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen, who left for Florida. And fortunately for Moorhead, MSU comes with a rock-solid foundation.

Offensive philosophy

Known as an offensive guru, Moorhead will look to build on Mullen's success in Starkville.

Inheriting a strong offense with plenty of returning talent, his biggest responsibility will be getting the most out of returning star quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. Under Moorhead, Fitzgerald will likely have a lot of freedom at the line of scrimmage, as the coach believes in giving QBs the right to check out of bad plays.

Moorhead is best known for being consistent with personnel while using a wide variety of formations. At Penn State, his offenses ran more than 95 percent of their plays from 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, and three receivers). This keeps the defense on its heels because the play-caller has to guess what formation the offense will use without getting a tell from the offensive personnel, adding another challenge to an already difficult job.

On top of that, Moorhead is known for "tagging" his runs with a QB read at the first, second, or third level of the defense. This means that even on "called runs," Mississippi State could pass the ball if the read defender reacts in a way that calls for it.

While he probably won't add another 1,000-yard rushing season to his resume, Fitzgerald should be able to thrive with more freedom to operate. If he can speed up his processing ability, he can take advantage of the matchups created by Moorhead.

Running back Aeris Williams should benefit greatly from the switch to Moorhead's system, as well. With teams unable to sell out to stop the run, Williams should see bigger rushing lanes and more touches.

Defensive philosophy

While Moorhead inherited some talent on offense, Mississippi State's real blue-chip talent is on the defensive side of the ball - namely, edge defender Montez Sweat and interior defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons.

Moorhead brought along Bob Shoop to run the defense as he looks to bring some stability to the role. The Bulldogs have had five defensive coordinators in as many seasons.

Shoop is taking over a unit that ranked 10th in the nation last year under Todd Grantham, and expectations are sky-high for the talented, veteran-laded group.

He'll implement his 4-2-5 defense - a changeup from Grantham's aggressive 3-4 defense - in Starkville. While the personnel is different, the aggressive philosophy will continue under Shoop.

Simmons and Sweat should continue to thrive in Shoop's defense. He'll have Simmons playing more "shade" techniques, where he aligns to the edge of a guard or center, which should mean he'll be in the backfield even more often in 2018 (he had 12 tackles for loss in 2017). Without the responsibility of invariably dropping into coverage, Sweat should flourish as a defensive end in the even-front defense. Don't be surprised if he improves on his 10.5-sack season from a year ago.

Season outlook

The Moorhead-Mississippi State union looks destined for immediate success. Moorhead is one of the best offensive minds in college football and should do wonders with Fitzgerald, Williams, and other weapons on offense while Shoop inherits a treasure trove of talent on defense.

The key will be surviving the grueling five-week midseason stretch with games against Florida, Auburn, LSU, and Texas A&M. The team also has the tough task of traveling to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama.

Still, with a talented defense and a well-schemed offense, don't be surprised if Mississippi State plays spoiler to some teams' playoff hopes. Alabama is almost guaranteed to win the SEC West, but a double-digit win total isn't out of the realm of possibility in Starkville.

Other entries in this series:

• Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee)
• Herm Edwards (Arizona State)
• Chad Morris (Arkansas)
• Willie Taggart (Florida State)
• Scott Frost (Nebraska)
• Dan Mullen (Florida)
• Kevin Sumlin (Arizona)
• Chip Kelly (UCLA)

John Owning is a football writer at theScore. He has written for Bleacher Report and Football Insiders. He was also the lead NFL content editor at FanRag Sports. John provides analysis on the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News and edits for The Quant Edge. Find him on Twitter @JohnOwning.