Fired Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead would be a perfect candidate for the Miami football program as the Hurricanes new offensive coordinator.
With Dan Enos relieved of his duties last week as the offensive coordinator for the Miami football program, former Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead should be considered a candidate to replace him. Moorhead succeeded Florida head coach Dan Mullen in Starkville and went 14-12 in two seasons with the Bulldogs.
Moorhead is known as an innovative offensive coach. Before being hired by Mississippi State, Moorehead was previously the offensive coordinator at Penn State. With the Nittany Lions, Moorehead helped running back Saquon Barkley become the second pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Moorhead’s Miss State offense was mediocre.
Mississippi State finished 71th in offense in 2018 and 70th in 2019. The Bulldogs did excel on the ground. The Miami ground game was pitiful in the one season under Enos. Mississippi State finished 20th in the nation in rushing in each of the last two seasons. Miami was 122nd in rushing in 2019 in Enos’ only season.
Improving the ground game has to be a priority for the new offensive coordinator for the Miami football program in 2020. Mississippi State averaged 252.25 rushing yards per game in 2019. Miami was less than half that at 118.08. A series of off the field events that involved in team fights led to Moorhead’s dismissal.
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Moorhead began his career as graduate assistant at Pittsburgh in 1998 and ’99 when the Panthers and Miami football programs were both in the Big East. He has had stops at FCS Georgetown, Akron and Connecticut before becoming the head coach at his alma mater, FCS Fordham from 2012-15.
Moorhead led the Rams to FCS playoff appearances in each of his last three seasons. Fordham advanced to the second round in 2013 and ’14. Moorhead left Fordham to become the offensive coordinator at Penn State during James Franklin’s first two seasons in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions had a huge offensive improvement.
Penn State averaged 335.3 yards per game on offense in 2014 and 348.4 in 2015. In Moorhead’s first season as the Nittany Lions OC, Penn State boosted their offensive output to 432.6 yards per ga,e in 2016.
The Penn State offense averaged 335.3 yards per game in 2014 and 348.4 yards per game in 2015. While learning Moorhead’s offensive system during 2016, offensive output at Penn State improved to 432.6 yards per game. Trace McSorley threw for 3,614 yards, 29 touchdowns and nine interceptions that season.
John Harbaugh mentioned Joe Moorhead as one of the college offensive coaches the Ravens brought in last spring as they built their offense. He's probably not going to stay unemployed for long.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) January 3, 2020
McSorley was also a huge contributor on the ground running for 365 yards and seven TDs. Barkley ran for 1,496 yards and 18 TDs and caught 28 passes for another 402 yards and four TDS. Penn State finished 11-3 and lost 52-49 in a classic Rose Bowl to Sam Darnold and USC.
Mississippi State had 1,000-yard rushers in each of the two seasons under Moorhead. Nick Fitzgerald was an exceptional dual-threat QB for the Bulldogs in 2018. Fitzgerald threw for 1,767 yards, 16 TDs and nine interceptions and ran for 1,121 yards and 13 TDs in Moorhead’s first season in Starkville.
After amassing 394 yards as a freshman in 2017 before Moorhead arriving, running back Kylin Hill improved in each of his two seasons with Moorhead running the offense. Hill gained 2,084 yards rushing and ran for 14 TDs and caught 40 passes for 356 yards and another five TDs in 2018 and ’19 combined.
The concern with Moorhead as the defensive coordinator is would Miami revert back to the inept passing game they had in Mark Richt’s last season in 2018. For all the criticism of Enos, the Miami passing game was greatly improved this season. Miami averaged 249.2 passing yards per game in 2019, just 167.8 in 2018.
Moorhead has a connection to the Miami football staff. Offensive quality control analyst and former Hurricanes center Joel Rodriguez was the offensive line coach for three seasons at Fordham under Moorhead. Rodriguez credited Moorhead with being one of the pioneers of the RPO in a 2017 Sports Illustrated article.