Joe Moorhead Hired as Miss. St. HC
The Nittany Turkey’s Highly Irreverent Take on the Coaching Carousel
Anyone with half a football brain knew that Joe Moorhead was a short-timer at Penn State. His desire to be a head coach, coupled with his high-visibility, high-powered offense while serving as offensive coordinator in Happy Valley for the past two years told us we were on borrowed time with JoMo. Now, in the wake of the departure of Dan Mullen, Mississippi State has hired Moorhead as its new head coach. Happy Valley’s loss is Starkville’s gain.
I hope this means the end of the RPO. ???? ???? ??? ?????? That’s my personal prejudice. No knock on Moorhead; I just never liked it. ??? ????? ?? ??????? I also never liked “look at me”, so I hope the new offensive scheme at Penn State — whatever it might be and whoever might implement it — will be devoid of those two abominations. Remember, this is only my highly biased opinion, a matter of personal preference. I would love to see the damn interminable video replay delays go away, too, so football can become watchable again. Maybe I just want things simplified so a football simpleton like this turkey can actually enjoy the proceedings. ??? ???
So, what would you have, Turkey? An offense where the quarterback drew up the play with a stick in the sand? Well, shit, yeah! Football was more fun back in those days! Now, half the NFL field officiating crews are lawyers — they have to be attorneys to interpret and apply the byzantine rulebook. You can pop over to this website and get to know more about the lawyers in the crew and did you ever listen to Ed Hochuli drone on for half a minute explaining a call or why it was overturned?
Aw, shit. I digress.
I’d also like to see a functional offensive line, but you can’t have everything…
The Coaching Merry-Go-Round Continues
Florida wanted Chip Kelly, but they got Dan Mullen because UCLA got Chip Kelly to replace ousted Jim Mora. Better fit for Chip — he’s a West Coast guy — but does this mean the end of the road for PSU’s favorite former defensive coordinator, Tom Bradley? “Scrap” is in his early 60s, so he’s probably not yet ready for the Scrap heap. Meanwhile, for the Gators, lots of staff decisions must be made, with Randy Shannon being the biggest question mark as a potential player in the head coaching carousel.
It goes round…
In another WhoBeDatCoachDisWeek move, Tennessee wanted to replace Butch Jones with Greg Schiano, another coach with a Penn State past, but apparently fans and boosters make football personnel decisions in Knoxville. The UT administration changed its mind after significant backlash from the peanut gallery relating to Schiano having been an assistant at PSU during the Jerry Sandusky groping years. Although Schiano, who has been a head coach in both the NFL and NCAA, was never accused of doing any of the molestation or abetting Sandusky’s pedophilic efforts, guilt by association and an administration with no backbone lost him the Tennessee job. So, I guess “Scrap” won’t be in the running for that one!
…and round…
Nebraska shitcanned Mike Riley, as expected. Now we wait. Their prime target is Scott Frost, who thus far has guided UCF to an undefeated season with only Memphis to beat to lock in that pristine record. Frost, a Nebraska native, was the Cornhuskers’ QB during a national championship run, which when combined with his head coaching record at UCF and his premier NFL coaching mentorage, is making Nebraska fans drool for him. Meanwhile, he says his priorities are his family, which very recently expanded by one.
…and round.
Our old nemesis Bret Bielema, along with his AD, is gone at Arkansas. Bielema came to Arkansas during a time of turmoil following the Bobby Petrino scandal. He is best remembered as “Bulemia from Wisconsin” by the dudes in my local Penn State group.
Other programs looking for new head coaches are Arizona State, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Rice, and our friends at Kent State. This turkey has declared himself to be out of the running for those jobs, as I am waiting for the NFL opening that will result from Ben McAdoo being lynched in New York.
Who Will Replace Joe Moorhead?
The rumors will abound, no doubt, and this turkey has no idea which of them have any credence. Ricky Rahne is a name frequently mentioned, which is typical for the idiorati, as he is on the current staff. I suspect that the OC hire will come from outside the system, which I should preface with “I’m pretty sure” to indicate that I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground. (Have you ever read Amazon reviews or Q&A about a product and seen, “I’m pretty sure that…” or better yet, “I never had this product but it looks like it would work pretty well…”, this in response to, “Will it fit in my kitchen?” But I digress.)
Forget Randy Shannon — he’s a defensive guy. I just thought I would mention that, as if playing for Jimmy Johnson during the 1987 Fiesta Bowl wasn’t enough to disqualify him.
One thing some of you worried about but I’m pretty sure is not a concern is that Brent Pry will stay on as DC for the Nittany Lione. Joe Moorhead isn’t taking him to Starkville. (By the way, the Bulldogs have a star wide receiver who places high on the list of Great Names in Football: De’Runnya Wilson, of the Da Doo Run Run Clan, a sublineage of the Doodabus.)
So, who will be Penn State’s new OC? Fucked if I know! Matt Lauer, maybe? No, I’m pretty sure it won’t be Matt Lauer.
We are now open for comments regarding staff moves. Tawk amongst yerselves. Discuss. Oy vey, I’m getting all verklempt.
Share this:
Share this:
Discover more from The Nittany Turkey
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Joe says
Whoever it is I just want to keep seeing 41.7 pts per game and some ability to take some snaps from under center when it makes sense. I would say Rahne will be JCF’s fallback OC if he can’t get who he wants quickly. I would suspect it’ll be a FCS guy if he’s looking outside PS, and it will be someone whom most of us have never heard of. I do think if it was going to be Rahne we would have heard already (I think they announced Pry pretty quickly when he took over as DC).
I’m hoping Bradley will get a chance to keep coaching if he still wants to live that life.
I also read that Mississippi State put up 70 billboards welcoming JoMo to Starkville, which I have since found out is in the middle of nowhere. Here’s the link to MSU’s SBNation site
https://www.forwhomthecowbelltolls.com/
Big Al says
It’s no surprise that he’s leaving, but with all the open head coaching jobs, why would any Fordham grad choose Mississippi State. To quote Nina Simone, “Everybody knows about Mississippi, Goddam!”
The Nittany Turkey says
I’m thinking “My Cousin Vinny” here. From the Bronx to Starkville. Will JoMo be able to sleep at night without all the sirens, screams, and gunshots?
Well, there will be gunshots. Wherever there’s rednecks, there’s gunshots. They always have to be shooting SOMETHING. If they can’t figure out anything better, they just shoot traffic signs.
Speaking of rednecks, one old favorite redneck practical joke comes to mind. I heard about a guy who played a joke on a friend by putting a pygmy rattlesnake in his mailbox. For those who don’t know about pygmy rattlers, they’re pretty common down here. They’re cute and pretty, never getting to be more than 18″ long or so, but they can sneak into tight places and they don’t like fingers in their face. While they don’t inject anywhere near a lethal dose of venom for a human, you can lose a finger due to tissue necrosis. Great redneck hilarity, putting one in someone’s mailbox.
—TNT
Joe says
Per BWI this evening, Charles Huff our RB’s assistant coach and Special Teams coordinator is joining JoMo. Huff’s role at Mississippi State will be as co-offensive coordinator/running backs/assistant head coach. I don’t know if this is a big loss for PS or not as the NCAA is permitting a 10th assistant in January and CJF will probably make that a full time Special Teams coach, in fact I believe he already has some candidates on site in non assistant coach positions. I assume RB coaches are fairly easy to find, but the hard part may be re-building relationships developed during recruiting for the 2019 class and beyond.
So from Huff’s standpoint, he probably knows he’s not going to be the replacement for JoMo as OC and he’s going to lose his responsibilities for Special Teams, so might as well go south and learn to speak southern.
The Nittany Turkey says
I think Huff is a good choice for JoMo. Despite some late-season glitches, he turned around the special teams for Penn State, and he’s a helluva good recruiter. I had heard Huff mentioned as a possible JoMo OC replacement at PSU, but that was a conjecture by some lame-ass sportswriter, which I didn’t think was worth speculating about.
About Huff, “For Whom the Cowbell Tolls” (their SBNation site), said:
“But beyond his coaching experience, Huff is also an incredibly important recruiter. 24/7 Sports has Huff as their #4 overall recruiter for 2018, making him a huge addition to Moorhead’s coaching staff. Especially with competition from Dan Mullen’s Florida staff for current recruits.”
We’ll be losing not only a good coach, but a premier recruiter.
—TNT
Joe says
And our new OC is Rahne! I guess that works.
Joe says
. . . And Penn State is bringing back Tyler Bowen as an assistant coach, sources have confirmed to Lions247. Perhaps to take Rahne’s place as a TE coach? He’s got minimal experience all over the place, so who knows what position set he’s going to coach other than CJF. Here’s the story:
https://247sports.com/college/penn-state/Bolt/Penn-State-Nittany-Lions-bringing-back-former-GA-and-Maryland-Terrapins-OL-coach-Tyler-Bowen-as-an-assistant-111496441?utm_source=247Sports%20Newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=171201_160551_Penn%20State%20Nittany%20Lions&utm_content=Link&liveconnect=28-3D-48-CA-94-68-0D-36-67-BE-6F-18-78-1E-F9-11171201_160551PennStateNittanyLions
Joe says
Per Penn Live:
“Off-field assistant Phil Galiano was promoted to special teams coordinator and assistant defensive line coach after working as a consultant for a year. He replaces Charles Huff, who left for Mississippi State. Josh Gattis and Matt Limegrover both received title changes, as well, as Gattis is now the receivers coach and pass game coordinator while Limegrover will continue to handle the offensive line while also being listed as the run game coordinator.”
So:
Rahne replaces Moorhead as OC
Bowen replaces Rahne perhaps as TE coach, but nothing has been specified
Galiano fills the new 10th assistant position and will handle Special Teams
which still leaves us needing a RB coach (I think) to replace Huff.
Joe says
Here’s everything in one place:
https://bwi.rivals.com/news/franklin-set-to-fill-offensive-assistant-vacancy
The Nittany Turkey says
Thanks, Joe. I’m still digesting all the moves.
—TNT
Joe says
Per Penn Live tonight reporting on CJF’s conference call with reporters to discuss the Fiesta Bowl (worth an additional $300K to JCF per his contract I might add):
“Franklin added graduate assistant Mark Dupuis will coach the running backs, as the program does not currently have a coach at that position since Charles Huff left for Mississippi State.”
I presume this assignment is temporary until he finds the permanent replacement.
The Nittany Turkey says
Still a lot of good talent floating around out there. Now UCF has lost Scott Frost to Nebraska and Jimbo Fisher is going to A&M to coach the Aggies. UCF is zeroing in on Kevin Sumlin. Perhaps he’ll spring Johnny Manziel out of the slammer and bring him to UCF as OC. It’s too late to think analytically, so I’m just talking shit.
—TNT
Big Al says
CJF gets 300K for holding a press conference with reporters? Head coaching salaries have really gotten out of hand. The colleges must be using the same pay consultants that the Fortune 500 companies use.
PS. hope you really meant that he gets 300k for making a Group of 6 bowl
The Nittany Turkey says
I think Scott Frost’s deal was $35 million.
‘Nuf said.
—TNT