STARKVILLE — Mississippi State has been prepared for the moment it hoped wouldn’t come.
Any athletic director will concede it’s part of the job to keep lists of potential coaching candidates, even when programs are stable. Scott Stricklin had to go through that process as MSU’s director of athletics after Dan Mullen elevated the national profile of the school’s football program and attracted interest from numerous schools as a result of that success. John Cohen took over for Stricklin and was charged with updating that list in case one of those suitors proved to be too much for Mullen to pass up.
On Sunday, Cohen was forced to consult that list after Stricklin, the athletics director at Florida, announced Mullen would return to Gainesville, Florida, to be the school’s new football coach.
As soon as Mullen informed Cohen on Sunday that he accepted the job at Florida, Cohen started a vetting process. While most athletic directors are asked about the possibility of hiring a search firm following the departure of a coach, the Cohen appeared to indicate in his statement he wanted to move quickly. The former MSU baseball coach knows he can’t afford to take his time because several high-profile jobs — UCLA, Florida — have been filled in the last few days, while several others — Tennessee, Texas A&M — could compete against MSU.
“We seek someone who will continue us on our path to competing for championships and developing our student-athletes both on and off the field,” Cohen said in the statement. “As we turn the page to write a new chapter in Mississippi State Football, our momentum is stronger than ever. We are confident we will find an outstanding new leader to carry that momentum forward.”
Cohen’s timetable also will have to deal with the fact that this is the first season college football recruits will be able to sign with the program of their choice in December. It comes before the traditional signing day in early February. MSU reportedly has commitments from players who could give it a top-20 nationally rated recruiting class, which could play a role in Cohen’s desire to make a decision about a new coach prior to the early signing period of Dec. 20-22.
If Cohen announces a new football coach Friday, that would give the new coach three weeks to determine which, if any, current staff members he would keep and who he would hire to keep MSU’s current 26 commitments.
Those looking to Cohen’s past hires for a precedent won’t find one. Cohen has twice gone with the up-and-coming assistant model in baseball coach Andy Cannizaro and men’s golf coach Dusty Smith — both of whom came from LSU and Vanderbilt, respectively — but he went with head coaching experience when he hired women’s soccer coach Tom Anagnost.
Sources told The Dispatch that MSU likely will look at a wide range of coaches. The list includes current head coaches Bill Clark (Alabama-Birmingham), Neal Brown (Troy), Mike Bobo (Colorado State), and Jason Candle (Toledo), but that list also could include assistants such as Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. If MSU wants to follow the template it followed in hiring Mullen — a disciple of Ohio State coach Urban Meyer — it has that option in Ohio State co-offensive coordinator Ryan Day.
The Dispatch has been told MSU is especially enticed by Clark, who continued to work s UAB’s football coach for two years after the program was shut down. This season, UAB went 8-4 (6-2 in Conference USA) and accepted a bid to play in the Bahamas Bowl in its first year back on the field.
Ray Lenow, a Madison native living in Texas, has been a Bulldog Club member for more than five years. He told The Dispatch he and his fellow Bulldog Club members want a new head coach with name recognition, offensive schemes, recruiting ties to the Southeast and, probably most important, ” a splash hire.”
“To me a splash hire is a name with experience we already know, not an unexpected name and not an up-and-coming coordinator,” Lenow said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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