STARKVILLE — Scott Sallach is essentially returning to a spot and place he never left.
When Dan Mullen and Tim Brewster talked last month about the importance of Scott Sallach to the Mississippi State University football staff, they had no idea how correct they were.
MSU announced Monday afternoon that Sallach would return to the field to coach this spring.
Sallach, who has coached tight ends since 2009, will return to that position after he was moved to the new position of coordinator of football scouting in the offseason.
“I don’t think you can underestimate the role Scott Sallach is going to play,” Brewster said Feb. 13. “Scott is an outstanding coach with a great football mind, and he is going to be invaluable to us.”
Due to the fact MSU didn’t have organized practices last month or earlier this month, Sallach didn’t miss practice time with his position group after a round of changes to the coaching staff. The changes announced Feb. 13 included the hiring of Billy Gonzales from the University of Illinois as the new wide receiver coach. At the time, Mullen moved Brewster to tight ends coach and announced Sallach would be taken off the field and moved to an administrative role to handle the increase in recruiting responsibilities.
On Feb. 28, Brewster left his job as tight ends coach at MSU for the same position at Florida State University.
MSU will start spring practice at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. All of the sessions will be open to the public.
Sallach, who went to college and played football with Mullen at Ursinus College, has nearly 20 years of experience as a college coach. He came to MSU in Mullen’s first season in 2009 after a six-year stint at Princeton University, where he coached wide receivers and quarterbacks.
“Scott is both an outstanding football coach and a relentless recruiter,” Mullen said in a university release. “Scott’s willingness to help our program in any way should be commended. His expertise has led our tight ends to record numbers of productivity in the last four seasons.”
In his first season, Sallach helped tight end Marcus Green learn the spread attack. Green finished second on the team with 27 receptions for 306 yards. In 2011, Sallach coached All-SEC freshman Malcolm Johnson, who finished tied for second on the team in touchdowns and had a team-high 18.7 yards per catch.
Prior to Princeton, Sallach worked at Dartmouth College for five seasons (1998-2002), Monmouth for three seasons (1995-97), and Hamilton College for one season (1994). At Dartmouth, he coached the wide receivers and assisted with the special teams, where he specialized in kickoffs and kickoff returns.
MSU spokesperson Joe Galbraith said Monday that Sallach’s move back to tight ends coach didn’t create an opening for the coordinator of football scouting.
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