Prior to landing the head coaching job at Mississippi State, Joe Moorhead had never coached further west than Akron. His stop at Georgetown, located in Washington, DC, is the furthest stop south on his coaching journey.
Even though Moorhead was widely regarded as one of the top available head coaching prospects in the country after the offensive innovation he brought to Penn State as their offensive coordinator following a stint as the head coach at Fordham (FCS - NY), there were no shortage of doubters coming forward after his hire that cited Moorhead's lack of coaching and recruiting experience in the south as reasons why he may not have been the best choice.
About a week ago, Will Muschamp made a comment that head coaches who lack SEC experience have historically struggled because he firmly believes that recruiting is the SEC is like no other league in the country.
Joe Moorhead doesn't agree. As he explains in a piece by USA Today, recruiting and coaching ties to an region or area are completely overblown.
“I truly believe the regional aspect of recruiting and coaching couldn’t be more overblown,” he says. “If you can recruit you can recruit. If you can coach you can coach,” Moorhead shared in the article.
“Where you’re born doesn’t guarantee success, but it doesn’t eliminate it.”
While you certainly wouldn't expect Moorhead to agree with Muschamp's sentiment, it's not hard to believe that the idea that you have to have SEC ties to be successful in the league to be overblown, as both Urban Meyer and Nick Saban have demonstrated in years past.
Head here to read more, including the interesting and creative method behind why and how Moorhead and his staffs have adopted a can of pop as their official energy thermometer of sorts.