STARKVILLE — Days before the early signing period begins, the Mississippi State football team has lost an assistant coach.
MSU tight ends coach Mark Hudspeth will leave MSU to become Austin Peay’s head coach. His status for the Outback Bowl remains uncertain as of early Tuesday afternoon.
Hudspeth came to MSU after seven years as head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette. He took the Ragin’ Cajuns to five bowl games. When he and ULL parted ways, the Louisville native and former MSU assistant coach was thrilled to be back in his home state.
“I’ve got so many friends and family in this state; anytime you get to come home and coach at a place you love, you don’t get many opportunities to do that, especially at this level,” Hudspeth said in February.
Hudspeth was viewed as an important recruiting piece for a staff that had few pre-existing ties in the South entering its first season at MSU. Coach Joe Moorhead’s staff still has defensive line coach Brian Baker and cornerbacks coach Terrell Buckley, who were retained from Dan Mullen’s coaching staff. Special teams coordinator Joey Jones also has decades of experience working in the state of Alabama.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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