One of Mississippi State’s most decorated wide receivers is staying on the coaching staff, as Chad Bumphis will return for his second season as the Bulldogs’ receivers coach. He is the first holdover to remain on the staff under new head coach Jeff Lebby.
The Tupelo High product caught 159 passes for 2,270 yards and 24 touchdowns at MSU from 2009 to 2012, capped by a senior season in which he finished with 58 receptions, 922 receiving yards and 12 scores. He still holds the program record for receiving touchdowns and is second in catches and receiving yards.
Bumphis signed contracts with the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars but never played in an NFL game. After spending two seasons coaching receivers at Austin Peay, he became the wide receivers coach at Utah, where he had previously spent a year as a graduate assistant, in 2021.
The Utes won the Pac-12 and played in the Rose Bowl during both of his seasons in Salt Lake City, after which Bumphis returned to his alma mater. MSU’s top three receivers from 2023 — Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin, Zavion Thomas and Justin Robinson — all have at least one year of eligibility remaining.
Defensive line coach David Turner is also sticking around, according to a report Wednesday morning from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. Turner was hired last year by Zach Arnett for his third stint on the Bulldogs’ staff, having previously coached the defensive linemen from 2007-09 and 2013-15. He has been all over the Southeastern Conference, with experience at Florida, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Alabama and Vanderbilt.
During the final year of Turner’s second stint in Starkville, MSU set a program record with 98 tackles for loss. Moving forward, starters Jaden Crumedy and Nathan Pickering are out of eligibility, but De’Monte Russell can return for one more year, and Donterry Russell and Deonte Anderson showed promise as youngsters this season.
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