Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby made the news official Friday morning, announcing the hiring of Coleman Hutzler as the Bulldogs’ new defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach.
“Coach Hutzler has helped lead many of the most successful programs in the nation and developed players who not only reached the NFL but excelled there and had outstanding careers,” Lebby said in a statement. “He knows exactly what winning football looks like, and he’s gotten the most out of his players at every one of his stops.”
Hutzler comes to MSU from Alabama, where he has spent the last two seasons under Nick Saban as the Crimson Tide’s special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. He has 10 years of experience in the Southeastern Conference, something Lebby said was important in evaluating defensive coordinator candidates during his introductory press conference.
Prior to his stint in Tuscaloosa, Hutzler spent the 2021 season coordinating the special teams unit at Ole Miss, where Lebby was also on the Rebels’ staff as offensive coordinator. Hutzler’s other previous stops include Texas, South Carolina, Florida, Boston College and New Mexico, and he coached both linebackers and special teams at all of those schools.
The Las Vegas native and Middlebury College graduate started his coaching career under Jim Harbaugh, working as a defensive assistant for Harbaugh at San Diego and then following him to Stanford, where he spent one season as a recruiting assistant and two more working with the defense.
At least eight defensive players who started regularly for the Bulldogs in 2023 will not be with MSU next fall. Defensive linemen Nathan Pickering and Jaden Crumedy, linebackers Nathaniel “Bookie” Watson and Jett Johnson and safeties Shawn Preston Jr. and Marcus Banks have all declared for the NFL Draft, and defensive backs Corey Ellington and DeCarlos Nicholson entered the transfer portal earlier this week.
Up front, brothers De’Monte and Donterry Russell are slated to return, as is Deonte Anderson. Linebackers DeShawn Page and John Lewis are also likely to be back. In the secondary, freshman cornerback Brice Pollock started three games in the back half of the season, while Decamerion Richardson, who has started every game over the last two seasons, can return for one more year due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting his 2020 freshman campaign.
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