Mississippi State

Mississippi State (then known as the Mississippi A&M Aggies) first fielded a football team in 1895. The team was coached by W. M. Matthews. During his one-season tenure, Matthews posted an overall record of zero wins and two losses (0–2). He is also credited with the selection of what became the official school colors, maroon and white, prior to the Aggies first game ever played at Union University.

Daniel S. Martin left rival Ole Miss and served as the Aggies' head football coach from 1903–1906. His final record in Starkville was 10–11–3. W. D. Chadwick led the Aggies from 1909–1913. His final record was 29–12–2. During his five-season tenure, Mississippi A&M appeared in and won its first bowl game, the 1911 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba. Fullback Dutch Reule was selected All-Southern. The 1911 team was also referred to as 'The Bull Dogs'. Earl C. Hayes replaced Chadwick and led Mississippi A&M to 15–8–2 record from 1914–1916. Hunter Kimball received the most votes of any All-Southern halfback in 1914. The Mississippi Legislature renamed Mississippi A&M as "Mississippi State College" in 1925 and the mascot was changed from Aggies to Maroons in 1932. Ralph Sasse enjoyed success as Mississippi State's head football coach. After leading Mississippi State to a 20–10–2 record in three years and an appearance in the 1937 Orange Bowl, a loss, Sasse stunned the students and players by resigning from his head coach's duties, following a doctor's orders after a sudden nervous breakdown. Allyn McKeen left Memphis to become head football coach at Mississippi State, where he compiled a 65–19–3 record in ten seasons. In 1940, he was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year after leading Mississippi State to its only undefeated season in school history and its second Orange Bowl appearance, a victory. The following year, 1941, his Maroons squad captured the first and only Southeastern Conference championship in program history. McKeen retired from coaching in 1948 after being fired by Athletic Director Dudy Noble because of a 4–4–1 season. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1991. Mississippi State did not field a football team in 1943. Arthur Morton left VMI to become MSU's head football coach after McKeen's retirement. Morton's Maroons posted struggling records of 0–8–1, 4–5 and 4–5 for a cumulative record of 8–18–1 before Morton's firing. Murray Warmath came to Mississippi State from his post as line coach at Army and posted records of 5–4 and 5–2–3 for a cumulative two-season record of 10–6–3. Having coached only two seasons in Starkville, Warmath resigned after the 1953 season to take the job of University of Minnesota head coach. Darrell Royal came to Mississippi State from the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos and put up back-to-back 6–4 records in his two seasons as the Maroons head football coach. Royal resigned after the 1955 season to accept the head football coach position at Washington.

Wade Walker was promoted from line coach to head coach following Royal's departure. Walker compiled a 22–32–2 record over his 6-season tenure. In 1958 the Legislature renamed the university as Mississippi State University. The Mississippi State Maroons posted a lackluster 2–7–1 record in 1959. The following year, Walker's Maroons improved to 5–5, but students, fans and alumni demanded his ouster. University president Dean W. Colvard relented and fired Walker as football coach, but kept him on as athletic director, a post he kept until 1966. Mississippi State changed its mascot from Maroons to Bulldogs in 1960. However, "Bulldogs" had been used unofficially since at least 1905, and the nickname had long been interchangeable with "Maroons." Paul Davis was promoted from assistant coach to head coach following Walker's firing. His teams went 20–38–2 overall and 9–22–2 in the Southeastern Conference in Davis' five seasons. The Bulldogs had a 7–2–2 record in 1963, earning its first postseason bowl game since 1939. The team finished the season with a 16–12 victory over North Carolina State in front of 8,309 fans at the 1963 Liberty Bowl played in a bitter cold Philadelphia. Mississippi State was able to convert two botched North Carolina State punts into touchdowns, and a 13–0 lead at the first quarter. United Press International named Davis the SEC Coach of the Year for the 1963 season. After a lackluster 2–8 record in 1966, MSU terminated Davis, as well as athletic director Wade Walker.

Charles Shira, who had been defensive coordinator at the University of Texas under former Bulldogs head coach Darrell Royal, was appointed both head football coach and athletic director at Mississippi State in January 1967. His first two teams went 2–8 (1967) and 0–8–2 (1968), followed by 3–7 in 1969; that December he coached the Gray squad in the Blue–Gray Classic.

Mississippi State posted a 6–5 campaign in 1970, highlighted by an upset of No. 10 Ole Miss; Shira was subsequently named the SEC Coach of the Year. Shira also oversaw the program’s racial integration when defensive back Frank Dowsing joined the team in 1969.

After 2–9 (1971) and 4–7 (1972) seasons, Shira stepped down as head coach to concentrate on his athletic director role; his six-year coaching record at MSU was 16–45–2 (5–32–2 SEC).

Bob Tyler was promoted from offensive coordinator (1972) to head coach following Charles Shira’s resignation, later also serving concurrently as Mississippi State’s athletic director from 1976 to 1979.

In his second season, Tyler guided Mississippi State to a 9–3 record and a Sun Bowl victory over North Carolina; that year included conference wins over Georgia and LSU, and a top‑20 finish in the final polls.

The Bulldogs finished 6–4–1 in 1975 and 9–2 in 1976 (No. 20 AP), followed by 5–6 in 1977 and 6–5 in 1978; NCAA probation related to alleged improper benefits led to the forfeiture of multiple wins from the 1975–1977 seasons in post‑facto NCAA action.

Tyler’s Mississippi State tenure included four winning seasons and two nine‑win campaigns; after the 1978 season, he departed the head coaching post while having also held the director of athletics role during part of his tenure.

Emory Bellard, who had resigned as head coach of Texas A&M during the 1978 season after only six games, was hired to serve as head football coach at Mississippi State beginning with the next (1979) season. He was head coach from 1979 until 1985. He was considered to have had one of the most innovative offensive minds in football and is credited for inventing the wishbone formation. Bellard spent seven seasons as head coach at MSU. His best years as the Bulldogs head coach were in 1980 and 1981, when his team finished 9–3 and 8–4, respectively. Also, Bellard was the coach when Mississippi State defeated number 1, undefeated Alabama 6–3 in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1980. However, the Bulldogs significantly regressed after 1981. In the next five seasons, he only won a total of five games in SEC play. Before the 1985 season, Bellard boldly predicted that the Bulldogs would rebound and win their first SEC title since 1941. They not only failed to do so, but went winless in SEC play. Bellard was fired after the season. He would, however, return in 1988 to coach at the high school level in Texas.

Rockey Felker returned to his alma mater, which was coming off four consecutive losing seasons, from his post as wide receivers coach at Alabama. At 33, Felker was the youngest coach in the country and the first Mississippi State coach in 30 years to start his career as MSU head football coach with a winning record (6–5). However, the Bulldogs never recovered from four consecutive blowout losses at the end of the 1986 season, during which they scored a total of nine points, including a 24–3 loss to Ole Miss. Felker suffered through four losing seasons (4–7, 1–10, 5–6, 5–6) between 1987 and 1990, and only won a total of five games in SEC play. He was only 1–4 vs. Ole Miss. He resigned under pressure at the end of the 1990 season, but would be brought back by his successor, Jackie Sherrill, as running backs coach for two seasons and in a non-coaching position in the football program, where he serves to this day.

After three years away from coaching, former Washington State, Pittsburgh, and Texas A&M head coach Jackie Sherrill was hired at Mississippi State in December 1990 and took over a program without a winning season since 1986 or a winning SEC record since 1981; he opened with an upset of Texas in 1991.

Over 13 seasons in Starkville, Sherrill compiled a 75–75–2 record, the most wins by any MSU head coach, and led the program to the 1998 SEC Western Division title and a berth in the Cotton Bowl following the 1998 season. Mississippi State finished 10–2 with a No. 12 final ranking in 1999 and made six bowl appearances under Sherrill, while he posted a 7–6 record against in‑state rival Ole Miss.

Sherrill drew national attention in 1992 when a pregame motivational demonstration involving a bull preceded an upset of No. 13 Texas; he later apologized for the incident and retired after the 2003 season. In 2004, following a three‑year NCAA investigation, Mississippi State football received four years’ probation; the infractions committee dismissed allegations of unethical conduct against Sherrill and did not find him personally guilty of NCAA violations at MSU.

Sylvester Croom, a longtime NFL assistant and former Bear Bryant player at Alabama, was hired on December 1, 2003, to replace Jackie Sherrill, becoming the first African American head football coach in Southeastern Conference history. He inherited a program facing NCAA sanctions and coming off multiple losing seasons.

Croom’s first three teams finished 3–8 in 2004, 3–8 in 2005, and 3–9 in 2006, with notable wins including an upset of No. 20 Florida in 2004 and Egg Bowl victories over Ole Miss.

In 2007, Mississippi State went 8–5 (4–4 SEC), defeated UCF in the Liberty Bowl, and Croom earned multiple Coach of the Year honors, including AFCA Region 2 and SEC Coach of the Year as selected by both the league’s coaches and the Associated Press—the school’s first such AP honor since Charley Shira in 1970 and first coaches’ honor since Wade Walker in 1957.

The Bulldogs finished 4–8 in 2008, including a 45–0 loss to No. 25 Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl, and Croom resigned on November 29, 2008.

On December 10, 2008, Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen ko Mississippi State ka head coach appoint kiya gaya. Starkville aate hi Mullen ne program ki offensive philosophy ko spread attack ki taraf shift kiya, jo Florida me Urban Meyer ke under safal raha tha.

Mullen ke pehle season (2009) me Bulldogs 5–7 rahe aur season-ending Egg Bowl me No. 20 Ole Miss ko 41–27 se hara kar momentum banaya. 2010 me team 9–4 par gayi aur Gator Bowl me Michigan ko 52–14 se hara kar bowl jeeta.

2011 me MSU ne 7–6 finish ki, Egg Bowl jeeta (31–3), aur Music City Bowl me Wake Forest ko hara diya. 2012 me 7–0 start ke baad team 8–5 par khatam hui, Egg Bowl me 41–24 se haari, aur Gator Bowl me No. 21 Northwestern se 34–20 se haar gayi. 2013 me MSU ne Liberty Bowl me Rice ko 44–7 se hara kar fourth‑straight bowl qualification confirm kiya.

2014 program ke itihaas ka ek historic season raha: Dak Prescott ke netritva me Bulldogs ne consecutive top‑10 opponents (No. 8 LSU Tigers, No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies, No. 2 Auburn Tigers) ko hara kar pehli baar AP aur Coaches Poll me No. 1 ranking hasil ki, jo AP poll history me unranked se No. 1 tak sabse tezi se chadhai thi. Team ne 10–3 finish kiya (No. 11 AP), Orange Bowl me No. 10 Georgia Tech se haar gayi.

2015 me MSU ne 9–4 (Belk Bowl win vs NC State) se season khatam kiya; Dak Prescott game MVP rahe. 2016 me 5–7 regular season ke bawajood APR ke basis par MSU St. Petersburg Bowl me gayi aur Miami (OH) ko 17–16 se hara diya.

2017 me Bulldogs 8–4 rahe; regular season ke baad Mullen ne University of Florida ke head coach ke roop me position accept kar li.

After Dan Mullen’s departure, Mississippi State hired Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead as the program's 33rd head coach. Despite no prior ties to the southern United States, Moorhead arrived in Starkville with a reputation as an outstanding offensive mind who believed in the spread offense, turning around a struggling FCS program in Fordham as the head coach before moving to Penn State as offensive coordinator where his potent offenses set school records. The Mississippi State University administration signed Moorhead to a four-year contract worth a total of $11 million over the course of the deal.

Moorhead led the Bulldogs to an 8–4 record in 2018, tied for the most wins for a first-year coach in school history. However, his second season got off to a rough start when it emerged that 10 players allowed a tutor to take tests and complete coursework for them. The players were all suspended for eight games, severely limiting the Bulldogs' depth. Fans were also angered by a pedestrian offense and upsets by Kansas State and Tennessee. There was also concern that he didn't really fit in with Mississippi State's culture, even though he'd taken the podium ringing a cowbell when he was formally introduced as head coach.

According to ESPN, Mississippi State officials intended to fire Moorhead if he didn't defeat Ole Miss in the 2019 Egg Bowl. However, the Bulldogs won that game 21–20 to become bowl-eligible, making Moorhead only the third Bulldog coach to win his first two Egg Bowls. At an emotional press conference the following day, Moorhead tried to knock down the rumors about his job security, saying, "This is my school, this is my team, this is my program," and that anyone who thought otherwise could "pound sand and kick rocks." He added, "You'll have to drag my Yankee ass out of here." However, on January 3, 2020, Moorhead was fired after finishing 6–7 following a 38–28 loss to Louisville in the Music City Bowl. Besides the Bulldogs' lackluster performance in that game, athletic director John Cohen and other school officials were angered when they learned quarterback Garrett Shrader had suffered an eye injury during a fight in practice, an incident that appeared to show a lack of discipline within the program under Moorhead's watch. Shrader had missed the game with what Moorhead initially described as an "upper body injury." On January 3, 2020, after failing to energize the offense, and several off field issues, Mississippi State announced Moorhead's firing.

On January 9, 2020, Mississippi State athletic director John Cohen hired former Texas Tech and then–Washington State head coach Mike Leach to lead the program, bringing his up‑tempo, pass‑heavy Air Raid and a reputation as a disciplinarian and innovative offensive mind.

Leach’s debut season began with a 44–34 upset of No. 6 LSU before a 3–7 regular season; with bowl eligibility requirements waived amid the COVID‑19 pandemic, Mississippi State defeated No. 24 Tulsa 28–26 in the Armed Forces Bowl to finish 4–7.

In 2021, the Bulldogs went 7–5 in the regular season with ranked wins over Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Auburn before falling to Texas Tech in the Liberty Bowl. In June 2022, Leach signed an extension through 2025 that raised his annual compensation to $5.5 million.

Mississippi State finished the 2022 regular season 8–4 with ranked wins over Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Leach died on December 12, 2022, following a heart attack; defensive coordinator Zach Arnett served as interim for the bowl, a 19–10 victory over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl.

On December 15, 2022, defensive coordinator Zach Arnett was named the Bulldogs’ 35th head coach on a four‑year agreement as the program transitioned following Mike Leach’s passing. Prior to the appointment, Arnett had been designated interim head coach after Leach’s hospitalization, with the brief to stabilize staff, recruiting, and roster through the postseason window.

Arnett’s first game as head coach of record was a 19–10 victory over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl on January 2, 2023, closing the 2022 campaign with a ranked, neutral‑site win.

In 2023, Mississippi State began 4–6 (1–6 SEC) ahead of a mid‑November leadership change announced by the university; Arnett’s overall record at MSU is listed as 5–6, inclusive of the 2022 bowl as head coach of record. Reporting around the change highlighted philosophical shifts away from Leach’s Air Raid, including a move to a more balanced, traditional offense under coordinator Kevin Barbay and associated offensive output declines relative to 2022, alongside the financial terms of Arnett’s separation (buyout).

Mississippi State subsequently hired Jeff Lebby as head coach on November 26, 2023, initiating the next phase of staff and scheme transitions in Starkville.

On November 26, 2023, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was named Mississippi State's 36th head coach. Mississippi State is Lebby's first head coaching position after several years as an assistant coach. Lebby signed a four-year contract worth $4.51 million annually. Lebby also had prior ties to the state of Mississippi and the Southeastern Conference from his time as offensive coordinator at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin from 2020 to 2021.