Mississippi State Football: 3 trending candidates to replace Joe Moorhead

2. Todd Grantham

Todd Grantham is the candidate Adam Rittenberg mentions with no head coaching experience. After New England Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge went to the New York Giants, Grantham was the first name to surface as a candidate for the coaching job in Starkville.

Grantham’s candidacy came from being Dan Mullen’s defensive coordinator during his stint at Mississippi State. Grantham hasn’t openly pursued a head coaching job but has privately said he wants to run his own program and feels he can be successful in Starkville.

In his only season at Mississippi State — and Mullen’s last — the Bulldogs were 10th in the country in total defense and fifth in scoring defense. Grantham enjoyed his time in Starkville and wanted to stay even when Mullen left. If there’s anything that can be said about Grantham is he wants to be in Starkville.

Along with coaching one of the best defenses in both the SEC and in the country, Grantham has NFL experience with the Colts, Browns and Texans as a defensive line coach.

Mississippi State might not look to employ the David Cutcliffe formula in finding a head coach, but Grantham seems to want two things. He wants to be a head coach and he wants to be the head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. He might stay permanently. If he’s that passionate about the Bulldogs, it just might be his dream job.