The Oregon Ducks football team officially has its new offensive boss.
Last week, it was reported that the Ducks were expected to hire Joe Moorhead as offensive coordinator. A week later, the Pac-12 school confirmed Moorhead’s addition to Mario Cristobal‘s coaching staff.
Moorhead replaces Marcus Arroyo, who took the head job at UNLV in mid-December.
“The search for our next offensive coordinator was extensive and drew interest from coaches at all levels from around the country,” the Oregon Ducks football head coach said in a statement. “It was a thorough process, because we wanted to not only get the best coach for the University of Oregon, but also the best fit for our student-athletes and coaches. I’m fired up to welcome Joe, his wife Jennifer, daughter Kyra and sons Mason and Donovan, to Eugene and our football family.
“I’ve admired Joe’s offensive philosophy and ability as a play-caller from afar, and after meeting with him I was even more impressed. He is a great teacher and communicator, and instills confidence and belief in his players. His offenses have been explosive, balanced, multiple and creative. More importantly, he’s a great man, father and husband who our players and staff will enjoy working with.”
In two seasons at Mississippi State, Moorhead went 14-12. Moorhead’s January firing was centered on an ugly fight between teammates in the run-up to the Music City Bowl.
The day after Christmas, it was reported that freshman Garrett Shrader, who was supposed to start the bowl game at quarterback, was injured in a post-practice scuffle with a defensive teammate. The altercation was preceded by an in-practice altercation during a contact drill. Shrader suffered some orbital bone damage as a result of the incident.
The MSU job was, at the time, the furthest west Moorhead had worked in a three-decade coaching career.
From 2016-17, Moorhead was the coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Penn State. In the four years before that, he was the head coach at FCS Fordham. He’s also been on staffs at UConn (2009-11), Akron (2004-2008) and Georgetown (2003).
Moorhead was the coordinator at all three of those latter stops.