Why Chad Bumphis Would Be the Ideal Hire for Mississippi State's Football Program
It's been nearly a month since inside wide receivers coach Dave Nichol left Mississippi State, and one potential replacement stands out above the rest: Chad Bumphis.
Bumphis, the current wide receivers coach for the University of Utah, has seen plenty of success as both an athlete and a coach. His name has been thrown around plenty over the past month in speculation. In fact, if Bumphis has paid attention to social media over the last month, he's probably seen plenty of passionate Bulldogs fans begging him to return to his roots. However, head coach Mike Leach and his staff have not given any clues as to who will replace Nichol just yet.
Given his history and how hard he works to achieve success, Bumphis is a clear candidate for the vacant position. There are plenty of reasons to believe that a transition to Starkville would be a positive experience for both him and the Bulldogs.
He has a history with Mississippi State.
Before he began working on the sidelines, Bumphis started his career like just about every position coach in the nation-- as a talented athlete. Bumphis is considered one of the top wide receivers in MSU history, so to say he is familiar with the program is an understatement. The Tupelo native played for the Bulldogs from 2009-2013 and had 159 receptions for 2,270 yards and a school-record 24 touchdowns. Someone with more connections and knowledge regarding State's football program would undoubtedly benefit nearly everyone.
His Utah Utes are coming off an incredible season.
Bumphis has both the connections and the resume. He bounced around and held various positions at a few different schools starting in 2016, but he started his first season as the Utah wide receivers coach in 2021. Despite being new to the program, Bumphis adjusted with ease. This season, his Utes won the Pac-12 championship and received an invitation to the Rose Bowl, in which they narrowly lost to Ohio State. Despite Utah being a heavy rushing offense, the passing offense averaged 214.29 yards per game and scored 24 total touchdowns.
He would fit in well with Mike Leach's offense.
Believe it or not, Bumphis started his career at Iowa Wesleyan-- the birthplace of Leach's Air Raid. Before he moved to bigger programs, he was the wide receivers coach for the Tigers. This means that Bumphis is a step ahead of other candidates, as he is already familiar with an offense that most college football programs do not use. Utah has shown that they prefer to run the ball, so why wouldn't Bumphis want to go to an SEC program in which his receivers would be some of the team's most valuable assets?
The opportunity to acquire a coach with a strong resume and a history with Mississippi State and the Air Raid offense is something that the Bulldogs should not ignore. Bumphis might be perfectly happy where he is, but given the circumstances, he is definitely worth reaching out to.
