OPINION: A final farewell to Joe Moorhead
Pickles. When I think of Joe Moorhead, there's a part of me that's always going to remember pickles.
It was last August, during preseason camp, when Moorhead casually mentioned to us media folks that as part of his intermittent fasting diet, he had developed a love for jalepeno-flavored dill pickles. I was intrigued. Later that week, while in the grocery store, I texted a picture of a jar of pickles to Moorhead to make sure I had the right kind. He affirmed that I did and requested my review of said pickle.
Later that night, I informed Joe I was impressed with the pickle, but amused that a jalepeno-flavored pickle had no jalepeno at all listed in its ingredients.
"Creative license on their part," he replied.
That story, in a nutshell, is why I'm going to miss Joe Moorhead. In a job often filled with ego and better-than-you personas, Moorhead was as human and down to earth as they come. Now, nearly five months after he was relieved of his duties as Mississippi State head coach, Moorhead and his family are finally getting ready to leave Starkville – where he's remained even after becoming Oregon's offensive coordinator. It has been said in multiple ways by others, but I'd like to emphasize it again here – Starkville's loss is Eugene, Oregon's gain.
Now I know there are some of you out there reading that who immediately jump to the football part. You know, the part where Joe didn't win as much with the Bulldogs as you thought he should've or the part where he wasn't the disciplinarian he needed to be or (fill in your own complaint here). I'm not going to sit here and tell you those criticisms are or aren't valid. I'm the last one that can tell anyone not to have an opinion. In fact, on the Thunder and Lightning podcast I cohost, I could at times be a pretty vocal critic of Moorhead myself.
Whatever feelings you have about Moorhead as a football coach, put those aside. Instead, I want to take a minute, one last time, to respect who Joe Moorhead is as a man.
In Joe Moorhead, wherever he goes, there are probably always going to be STORIES LIKE THIS in which Moorhead helps the least fortunate, not wanting a lick of recognition in return. If you click that link, you'll read how Moorhead basically was a real-life Santa Claus to a pair of local foster children whose parents weren't able to work. Moorhead declined one single ounce of publicity.
Heck, even after Moorhead was no longer the football coach, he was still helping out the Starkville community and still not concerned in the least about folks knowing about it. Just a few weeks ago, Moorhead bought lunch for the Starkville Police Department.
I got up with Moorhead because I was going to just write a short story on the former football coach still helping out the town. He didn't want me to write anything about it. We instead talked about our Easter plans – or more accurately our lack of them – and discussed the pandemic and football matters and such.
The bible talks about not letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In other words, when you do good deeds, make sure it comes from the goodness of your heart and not from some desire to be praised for your efforts. If that's the measure of the genuineness of an individual, well Joe Moorhead is as genuine, down-to-earth and as real as they come.
It's part of why Moorhead was a darn good recruiter for the Bulldogs too and why new MSU head coach Mike Leach inherits a Mississippi State team with plenty of talent. Moorhead allowed us media folks in the war room with the MSU coaching staff last December for the early signing day. State had 21 verbal commits coming into the day. All 21 (plus one more) signed. No flips. No drama.
We got to watch on as Moorhead talked to each signee and their families and I thought it illustrated why the Bulldogs got every target. It was another picture of the man Moorhead is. He seemingly knew every mama and daddy and grandparent that popped onto the big screen in front of him. He even picked up on new hairstyles and talked about any number of things that displayed how all this wasn't just a job. He genuinely enjoyed building relationships with all these people.
It must run in the family, too. On Friday night, Moorhead tweeted out a video of his son's baseball team parading by the Moorhead residence and bidding the family goodbye.
If I'd have known there was a parade headed to Joe's house, I'd have joined in. Not that he needs some mediocre sportswriter/podcaster's stamp of approval, but in my opinion, no matter what Moorhead ever achieves or doesn't achieve on a football field, he's a winner. He's got a heart of gold and it's no act. It's cliche to say, but I truly believe he'd give the shirt off his back to just a random stranger if he thought he could help. And oh yeah, he knows his dill pickles too.
Joe Moorhead, because of who he is and what he stands for, will always have a fan in me. No, it didn't work out at Mississippi State. But for two years, it sure worked out for many of the people Moorhead came into contact with in Starkville. And in the grand scheme of life, that's a lot more important than anything that happens on a football field.
