Mississippi State to hire Fordham coach Andrew Breiner to lead passing game

STARKVILLE — Joe Moorhead is adding an expert of his offense to his Mississippi State coaching staff.

Fordham head coach Andrew Breiner is set to join Mississippi State as the Bulldogs' new quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, sources confirmed on Tuesday. The news was first reported by The Athletic.

Breiner was promoted to head coach at Fordham in December 2015 after Moorhead left the Rams to be Penn State's offensive coordinator. Breiner served as the offensive coordinator for four years at Fordham after serving as a graduate assistant the previous three years with Moorhead at UConn.

Mississippi State will not have an offensive coordinator under Moorhead, who made it clear during his introductory press conference last week that he would call plays. Breiner is expected to be in charge of the passing game while new addition Charles Huff is expected to lead the running game. Huff — Moorhead's first hire — was hired last week as assistant head coach, run game coordinator and running backs coach.

More: Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead explains what he will be looking for in hiring assistants

Breiner led Fordham to an 8-3 record last season in his first year as head coach. The Rams were 4-7 in 2017. Under Breiner, running back Chase Edmonds led the NCAA FCS in rushing yards per game (163.5) in 2016 and was second in total rushing yards as well as ranking second in all-purpose yards per game (194.6) and third in rushing touchdowns. Fordham led the Patriot League and ranked fourth in the NCAA FCS in 2016 in yards per game (498.2 yards). The Rams also led the Patriot League and were fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging 40.1 points per game.

Brett Elliott, who served as MSU's quarterbacks coach this season under Dan Mullen, is not expected to remain with the Bulldogs, but will still coach in the Taxslayer Bowl on Dec. 30, sources said.

MSU is also expected to name Andrew Warsaw as its new director of football operations, sources said. Warsaw was the NFL's director of game operations, and he also served as Purdue's football director of operations. He has also worked at Arizona, Fordham, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Penn and Villanova.