After bringing in a successful recruiting class, head football coach Dan Mullen has made some tweaks to his offensive coaching staff.
Mullen brought in Billy Gonzales to be his new wide receivers coach.
Mullen said Mississippi State was lucky to be able to bring Gonzales in and praised his track record with coaching receivers.
“I think Billy is one of the premiere receiver coaches in the nation,” Mullen said. “He’s had like seven All-SEC receivers in his time in this conference and developed receivers at Utah as he had two 1,000-yard receivers in one season. Just about everywhere he’s gone, his receivers have broken records.”
Mullen and Gonzales have a history as the two have coached together at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida.
Gonzales spent last season as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Illinois. In 2010 and 2011, he was LSU’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach and helped LSU advance to the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. He also helped the Gators win two national titles in 2006 and 2008.
Mullen said he and Gonzales have remained in contact with each other over the years.
“Billy and I talk all the time, and it is something that we discussed,” Mullen said. “It wasn’t that we were trying to change things up; the opportunity was just there. When I talked to Billy, he said he’d be really interested, and it was a pretty easy decision to fit him in on our staff.”
Gonzales credited Mullen’s character as one of the main reasons he decided to come coach at MSU.
“When you start picking a place to have the opportunity to go coach, you want to surround yourself with great people, and I know what kind of guy he (Mullen) is,” Gonzales said. “I know he’s a great father, and I know he’s a great leader. It’s neat to preach family in the recruiting process because that’s what you need to do, but it’s good to be here with a guy that can talk about family and mean it.”
Last season Tim Brewster coached the wide receivers for State. Next fall, Brewster will coach tight ends, which is his specialty. He will also be the team’s assistant head coach.  Brewster coached tight ends at North Carolina and Texas before moving to the NFL and coaching the position with the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos.
Brewster said the decision to bring in Gonzales to coach receivers and for him to coach tight ends again was natural.
“I’m in a great place in my career where I can help where needed,” Brewster said. “I’ve coached tight ends for a long time, and I’ve been a head coach, so I know about the things that go with that.”
Brewster speculated that he possibly turned down other offers to stay at MSU.
“I’ve had opportunities come up, but where I’m at in my career, the grass isn’t always greener,” Brewster said. “I have been absolutely thrilled with Mississippi State and living in Starkville. My family is comfortable here, and we’re really excited about being a part of Dan Mullen’s program, and I think we’re on the cusp of doing something special.”