Mississippi State football filled their last coaching opening this offseason with the reported hire of University of Southern California linebacker coach and recruiting coordinator ,Peter Sirmon. While no official word on his title, it is speculated he will be the new defensive coordinator for MSU.
While the hire was first reported by Lindsey Thiry of the LA Times, many other news outlets confirmed the hire but there has not been any official confirmation from the university.
Sirmon, a native of Walla Walla, Washington, played linebacker for University of Oregon before moving on to the NFL where he played for seven years with the Tennessee Titans. He started coaching in 2008 when he became the Linebacker coach for Central Washington.
Sirmon has some Southeastern Conference experience as he was a Graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee in 2010 and the Linebackers Coach there the following year in 2011.
In 2012 and 2013 Sirmon was the linebacker coach at Washington before taking over the same position at USC in 2014 and 2015.
The Defensive Coordinator job opened up after Manny Diaz left MSU to take over the same position at the University of Miami (Fl.). This will be head coach Dan Mullen’s sixth defensive coordinator change since he took the job in 2009. MSU has not had the same defensive coordinator for three consecutive years since Mullen took over. Despite holding the position of recruiting coordinator at USC, Sirmon is not expected to take the position at MSU.
The Bulldogs have seen major changes this offseason on the defensive side of the ball. With Safeties coach Tony Hughes leaving to become the head coach at Jackson State as well. MSU hired Terrell Buckley to take over.
Buckley also played in the NFL for 14 years. Between Buckley, Sirmon and Cornerbacks Coach Deshea Townsend, MSU will have three coaches who played in the NFL. Two of which, Buckley and Townsend, won Super Bowls.
The timing of these hires is important as signing day is just around the corner on Feb. 3. Also, the no contact period between coaches and recruits ends January 14.
MSU will look to close strong on the recruiting front after losing key contributors like Taveze Calhoun, Will Redmond, Chris Jones, and Beniquez Brown to graduation and the NFL draft. MSU will still have to go through spring practice and summer camps before starting the 2016 Sept. 3 season at SouthAlabama.
