Just days after Missouri State announced the departure of Head Football Coach Dave Steckel, University President Clif Smart and Athletic Director Kyle Moats started to fill in the blanks for some of the questions about the opening.
“We’re not going to do our traditional search committee, the search committee is the two people sitting at this table,” Smart said about he and Moats.
It’s a unique approach for a unique situation.
With national signing day on February 5, Smart and Moats are taking the search upon themselves to find the program’s next head coach.
“We’ve contacted all of our recruits with the message that President Smart and I will be working quickly and closely together to find a replacement,” Moats said.
In those discussions, Moats says current recruits and players have responded well to the news.
“I think we’ve got maybe one that’s wavering a little bit on both sides,” Moats said.
So the question becomes, what are they looking for in the replacement?
According to Moats, there’s no specific guideline to follow.
“I don’t know if you necessarily have to worry about defense or offense,” he said. “You worry about who can do the best job and win ballgames.”
That’s been difficult for the program in recent years as Missouri State lacks certain amenities other FCS teams have like an indoor practice facility.
“What we put into it to get it going is an investment, and we need to work on that and we need somebody who will believe in us,” said Moats. “And try to help us to make that happen, so that’s the challenge, that is the challenge.”
To beat that challenge, Moats is banking on several selling points to find the right coach.
“You’ve got the conference, you’ve got Springfield, administrative support. It’s a great place to live and raise a family and the university is growing. All of those things are positive. So we need somebody who will believe in that and want to be here,” Moats said.
The program that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 1990 and hasn’t posted a winning season in 10 years.
Neither Smart nor Moats gave a concrete deadline for finding a new head coach, but both said they’d like to see the hire made within the next two weeks.
