Mississippi State announces hiring of veteran Paul Rhoads to defensive staff
Mississippi State is adding an experienced defensive football coach to the staff for 2025.
Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs announced on Monday that veteran defensive coordinator and former head coach Paul Rhoads will be joining the staff as a defensive analyst. Rhoads comes to State after spending a season with former MSU assistant coach Mark Hudspeth at Gulf Shores High School.
“Paul is highly regarded in college football,” Lebby said in a statement. “He’s a ball coach with an extraordinary defensive mind who has a proven history of success over the last three decades. He’s seen it all. His knowledge of the game, ability to develop players to the next level and experience game planning and play calling in the toughest conferences in the country will make our program better.”
Rhoads has 35 years of coaching experience that he’s bringing with him to Starkville this season. The Iowa native played his four seasons with Missouri Western as a defensive back before jumping into coaching at Utah State as a graduate assistant.
After spending three years combined at Utah State and Ohio State, Rhoads went to Pacific to coach for three seasons. He became Iowa State’s inside linebackers coach in 1995 and then was defensive backs coach for four seasons.
Rhoads got his first defensive coordinator position at Pittsburgh in 2000 and coached the Panthers defense for eight years before grabbing the DC spot at Auburn in 2008. Rhoads would earn himself a head coaching opportunity at Iowa State in 2009 and spent six years with the Cyclones.
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In those six seasons, Rhoads was 32-55 with the Cyclones with three trips to bowl games. He got back into the game as an assistant in 2016 and coached Chad Morris’ defense for two seasons. He also had a stop at UCLA in 2018 and 19 as the defensive backs coach before getting another crack at DC at Arizona.
Most recently, Rhoads was coaching on this level at Boston College as the OLB coach in 2023. During his career, Rhoads had three defenses finish inside the top 15 of total defense and two finished inside the top 15 in scoring.
“I’m excited and grateful for this opportunity to join Coach Lebby’s staff and the Mississippi State Family,” Rhoads said. “Throughout my career, I’ve long admired Mississippi State’s reputation for elite defensive play. I look forward to connecting with our players and helping them maximize their potential both on and off the field. My wife Vickie and I are thrilled to be a part of the Starkville community. I can’t wait to get to work.”
Rhoads adds to two other coaching changes made on Sunday when Lebby hired Colorado assistants Phil Loadholt (offensive line) and Vincent Dancy (defensive ends/OLB). Former OL coach Cody Kennedy will not return to the staff and Dancy is expected to share the defensive line room with longtime assistant David Turner who will be coaching interior linemen.
