Jackson State hires Tony Hughes as its head coach
Jackson State announced the hiring of Tony Hughes as its head coach on Monday.
Hughes was the safeties coach and recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State, but despite more than 30 years of coaching experience, Hughes had never been a head coach, something he said he’d love to be.
“The only thing I’ll say is, in my career 31 years of coaching, I would love to be a head coach,” Hughes said after Mississippi State’s practice on Saturday. “As a career assistant in the SEC, a high school coach, junior college, I would love to be a head coach in my career. There are few opportunities that arise in a career that you may get an opportunity or not.”
Jackson State fired coach Harold Jackson five games into the 2015 season when the team was 1-4, and struggled to a 3-8 season under interim coach Derrick McCall.
Rivals.com lauded Hughes, 56, as one of the nation’s best recruiters earlier this year after the Bulldogs signed five of the state’s top six players.
Happy for Tony to get this job. Absolute wellspring of knowledge about football in Mississippi and across the South https://t.co/hpCQrzQlSd
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) December 14, 2015
The details of Hughes contract with Jackson State have not yet been released.
Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen issued a statement Monday wishing Hughes’ well on his new endeavor.
“Tony is fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a head coach, and I am very proud of him,” Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said in a statement. “He has been a loyal assistant and a tireless recruiter. He’s done a tremendous job in helping elevate our program in our seven years here. Jackson State is not only getting an excellent head coach, but a great person and family man. We watched his son Jay come through our program, graduate and serve as a captain on our 2014 team that spent five weeks ranked No. 1. Tony’s values will continue to make him successful. I wish him and his family all the best.”
For more Mississippi State news, visit BulldogBlitz.com.
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