Report: Mississippi State finalizing deal to hire Appalachian State's Kevin Barbay as new OC

According to a report by Ross Dellenger, Mississippi State is set to hire Kevin Barbay as its new offensive coordinator.

Barbay is currently the offensive coordinator at Appalachian State. A Jim McElwain disciple, Barbay worked under McElwain at Colorado State, Florida, and Central Michigan.

This season, Kevin Barbay’s Appalachian State offense was 23rd in the country in terms of scoring offense with 34.9 points per game. The Mountaineers were also 26th in total offense with 455.3 yards per game on the season.

The year before, he led Central Michigan to a top 32 offense in the country as well.

For Mississippi State, in the wake of Mike Leach’s death, this represents a shift in offensive style. Barbay isn’t a traditional Air Raid coach. That doesn’t mean that he won’t air the ball out, just that he won’t be running the exact style of offense as Leach did.