MSU WR Coach Angelo Mirando Steps Down

It figures that things were going TOO well for us State fans heading into the 2012 season. Everyone was healthy, spirits were high, we were even getting a little wooly about the 2012 edition of this football team.

Then we learned last night that Wide Receivers Coach Angelo Mirando has stepped down from his position.

Do wha?

That's right, just 12 days before the start of the season, State will be scrambling to replace a position coach, one who had done a solid job during his short stint at MSU. The school cites Mirando's reason for leaving as "unforseen personal issues", and they are remaining tight lipped past that on the situation. Obviously if this is family related we wish Angelo all the best, and hope for nothing but the best for him going forward. Mirando, as you may remember, joined State's staff on a permanent basis after the 2010 season, when WR Coach / Co-Offensive Coordinator Mark Hudspeth left to take the head coaching position at Louisiana-Lafayette. Mirando was promoted from a G.A. position at that time, and at 24 (now 26) years old, was easily one of the youngest people on a football coaching staff in the NCAA. At the time Mullen stated that Mirando's promotion would be on a temporary basis, but it seemed from all outside indications that he would most likely stay on permanently, at least until yesterday.

So, where does Mirando's departure leave State? Well, the biggest issue is having to replace him 12 days before the season. The good news in that regard though? Dan Mullen employs 4 coaches - Greg Knox, Scott Sallach, Les Koenning, and one of them being himself - with experience coaching the wide receiver position. One would think that due to the short time-frame on the replacement hire, Dan will stay in-house with a temporary replacement for the time being, and look to hire someone on a permanent basis after this fall's season has concluded. But there's one other huge issue that Mirando's departure brings up.

What about this stellar group of wide receiver commitments in the 2013 class for State? Angelo, a relentless recruiter, had worked hard to bring in some talent at the wide out position, and had been highly successfull so far in the recruiting season. State currently holds 4 commitments from wide receiver prospects for the 2013 class - DeAndre Woods, Shelby Christy, Scott Austin, and B.J. Hammond. All 6'3" and taller, all with tons of upside and all exciting for State fans to visualize in our offense for the next few years. I would imagine we will find out soon who these guys were more committed to - Angelo, or MSU. My guess is that if State can fill the position quickly with someone in-house and go into damage control with these guys, we should be able to keep them on board. Besides, one would have to think after they see Tyler Russell light it up this fall, they'll want to come play with him for a year and then Prescott for the years after that.

Only time will tell how this unfolds and affects State, but one can only hope Coach Mullen has it all under control. In the mean time please remain calm, ALL IS WELL!

via gifsoup.com