Hughes: "I Love The People In The State Of Mississippi"
December 15, 2018 | Football
STARKVILLE -- New Mississippi State assistant football coach Tony Hughes met with the media on Saturday following practice for the first time since returning to Starkville.
This is the' second stint in Starkville for the longtime Mississippian. A veteran coach and heralded recruiter with three decades of experience in his home state, Hughes spent seven seasons from 2009-15 with the Bulldogs coaching safeties and as recruiting coordinator. He also served as assistant head coach for three of those seasons beginning in the spring of 2013. He recently spent the last two-plus seasons in Jackson, Mississippi, as head coach at Jackson State University.
Assistant Coach Tony Hughes – Media Session
December 15, 2018
On his experience evaluating the team through bowl prep …
"It's an opportunity for me to get back around the kids and the program itself to basically learn how things are done under Coach Moorhead and his staff. It's good for me to get back and to learn in a new environment."
On how much he followed Mississippi State over the last few seasons …
"I kept up with them because a lot of the kids I had recruited and built a great relationship with them and their families, so I still pulled hard for the Bulldogs."
On his decision to return to Mississippi State …
"It's my home state. I love the people in the state of Mississippi. My wife's from here. I'm from here. My family is here. My parents live here. What a great opportunity to come back to a program where I had an opportunity to do some special things while we were here. It was kind of a no brainer. When Coach (Moorhead) gave me the opportunity to come back, I was really excited about it."
On what he knew about Joe Moorhead before taking this position …
"I knew he had been the head coach at Fordham. One of the reasons was one of his offensive line coaches Joel Rodriguez. Joel and I worked together at Ole Miss. Joel is at the University of Miami now, but he was Moorhead's offensive line coach at Fordham. That was basically how I knew him."
On how the players reacted to his return to the program …
"I think there was some excitement. It takes a day or two to get around them. Yesterday was the first day we were in meetings and different things like that. Today out on the practice field was a little bit more comfort level for them. 'Hey coach, how you doing?' – that type of thing. Yesterday was more or less kind of a meet and greet."
On how much has changed since he was last at Mississippi State …
"I haven't been back enough in the building to tell yet. I have my same old office though, so it hasn't changed that much. But I'm sure there are a lot of things that have changed. Any time you come back or come into a new environment, it takes a minute to learn exactly that's going on. A lot of new faces and a lot of new things going on here."
On what he's been able to do recruiting-wise since returning …
"One of the things that Coach Moorhead is excited about is the opportunity for me to get back into the state of Mississippi, where I've had success as a recruiter. To bring that value to him and his coaching staff is something that's very important to him."
On if he has any preference on his coaching role …
"I'm like this -- I'm a very humble guy. A military guy. I follow protocol, and I follow orders real well. Whatever Coach Moorhead wants me to do, that's what I'll do."
On how proud he was of the guys he recruited during his first stint at MSU and their performance this season ...
"It was very exciting. A lot of the kids – some were highly recruited and highly ranked and some were not, but (it was great) to see the guys that were highly recruited play up to their potential and the guys that were not go through that developmental cycle and become great players that we thought they would be when we recruited them."
On the transition from being a head coach and returning to an assistant role …
"Well, I've always heard that is a very difficult and challenging situation to be in. This is just day two, so I'm trying to see how challenging that's going to be for me. At the same time, like I said, my personality is such that I'm used to taking orders. You have to remember that I was an assistant coach for 30 years before I was a head coach, so I know probably more about being an assistant than a head coach."
This is the' second stint in Starkville for the longtime Mississippian. A veteran coach and heralded recruiter with three decades of experience in his home state, Hughes spent seven seasons from 2009-15 with the Bulldogs coaching safeties and as recruiting coordinator. He also served as assistant head coach for three of those seasons beginning in the spring of 2013. He recently spent the last two-plus seasons in Jackson, Mississippi, as head coach at Jackson State University.
Assistant Coach Tony Hughes – Media Session
December 15, 2018
On his experience evaluating the team through bowl prep …
"It's an opportunity for me to get back around the kids and the program itself to basically learn how things are done under Coach Moorhead and his staff. It's good for me to get back and to learn in a new environment."
On how much he followed Mississippi State over the last few seasons …
"I kept up with them because a lot of the kids I had recruited and built a great relationship with them and their families, so I still pulled hard for the Bulldogs."
On his decision to return to Mississippi State …
"It's my home state. I love the people in the state of Mississippi. My wife's from here. I'm from here. My family is here. My parents live here. What a great opportunity to come back to a program where I had an opportunity to do some special things while we were here. It was kind of a no brainer. When Coach (Moorhead) gave me the opportunity to come back, I was really excited about it."
On what he knew about Joe Moorhead before taking this position …
"I knew he had been the head coach at Fordham. One of the reasons was one of his offensive line coaches Joel Rodriguez. Joel and I worked together at Ole Miss. Joel is at the University of Miami now, but he was Moorhead's offensive line coach at Fordham. That was basically how I knew him."
On how the players reacted to his return to the program …
"I think there was some excitement. It takes a day or two to get around them. Yesterday was the first day we were in meetings and different things like that. Today out on the practice field was a little bit more comfort level for them. 'Hey coach, how you doing?' – that type of thing. Yesterday was more or less kind of a meet and greet."
On how much has changed since he was last at Mississippi State …
"I haven't been back enough in the building to tell yet. I have my same old office though, so it hasn't changed that much. But I'm sure there are a lot of things that have changed. Any time you come back or come into a new environment, it takes a minute to learn exactly that's going on. A lot of new faces and a lot of new things going on here."
On what he's been able to do recruiting-wise since returning …
"One of the things that Coach Moorhead is excited about is the opportunity for me to get back into the state of Mississippi, where I've had success as a recruiter. To bring that value to him and his coaching staff is something that's very important to him."
On if he has any preference on his coaching role …
"I'm like this -- I'm a very humble guy. A military guy. I follow protocol, and I follow orders real well. Whatever Coach Moorhead wants me to do, that's what I'll do."
On how proud he was of the guys he recruited during his first stint at MSU and their performance this season ...
"It was very exciting. A lot of the kids – some were highly recruited and highly ranked and some were not, but (it was great) to see the guys that were highly recruited play up to their potential and the guys that were not go through that developmental cycle and become great players that we thought they would be when we recruited them."
On the transition from being a head coach and returning to an assistant role …
"Well, I've always heard that is a very difficult and challenging situation to be in. This is just day two, so I'm trying to see how challenging that's going to be for me. At the same time, like I said, my personality is such that I'm used to taking orders. You have to remember that I was an assistant coach for 30 years before I was a head coach, so I know probably more about being an assistant than a head coach."
FOOTBALL | 2026 Spring Practice Media Session - Jeff Lebby
Thursday, April 16
FOOTBALL | 2026 Spring Practice Media Session - Kamario Taylor
Saturday, April 11
FOOTBALL | 2026 Spring Practice Media Session - Kelley Jones
Saturday, April 11
FOOTBALL | 2026 Spring Practice Media Session - Jeff Lebby
Saturday, April 11