40 in 40: Hutzler to lead improved Mississippi State defense

The 2024 season was one full of firsts for Mississippi State. It was the first time Jeff Lebby was the head coach of a team any level.

It was also the first season Coleman Hutzler didn’t share the defensive coordinator title. And, yes, there were plenty of growing pains as the Bulldogs went 2-10, 0-8 in SEC games for one of the program’s worst seasons.

There’s no one reason why 2024 was so bad and it’s not fair to try and place the blame on any one person. Junior safety Isaac Smith said at SEC Media Days players deserve some blame, too.

“We had a lot of missed execution last year,” Smith said. “Coach Hutzler preaches it day in and day out. We lacked execution the whole season, really -- missed tackles, missed assignments. And, quite frankly, that's why we lost a lot of games. I think we were last in about everything.”

The Bulldogs’ defense underwent some hefty changes during the offseason. Several coaches with SEC experience as coordinators or head coaches were hired and several players were brought in from the transfer portal to increase the unit’s overall talent level.

“Coach Hutzler has done an unbelievable job on the defensive side creating that belief and buy-in while we've done an unbelievable job, in my opinion, of supplementing the staff, having the ability to go hire three former head coaches, two former head coaches at the Power Four level in Coach Rhoads and Coach Mac,” Lebby said at SEC Media Days. “Both those guys being SEC defensive coordinators along their way at different stops, having this great amount of experience to be able to help in the room.”

Who is Coleman Hutzler?

Hutzler has been in coaching since 2006 when he was a defensive assistant at San Diego. He arrived in Starkville shortly after Lebby was hired in December 2023. Before that he spent two seasons as Alabama’s special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach.

Hutzler has been a special teams coordinator at seven total schools including Alabama, Florida (twice), Texas, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Boston College and New Mexico. He played college football at Middlebury College as a linebacker (2002-2005) and ended his career with the second-most tackles in the program’s history.

What happened in 2024?

Hutzler’s first season as defensive coordinator at Mississippi State didn’t go very well. The Bulldogs’ defense finished 117th in scoring defense, 125th in total defense, 129th in rushing defense and 90th in red zone defense. The defense also registered just 10 sacks and 12 turnovers.

Why is he important in 2025?

If Mississippi State is going to better this season, the defense will have to play better. Hutzler and his staff have brought in talented players and won’t be outsized by 20-30 lbs. in the trenches each week.

Like some others in this series, why Hutzler is important to the Bulldogs in 2025 is kind of obvious. He’s the leader of one side of the ball. He has a lot of control over the defense (as does every other defensive coordinator without “co” at the start of the title). He has also a year of experience under his belt, which should make him a better play caller (not that I’m saying he was bad last year because I don’t know enough about defensive play-calling, but assuming that experience leads to improvement).