Brian Baker has accepted job as Mississippi State DL coach

Former Washington Redskins outside linebackers coach Brian Baker has accepted the Mississippi State defensive line coach job, according to a source.

Former Washington Redskins outside linebackers coach Brian Baker has accepted the job as the new defensive line coach under Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen according to a source.

Baker spent the past year as an assistant coach and mentor at Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville, Texas, after working with the Redskins for a season. He was not retained when Washington hired Joe Barry as defensive coordinator after the 2014 season. In his season with the Redskins, Baker worked on improving the pass rush and helped outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan rack up a career-high 13.5 sacks.

He came to Washington after coaching the Cleveland Browns’ outside linebackers in 2013. Baker was the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive line coach from 2011–12 and also served as defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers (’09–10), St. Louis Rams (’06–08), the Minnesota Vikings (’01, ’04–05), Detroit Lions (1997–2000) and San Diego Chargers (1996). He coached the Vikings’ linebackers from 2002–03.

Before moving to the NFL, Baker worked at Georgia Tech for nine seasons, coaching linebackers for all nine and taking on defensive coordinator duties for his final season with the Yellow Jackets. He was the fullbacks coach at Army in 1986.

He got his start in coaching as a student assistant at his alma mater, Maryland, in 1984 and was a graduate assistant with the Terrapins in ’85. Baker played outside linebacker at Maryland from ’80–83 and helped the Terrapins win an ACC title in ’83.

Mississippi State went 9–4 with a 51–28 victory over NC State in the Belk Bowl in 2015. The Bulldogs have won a program-record 19 games in the past two seasons and are 55–35 in seven seasons under Mullen.