Coaching next season is still a high priority for former Hornets football coach Steve Mooshagian.

Mooshagian, whose contract with Sacramento State was not renewed last week, says he looks forward to coaching again and is even considering taking a position other than head coach.

“Right now, at this point, I don’t think I have anything saying I have to be an offensive coordinator, I have to be this, I have to be that,” Mooshagian said. “I’m perfectly fine whether it’s an assistant head coach, whether it’s a coordinator or whether it’s a position coach.”

But with very few coaching jobs open at this time of the year, Mooshagian is taking the opportunity to relax and finish tying up loose ends with the Hornets football program.

Mooshagian said it was important to him that he earns his paycheck and finish the job he started. Mooshagian was managing the scholarship funds for his players and finishing placing the order for next season’s Nike equipment. As a head coach, taking on other roles on the team was done in the best interest of his coaching staff to lighten their workload.

Last week Mooshagian visited his alma mater Fresno State after being invited to the football team’s practice. A strange moment occurred as Mooshagian found himself talking about equipment and Nike gear with the Fresno equipment manager.

After talking shop with the guy, Mooshagian felt like he knew enough to be an equipment manager, a rather bizarre qualification to put on a resume for a coaching position. During Mooshagian’s four-year stay at Sac State he said the program had to cut corners on travel and staffing to fit the budget.

“The biggest frustration was that we constantly had to get more out of less,” Mooshagian said. Mooshagian also found it hard maintaining his coaching staff when he was unable to give them raises. Wanting to reward the coaches he thought had a good season, the reason for a lot of the coaches who left was for better offers, Mooshagian said.

Mooshagian’s No. 1 wish for the next person hired as head coach is that the school give the coach enough money to hire and maintain a coaching staff.

“When you only have a certain amount of dollars to deal with, it’s a challenge to keep (coaches) here with the cost of living,” Mooshagian said.

While not in any type of panic mode, Mooshagian said he’s not overly worried about finding a job. He is going to be acting as “Mr. Mom” for his family and helping out at home.

Junior Bobby Mooshagian, Steve Mooshagian’s son and wide receiver for the Hornets, when asked what he thought about the school’s decision not to renew his dad’s contract, said it wasn’t right to not to re-sign a coach who had prior experience in a successful college program and the NFL.

As of right now, Bobby Mooshagian is waiting to see who’s going to be named the new head coach. While having opportunities to go elsewhere, Bobby said he still wants to be a Hornet.

“This is the team that recruited me, I want to stay loyal as long as they still want me or I feel I want to make a change,” Bobby Mooshagian said.

In his job search, Mooshagian said he is looking for a new position where he can enjoy going into work everyday, like he did with the Hornets players, and be given the funding and support from the school needed to win.

“I know I will have some opportunities, I know for sure that I will,” Mooshagian said. “I’m just trying to get what’s best for my family and what’s the best step for me professionally.’

The football team went 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference this season, 4-7 overall, and had the second most successful conference record in the 11-year history the school has been in the Big Sky.

Mooshagian was 11-33 overall as the Hornet’s head coach and admits that was not the goal he set for himself when he took the job.

On Nov. 27, Sac State Athletic Director Terry Wanless announced that Mooshagian will not be returning as the head coach next season and the school will be conducting a national search for a new coach.

The university has not named any official candidates for the position.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected]