Hal Mumme has come a long way since his heydays as coach of an SEC football team. In what may be his final opportunity as a head coach, he takes over at Belhaven, an NAIA school in Jackson, Miss.
Mumme, 61, leaves Southern Methodist, where he was passing game coordinator last season.
This will be Mumme's seventh head coaching job. He is widely known for his prolific passing offenses.
Mumme was the right man for SMU coach June Jones's vaunted Air Raid scheme. He will be missed.
"He is an innovator and a friend,'' Jones told the Dallas Morning News on Friday. "I really enjoyed the time we spent together and we wish him well at Belhaven. Our search for a replacement has already started and we hope to have a coach in place that fits our needs very quickly."
While SMU searches, Belhaven has visions of grandeur in college football's lower competition realms.
"I heard for years Hal Mumme's reputation as a football genius and innovator," Belhaven president Roger Parrott said in a statement. "Then when I got to know him personally, I was amazed at how what we as football fans see on the field is just the tip of the iceberg of this remarkable coach and leader.''
Mumme's career pinnacle was at Kentucky from 1997-2000, where he coached quarterback Tim Couch, who was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. He also was head coach at McMurray, New Mexico State, Southeastern Louisiana, Valdosta State and Iowa Wesleyan.
Belhaven, a small private school, went 3-8 record last season. The school announced the hire on Friday.