Arnett Proud To Be The New Head Dawg
December 22, 2022 | Football, Joel Coleman
State’s new head football coach humbled by the opportunity he’s been given.
STARKVILLE – Wheels start to turn in the head of Zach Arnett as soon as the question is asked.
What's the last few days been like for the new Mississippi State head coach? Following the untimely passing of Mike Leach that led to Arnett's promotion, how does the new top Dawg describe the recent surreal series of events?
"I don't quite have the vocabulary of my predecessor, so I'm still searching for the correct adjective," Arnett said. "Tragic. Unique. Unprecedented. I'm not sure which word encapsulates the way it has been."
Arnett should feel no shame. What he and Mississippi State football as a whole have gone through the last two weeks isn't easy to put into words. It's been a heartbreaking, earth-shaking, world-altering period that resulted in Arnett being elevated to head coach on December 15.
In ordinary circumstances, the hiring of a new head coach comes with pomp and circumstance. These of course have been far, far from ordinary circumstances.
Arnett was dealt a hand it's likely safe to say no other new head coach in college football history has held. His new team was dealing with the painful loss of its leader. His future teams were hanging in the balance with National Signing Day less than a week away at the time of his promotion. Not to mention, one game was (and still is) remaining on the current season's schedule – the fast-approaching ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois.
It should come as no surprise then that there has been no time for grand introductions or anything of the sort. There's been far more important matters to handle.
"Since taking over and becoming head coach, we've had three priorities," Arnett explained. "Number one has been to take care of our current players and make sure they're OK. Number two has been to retain the commitments in the signing class and try to pick up any key late additions to finish the class off right. Then, number three has been to prepare for this bowl game and get the team ready to go out there and finish the season off the right way, honor Coach Leach and play well. Really that's the only three things we've been focused on right now. Anything beyond that is really to be determined at a later date."
Arnett has been busy with his to-do list. However he hasn't been too busy to realize how fortunate he is.
Southeastern Conference head coaching jobs like Mississippi State's are obviously among the most desirable positions in all of football. It's not lost on Arnett at all that he's been handed the keys to a team that's currently ranked in the Top 25 nationally and is one of only seven programs in the nation to play in a bowl game every year since 2010.
"I can remember meeting with [interim director of athletics] Bracky Brett and [Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum]," Arnett said. "You're almost embarrassed. You almost don't get excited because it's so incredibly humbling. I'm incredibly excited for the opportunity to stay at this great university and this community that has completely changed the fortunes of myself and my family forever. I'll be indebted to this place forever. Most importantly, I'm excited to continue to work with the great young men in our program because they are great guys. I'm a football guy and they play football the way I like football to be played. They do things the right way. They're tough and hard-nosed guys. They're everything Coach Leach wanted and was proud of in his teams. So, it's incredibly humbling to be the next guy that gets to work with them."
The current Bulldog players and the ones that'll follow – including the Top-25 signing class MSU inked on Wednesday – are surely in fantastic hands with Arnett.
Here's a coach widely regarded as one of the game's top defensive minds and a man already considered a rising star in the coaching profession before he got his new gig. As State's defensive coordinator since 2020, all of Arnett's Bulldog defenses have ranked in the top five in the SEC in total defense, rushing defense and takeaways. He's been a two-time nominee for the Broyles Award, which is given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.
Before Arnett's time at MSU, he shined as an assistant coach, then defensive coordinator at San Diego State under one of football's top defensive minds, Rocky Long.
Think about that. State's new head man has had the opportunity to sit under the tree of knowledge of a defensive guru in Long as well as the offensive wizardry of Leach. It'd be tough to find two better teachers.
"I realize now that [over the last 13 or 14 years] working for Coach Long and then Coach Leach, the wisdom those men possess and the opportunity for a young coach to spend time under them and just observe and listen, those lessons will stay with me for the rest of my life – not only professionally as a coach, but also personally," Arnett said. "I hope to be half the leader those guys have been throughout their careers."
For Arnett, his own leadership journey has only just begun, but so far, so good. A quick check of that priority list of his illustrates such.
MSU players are still hurting, but persevering following the loss of Leach. Nearly every single prospective Bulldog player that was committed to State before National Signing Day stuck with their pledge, and Arnett and his staff even got a couple of fantastic surprises. Then there's the bowl game which will serve as Arnett's head coaching debut. The Dawgs continue to work towards completing this season on a high note.
"It has been expressed and [the players] understand we are doing exactly what Coach Leach would want of us," Arnett said. "That's to finish this season off, to stay focused on the game, to put in the work and prepare. There's no better way for us to honor him and show our respect for him and his family than to go out there and play a complete game and compete like he would expect us to."
Leach would expect it and Arnett expects it, too, just as he did as defensive coordinator.
Arnett's career has been built on preparation, aggression and execution. Even if his chair has changed, his style surely won't.
That would seem to foreshadow success for Arnett as he leads the Dawgs into the future. While he strives for great heights, he makes no bones about how honored he is to be the one building on the foundation Leach laid.
"I'm damn proud to be the head coach here," Arnett said.