Mississippi State relieved head football coach Zach Arnett of his duties Monday morning. Arnett compiled a 4-6 record (1-6 SEC) in the 2023 season through 10 games in his first year as full-time coach. Senior offensive analyst Greg Knox will serve as Mississippi State interim coach through the final two games of the season, according to ESPN.
Arnett was elevated from defensive coordinator to interim coach in 2022 following the untimely death of the legendary Mike Leach. After leading the team to an emotional victory in the ReliaQuest Bowl, the administration decided to promote Arnett to full-time coach during the offseason in lieu of conducting a national search for Leach’s replacement.
The move to fire Arnett comes on the heels of a 51-10 loss for Mississippi State to Texas A&M in Week 11. Ironically, Arnett is not the first coach to be fired amid the fallout from that game. On Sunday, Texas A&M made the move to fire Jimbo Fisher despite the convincing win for the Aggies.
I know an available coach that likes maroon & white and dog mascots…
The coaching carousel is spinning up so quickly I’m getting whiplash!
I did not see this one coming as an in-season firing. I had a hunch he might be out, but this is hasty. I guess if you know he’s dead weight you cut him early to get a head start on the search
A&M vs MSU claims the jobs of BOTH head coaches. I can’t think of another game where that’s ever happened before?
The “Piss and Miss” Egg Bowl a few years back is the only one that I can think of off the top of my head, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are others
What a treat that was
Did anyone have Arnett on their Hot Seat list?
I mean I knew things were warming up under his tuchus, but certainly didn’t anticipate an in season firing for him.
I figured they’d give him at least 2 seasons. He inherited the program after a tragedy, which couldn’t have been easy, and was trying to completely overhaul the offense, which takes time.
Him getting the boot less than one season in tells me that there were some higher ups at MSU that didn’t like him being promoted to head coach from the get-go.
