Inside Zach Arnett’s Abrupt Ascension at Mississippi State

Arnett’s sudden promotion after Mike Leach’s death is unexpected, but it was only a matter of time before the 36-year-old nabbed a head coaching job.

Fox & Hound is a bar and grill nestled in the north Mississippi town of Southaven. There is nothing spectacular about it. It’s got a pool table or two, some dart boards and serves burgers, wings and buckets of cold beer.

But now, Fox & Hound will be known for something else.

It’s where Mike Leach convinced Zach Arnett to join his staff at Mississippi State. In a most Leach move, the coach hired Arnett during a more than three-hour phone call at a bar.

“He was sitting over there in the corner and got on the phone with Arnett trying to get him as the coordinator,” recalls Brad Peterson, then the high school relations director for Leach. “Me and [assistant] Mason Miller shot pool and threw darts waiting on him to get off the phone!”

Nearly three years later, Arnett is the top Dawg in Starkville.

Mississippi State is expected to elevate Arnett as its permanent head coach in a move likely to be made official Thursday, sources tell Sports Illustrated. Officials have spent the last 24 hours in serious discussion about how promoting Arnett would stabilize the program in a time of grief, a week before signing day and amid the transfer portal madness.

Zach Arnett has earned the trust needed to lead Mississippi State football after Mike Leach’s sudden death :: Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The 36-year-old will be the youngest head coach in the SEC, three years younger than Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz. Arnett is the same age, when hired, as a former Mississippi State coach: Dan Mullen.

Arnett, who just completed his third season as Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator, was named interim coach when Leach was hospitalized after a cardiac-related emergency on Sunday morning. He died Monday night in a passing that rocked the college game.

Mississippi State elevates one of the most sought-after young up-and-coming defensive minds in the game. Over the last two years, multiple powerhouse programs have flirted with Arnett, resulting in his whopper of a contract. Arnett was set to make $1.2 million per year on a contract that was extended over the summer through the 2024 season. According to 247Sports, it was the longest contract ever given to a coordinator at the school. He's set to receive another sizable pay bump with his elevation to head coach.

Arnett's first orders of business will be to retain players, sign new ones and determine a future for Mississippi State's offense. The Bulldogs have been operating Leach's Air Raid scheme with players recruited and built for the system, including star quarterback Will Rogers. Leach served as his own offensive coordinator and called plays. 

Leach brought Arnett to Starkville in January of 2020, luring him away from Syracuse, where he’d just been hired 11 days prior. Arnett is a New Mexico native who played linebacker at UNM for longtime coach Rocky Long. He coached under Long as a graduate assistant, position coach and finally coordinator over Long’s nine-year tenure at San Diego State. 

Arnett was a four-time academic all-conference honoree at New Mexico and recorded more than 200 tackles his senior season. He started his career there as a two-sport athlete before dropping baseball (he was a catcher).

“He was not very big. He was a little undersized for being a linebacker,” Long says. “He was pretty athletic. He’s only about 5-foot-10 and was playing inside linebacker for us. He wasn’t super fast but could change directions. As all good linebackers can do, he’d recognize a play and react as he was supposed to.”

Long had a role in Arnett’s hiring at Mississippi State. Leach and Long have a relationship that dates back to Leach’s days at Texas Tech, where in 2004 the Red Raiders lost to Long’s Lobos, 27–24. Leach became enamored with Long’s 3-3-5 defense.

“From that moment on, we became friends,” Long says.

So, when looking for a coordinator, Leach called Long. Long suggested Arnett. And then Leach, from that bar, called Arnett.

While Peterson and Miller shot pool and darts, Leach talked to Arnett for more than three hours. And the phone call didn’t end when the coaches left the bar.

“We finally got coach out of there and he was still on the phone with him and then he was on the phone in the elevator and then he walked into his hotel room on the phone,” laughs Peterson.

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In three years in Starkville, Arnett has built strong relationships in a talent-rich state. In fact, when news emerged Wednesday that he’d be promoted to the full-time head coach, he was out recruiting.

“He’s really good. The kids really like him. Hard-nosed,” says Peterson, now out of the coaching business. “He’s got so much common sense. He’s a humble guy. He’s what you are looking for. He’ll do a great job.

“He understands Mississippi State recruiting. You get guys in here not from the South and the SEC and they don’t understand Mississippi recruiting. He does.”

Arnett is believed to be the first SEC coach of Hispanic descent. He’s the second minority coach that Mississippi State has hired, joining Sylvester Croom (2004). Mississippi State and Vanderbilt (James Franklin, Derek Mason) are believed to be the only two SEC schools to have hired multiple minority head football coaches. 

In an interview with SI earlier Wednesday, Mississippi State president Mark Keenum said of Arnett: “I’ve admired him and his role as our defensive coordinator. He’s done an outstanding job.”