has Steve on speed dial:
Coach Zach Arnett has been fired at Mississippi State. In the end, the timing was the only mystery as the Bulldogs have struggled in nearly every aspect of the game of football in recent weeks. Following a 51-10 shelling at the hands of Texas A&M, the only question centered around when the announcement of his dismissal would come. It came this morning. Now that the cat is out of the bag, allow me the chance to pull the curtain back a bit and share what we knew and when we knew it.
Sunday October 22nd: I received two calls from two friends who run in agent circles within an hour or so if each other. One of those calls asked some very specific questions about who on staff should be retained if a change was made. They asked about strength and conditioning staffers, recruiting staff and current assistant coaches. I get a lot of calls about that sort of thing when times are tough, but that one call spooked me a little as the caller had some very targeted questions. It was not as simple as, "Do you think State makes a change?". The caller spoke as if it was a foregone conclusion. I made some calls to campus and was told that at this point, a change was not planned. State had just beaten Arkansas, so there was some measure of hope that things would be okay even if it was a huge struggle on offense until Will Rogers returned.
Sunday October 29th: After a very lackluster performance on the road against Auburn, I reached out to a few donors with influence about the state of things. The feelings were mixed. One donor said that he really wanted Arnett to make it, but that Zach needed to give his supporters some ammunition to work with. The two others felt that a change was inevitable and that barring a win over Kentucky, things were heading downhill in a hurry. Support for retaining Arnett was eroding, but there was still some hope that things would turn around. I had one Mississippi State official that said it would be nearly impossible to keep him at 5-7, but getting to 6-6 with the injuries we had might be enough. That person went on to say that the sentiment at the time was that we would like to avoid making a change unless we simply had to.
Sunday November 5th: State simply did not show up against Kentucky and the next day, I found no one out there who was prepared to support the status quo. I was informed that Lee Hall had given the green light for Zac Selmon to make whatever changes he felt he needed to make in order to protect Mississippi State football. On Monday and Tuesday, I was told that change was coming barring a miracle turnaround, but even with that it was going to be a tough sale to keep the current staff in place. I was also told that the thinking was that Arnett would finish the season provided State did not get embarrassed at Texas A&M. With that in mind, I had our staff here prepare some content should the announcement of Arnett's firing come yesterday.
Sunday November 12th: The calls and texts were fast and furious after the debacle at A&M. I was able to confirm that an announcement was not coming yesterday and shared that on the board. One source shared that Lee Hall had initially been on board with Arnett finishing out the season, but that in the end it was going to be Selmon's call. As shared on the board yesterday, Selmon was not in Starkville and was meeting with some donors. I fielded about a dozen calls yesterday from people in the coaching profession and/or agent world trying to find out what they could about the current staff, recruits and who from support staff should be considered for retention.
Monday November 13th: I woke up to multiple texts that the announcement on Zach Arnett's termination was coming this morning.
Coach Zach Arnett stepped up in Mississippi State's time of need. For that, all should be grateful for the time and effort he put into Bulldog football and the current players and staff. He simply did not win enough and as a result a change is being made. He will be well compensated for his time as the Mississippi State football coach and will go on to another coaching opportunity. We wish him the absolute best.
Coach Zach Arnett has been fired at Mississippi State. In the end, the timing was the only mystery as the Bulldogs have struggled in nearly every aspect of the game of football in recent weeks. Following a 51-10 shelling at the hands of Texas A&M, the only question centered around when the announcement of his dismissal would come. It came this morning. Now that the cat is out of the bag, allow me the chance to pull the curtain back a bit and share what we knew and when we knew it.
Sunday October 22nd: I received two calls from two friends who run in agent circles within an hour or so if each other. One of those calls asked some very specific questions about who on staff should be retained if a change was made. They asked about strength and conditioning staffers, recruiting staff and current assistant coaches. I get a lot of calls about that sort of thing when times are tough, but that one call spooked me a little as the caller had some very targeted questions. It was not as simple as, "Do you think State makes a change?". The caller spoke as if it was a foregone conclusion. I made some calls to campus and was told that at this point, a change was not planned. State had just beaten Arkansas, so there was some measure of hope that things would be okay even if it was a huge struggle on offense until Will Rogers returned.
Sunday October 29th: After a very lackluster performance on the road against Auburn, I reached out to a few donors with influence about the state of things. The feelings were mixed. One donor said that he really wanted Arnett to make it, but that Zach needed to give his supporters some ammunition to work with. The two others felt that a change was inevitable and that barring a win over Kentucky, things were heading downhill in a hurry. Support for retaining Arnett was eroding, but there was still some hope that things would turn around. I had one Mississippi State official that said it would be nearly impossible to keep him at 5-7, but getting to 6-6 with the injuries we had might be enough. That person went on to say that the sentiment at the time was that we would like to avoid making a change unless we simply had to.
Sunday November 5th: State simply did not show up against Kentucky and the next day, I found no one out there who was prepared to support the status quo. I was informed that Lee Hall had given the green light for Zac Selmon to make whatever changes he felt he needed to make in order to protect Mississippi State football. On Monday and Tuesday, I was told that change was coming barring a miracle turnaround, but even with that it was going to be a tough sale to keep the current staff in place. I was also told that the thinking was that Arnett would finish the season provided State did not get embarrassed at Texas A&M. With that in mind, I had our staff here prepare some content should the announcement of Arnett's firing come yesterday.
Sunday November 12th: The calls and texts were fast and furious after the debacle at A&M. I was able to confirm that an announcement was not coming yesterday and shared that on the board. One source shared that Lee Hall had initially been on board with Arnett finishing out the season, but that in the end it was going to be Selmon's call. As shared on the board yesterday, Selmon was not in Starkville and was meeting with some donors. I fielded about a dozen calls yesterday from people in the coaching profession and/or agent world trying to find out what they could about the current staff, recruits and who from support staff should be considered for retention.
Monday November 13th: I woke up to multiple texts that the announcement on Zach Arnett's termination was coming this morning.
Coach Zach Arnett stepped up in Mississippi State's time of need. For that, all should be grateful for the time and effort he put into Bulldog football and the current players and staff. He simply did not win enough and as a result a change is being made. He will be well compensated for his time as the Mississippi State football coach and will go on to another coaching opportunity. We wish him the absolute best.
