Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss add former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett to staff as analyst
OXFORD, Miss. — The Rebel Walk has confirmed Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has added former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett to the Rebels’ staff as a defensive analyst.
Coach Kiffin spoke about the hiring of Arnett today in his post practice press conference. Today marks the first day of spring camp.
Coach Kiffin on Zach Arnett joining the staff: “I’ve had a lot of respect for Zach and thought they did a great a job over there at Starkville and caused people problems. It had been in discussions… I learned from Coach Saban…it’s a two-way street. You give people…
— The Rebel Walk (@TheRebelWalk) March 6, 2024
Arnett, who had been with MSU since 2020, was the head coach of the Bulldogs for 10 games last season before being fired before the Egg Bowl. Before that, Arnett served as Mike Leach’s defensive coordinator at State.
He took over as head coach for the Bulldogs after Mike Leach passed away in December, 2022. His record stood at 5-6 overall, 4-6 in 2023, in Starkville before he was let go.
Arnett started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at San Diego State in 2011, and after serving three seasons there, he became the team’s linebackers coach in 2014. In 2018, Arnett became the defensive coordinator, as well. In 2020, he was hired by Mississippi State.
At the time Arnett was fired last season, Coach Kiffin was asked if it surprised him the coach was let go so soon into his tenure at State.
“Yeah, it does,” Kiffin said. “I mean, it’s not like it used to be. Used to be you had time to build things and you had years to sign classes and see them develop before people made a decision. So, that’s obviously not what’s going on. To be let go 10 games into your first season when you got hired late, like Zach, really I don’t know how you do that that fast. I don’t know how the expectation is to judge you that fast about the job that you did. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the thing to fire people fast. To me it’s kind of the grass is always greener, so you know, it is what it is.”
Ole Miss begins spring practices today, so stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all your Ole Miss football news.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
