7 Zach Arnett replacements Mississippi State should already be talking to
By Drew Koch
This felt inevitable, didn't it? Zach Arnett took over the Mississippi State program following the unfortunate passing of former head coach Mike Leach. Arnett will not even get the chance to finish out his first year at the helm.
Mississippi State, with new Athletic Director Zac Selmon leading the way, will look to usher in a new era of Bulldogs football heading into 2024 as the Bulldogs fired Arnett on Monday. The first-year head coach is the second SEC firing in two days after Jimbo Fisher was let go by Texas A&M on Sunday.
This season, Mississippi State has fallen to just 4-6 on the season which is good enough for sixth place in the very difficult SEC West. MSU's best victory of the season came against the Arizona Wildcats in Week 2 of the college football season. The Bulldogs needed overtime to take home the victory, but then lost three straight games.
Following yet another three-game skid, Selmon decided to pull the plug on Arnett. The Bulldogs have two games against in-state rivals Southern Mississippi and Ole Miss left on the schedule with senior offensive analyst Greg Knox taking over the final couple weeks of the 2023 campaign.
So, Mississippi State will now look to replace Arnett. Despite being in the SEC, it's difficult to call Mississippi State a prime landing spot. However, the right hire could make all the difference. Is there a coach who could help the Bulldogs to their first conference title since 1941?
7. Lance Leipold, Kansas Jayhawks head coach
Let's go with the home run hire to start, shall we? What Lance Leipold has done at Kansas is akin to what Mike Elko is doing at Duke and what James Franklin did at Vanderbilt. Leipold has taken a school that was a college football bottom dweller and turned it into a contender.
Leipold and the Jayhawks suffered a bad loss this past week to Texas Tech, but KU is still sitting at 7-3 on the season with a victory over the Oklahoma Sooners; a team that will be joining the SEC in 2024.
Lance Leipold led Kansas to a bowl game in his second year in Lawrence and is sure to take the Jayhawks bowling once again this season. Leipold will be highly sought-after this winter, and Mississippi State's early dismissal of Zach Arnett may give the Bulldgos a headstart.