Mississippi State announced Monday that it had fired head football coach Zach Arnett after just one season.
Arnett, who had served as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator for three seasons, was promoted to head coach last December after the sudden death of Mike Leach. Arnett’s hiring also came with the school searching for an athletic director, as John Cohen had left a little more than a month earlier to be the Auburn athletic director.
Mississippi State (4-6, 1-6 in the SEC) has lost six of its past eight games and is coming off a 51-10 loss to Texas A&M, which just fired its coach, Jimbo Fisher, on Sunday.
“As part of my thorough and continued evaluation, I have determined that a change in leadership is necessary to move our football program forward and position it for the highest level of success,” Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said Monday in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for Zach Arnett and am incredibly appreciative of the effort he put forth in leading our football program. However, the progress and on-field results have not been of the standard required for Mississippi State to achieve the level of success we need and expect.”
The Bulldogs have struggled on offense. They have scored more than 17 points just once in seven SEC games, and in their past four games, have scored a total of 33 points.
Arnett went away from Leach’s Air Raid offense in hiring new offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay, who installed more of a pro-style system. The Bulldogs also were hurt by an injury to veteran quarterback Will Rogers during the second half of the season.
Mississippi State president Mark Keenum said Selmon, who was hired in January from Oklahoma, would move effectively in the search process.
“When Zac Selmon was hired after coach Leach’s passing, one of the attributes he reflected was the ability to effectively identify and recruit talent,” Keenum said. “I have every confidence that Zac will move quickly to identify a new leader for our football program who will energize our team, our students and our loyal and enthusiastic fan base.”
Some potential candidates to replace Arnett are Tulane’s Willie Fritz, Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell, UNLV’s Barry Odom, Kansas’ Lance Leipold, Troy’s Jon Sumrall, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.
Greg Knox, who was previously an interim coach at both Mississippi State and Florida, will be the interim coach for the rest of the season.
By comparative standards, Arnett’s buyout is not massive. Mississippi State will owe him nearly $4 million, but it’s subject to mitigation if he should get another job.
Arnett, 37, found himself in an incredibly difficult situation when he was named head coach last December. Not only had Leach just died, but Arnett was trying to get Mississippi State ready for a bowl game, and the December signing date was about a week away. There was also the transfer portal to deal with, both retaining players and finding players.
“I want to sincerely thank Zach Arnett for his hard work and service to the university and our football program. I will forever be grateful to Zach for how he stepped up after the untimely death of Mike Leach,” Keenum said.
Arnett, one of the most respected defensive coordinators in the country, will be on a lot of schools’ short lists as they search for defensive coordinators this offseason.
Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.
Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.
Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.
The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.
The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.
Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.
Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.
North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.
Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.
Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.
Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.
He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.
“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”
As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.
“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”
Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.
Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.
“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”
Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.
“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.
Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.
‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”
He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.
Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.
Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.
“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”
Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.
“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”
Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.
“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”