Mississippi State parted ways with defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler on Saturday morning and didn’t take long to hire a familiar face to fill the role.
Sources confirmed to SuperTalk Mississippi’s Brian Hadad on Saturday evening that former Bulldog head coach Zach Arnett has been hired as the team’s next defensive coordinator. The deal is for three years.
Arnett led Mississippi State’s defense under Mike Leach from 2020-22 and consistently had the unit ranking in the top five of the SEC in total defense, rushing defense, and forced turnovers. He was promoted to head coach after Leach’s passing in December 2022 but was fired 10 games into 2023 with a 4-6 record.
Arnett was then hired as an analyst by in-state rival Ole Miss and worked in the role for the 2024 season. He was subsequently hired to be Dan Mullen’s defensive coordinator at UNLV before resigning months into the job for personal reasons and later accepted a job for the 2025 season as an analyst at Florida State.
Hutzler was let go after first being brought to Starkville by head coach Jeff Lebby and coached the defense for the past two seasons. Mississippi State ranked last in yards per game allowed and points per game allowed in 2024 before ranking second-to-last in both categories in 2025 amongst SEC teams.