Mississippi
Mississippi State hot board: Eight candidates to replace Zach Arnett as Bulldogs head coach
![Mississippi State hot board: Eight candidates to replace Zach Arnett as Bulldogs head coach Mississippi State hot board: Eight candidates to replace Zach Arnett as Bulldogs head coach](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2023/11/13105107/miss-state-hotboard-.png)
Mississippi State Fires Zach Arnett – JD PicKell
Zach Arnett was fired as Mississippi State’s coach Monday before he could even complete one season on the job. The Bulldogs promoted then-defensive coordinator Arnett after the sudden passing of coach Mike Leach last December.
The way Mississippi State structured Arnett’s deal made it feel like an extended interim arrangement. Mississippi State owes Arnett $4.5 million over the next three years, but the deal includes offset language. That means if Arnett gets another job, his new salary will be subtracted from the amount Mississippi State owes. And Arnett is expected to be quite in demand as a defensive coordinator.
But who will Mississippi State hire? The man doing the hiring is first-year athletic director Zac Selmon, a longtime Oklahoma lieutenant who took over in Starkville in January. The Bulldogs have shown in the past decade that they can be an above-average SEC program, but given that they’ll annually be competing in a divisionless SEC against Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, Auburn and Texas A&M, above-average might be the ceiling. But there are plenty of coaches willing to try to break that ceiling.
Does Mullen want to get back into coaching? We don’t know. We do know he’s very good on television. We also know he knows how to win at Mississippi State. He went 69-46 in nine seasons there from 2009-17. He won eight or more games in five of those seasons. That got him the job at Florida, where he had three successful seasons before everything crashed down in 2021.
But Mullen’s end at Florida doesn’t disqualify him for this job. Mississippi State’s coach isn’t expected to beat Georgia and Alabama for recruits. So the main reason Mullen was fired in Gainesville isn’t an issue in Starkville. Maybe he’s happy in television, but Selmon has to at least ask if a return might be possible.
Diaz was Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator twice under Mullen, and both tenures were successful. Also, Mario Cristobal’s first two seasons at Miami have shed new light on how difficult that job really is. Diaz was doing a better job there than most realized.
Plus, he’s been excellent at Penn State. If the Nittany Lions had an offense anywhere near as good as their defense, they’d be national title contenders.
The 41-year-old Sumrall was the co-defensive coordinator at his alma mater Kentucky before taking over at Troy, where he is 20-4 in two seasons with a Sun Belt title. The Trojans play ferocious defense, ranking No. 12 in the nation in yards per play allowed.
Most of Sumrall’s career has been spent working at schools (Troy, Tulane, Ole Miss, Kentucky) that recruit the same region as Ole Miss. He’d hit the ground running, and he’d know who to hire.
Everyone wants Leipold, who has engineered one of the best turnarounds in the history of college football at Kansas. He could be a candidate at Michigan State. Texas A&M should take a look. Kansas will almost certainly put together a huge offer to keep Leipold.
But this is a call worth making. Leipold won six Division III national titles at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He turned around Buffalo. Then he worked a miracle at Kansas.
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Fritz is 63, but he’s a spry 63. He’s won everywhere he’s been, from Central Missouri to Sam Houston State to Georgia Southern to Tulane. He’s 20-3 in the past two seasons at Tulane, and his eight seasons in New Orleans have given him a good understanding of the region.
If this sounds a lot like Leipold, it should. But the difference is Fritz is probably more gettable than Leipold, who is in demand everywhere.
Lashlee, a longtime Gus Malzahn protege, seemed to be on the fast track to an SEC head coaching job when he served as Auburn’s offensive coordinator early in Malzahn’s tenure there. But that didn’t work out as intended, and he went on an odyssey that took him to UConn, SMU (as OC) and Miami (as OC) before he finally got to show what he could do with a program of his own.
Turns out he’s pretty good at this head coach thing. Lashlee, 40, is 15-8 in his second season since taking over for Sonny Dykes. He’s an Arkansas native who has coached and recruited in the region for most of his career. He certainly would fit, and his teams would score points.
The reason Chadwell isn’t already a Power 5 head coach is that his chosen career path — winning as a head coach at the Division II, FCS and Group of 5 levels — has left him with no Power 5 recruiting experience. But just like Leipold and Fritz, there’s something to be said for winning everywhere. Chadwell won at North Greenville. He won at Charleston Southern.
He won big at Coastal Carolina. And he’s currently 10-0 in his first season at Liberty. Would he leave after only one season? Maybe not. Liberty can afford to pay like a much bigger program. But good SEC jobs don’t open every day.
Schumann went to Alabama as an undergrad to learn to be a college football coach and judging by the career the 33-year-old has put together so far, he learned quite well. Schumann became Alabama’s director of football operations at 24, and he was one of Kirby Smart’s first hires when Smart left Tuscaloosa to become Georgia’s head coach.
He worked under Mel Tucker and with Dan Lanning at Georgia, and he now runs the defense alongside Will Muschamp. The hope with Schumann is that he’ll work just like Lanning did at Oregon. He certainly has the pedigree.
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Mississippi
Mississippi State’s Loss Doesn’t Stop SEC from Owning Week Two in AP Top 25
![Mississippi State’s Loss Doesn’t Stop SEC from Owning Week Two in AP Top 25 Mississippi State’s Loss Doesn’t Stop SEC from Owning Week Two in AP Top 25](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_2748,h_1545,x_411,y_0/c_fill,w_1440,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/cowbell_corner/01j79mrpwsvvqcvrr5dh.jpg)
Outside of Mississippi State, Arkansas and Auburn, the SEC had a very successful Week Two of the college football season. The latest AP Top 25 poll reflects the strength of the SEC with 6 of the top 7 spots belonging to SEC teams.
Here’s a recap of how the ranked SEC teams fared in the second full week of the college football season:
Click here for a recap of the unranked SEC teams.
With the exception of giving up three points, this was probably exactly how Georgia expected this game to go. Carson Beck threw five touchdowns and the defense held Tennessee Tech to less than 150 yards of total offense. Anything less would be a surprise.
More than 100,000 people saw Texas come into Ann Arbor, Mich. and leave with a huge win. The Longhorns looked like the better team from the first drive of the game where they easily marched down the field. That Oct. 19 game in Austin against Georgia is looking better and better.
It was a lot closer than Alabama would’ve liked, but it’s a win that will fend off the “Nick Saban is gone, we’re doomed” crowd. At the same time, though, there were some things that crowd could point to at a later time.
Two games against inferior competition and Ole Miss has outscored its opponents 129-3. They’ll take a slight step up in competition next week against Wake Forest, but the Rebels are still about a month away from playing a team that will truly test them.
Missouri’s schedule just took an unexpected bump in its level of difficulty with No. 24 Boston College joining the top 25. Bill O’Brien is brilliant at game planning and calling plays (not so much with making trades, but that hasn’t reached the college ranks yet). Missouri needs to be on upset alert (and ready to stop the run).
This happens every year. Tennessee looks really good to start the season and by the end Volunteer fans are saying next year is their year. But maybe this year is their year with the way Nico Iamaleava has been playing.
Of the two SEC newcomers, Texas is getting most of the attention which makes sense based on the current teams. But folks, don’t sleep on the Sooners. They ruined many of my own childhood memories growing up in Texas. This week’s way-too close game doesn’t help that argument, but think long term.
LSU was one of three SEC teams to play FCS schools after playing top 25 teams last week. The Tigers and Texas A&M both lost, while Georgia won. So, it’s not surprising to see each of them play FCS teams and neither were any of the results.
SEC Week 2 Power Rankings: Which Teams Are Contenders or Pretenders?
WATCH: Mississippi State’s Bowl Hopes Take a Hit with Arizona State Defeat
Mississippi State Crumbles in the Trenches: What Went Wrong Against Arizona State?
Mississippi
Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan
![Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo ‘disrespected’ by Mississippi State football’s defensive game plan](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130225007-usatsi-24184754.jpg?auto=webp&crop=4080,2296,x0,y294&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Cam Skattebo slammed Mississippi State on the football field on Saturday night and also took another jab afterward in his postgame press conference.
The Arizona State running back, following a 30-23 Sun Devils win at Mountain America Stadium, took exception to MSU only utilizing three defenders on the line of scrimmage. The results were damning.
Arizona State (2-0) rushed for 346 yards. It was the most allowed by Mississippi State (1-1) in a game since Arkansas in 2016. Skattebo’s 262 rushing yards on 33 carries were the second-most in ASU history.
“They couldn’t stop us in that three-down front,” Skattebo said when asked what made ASU’s run game successful. “Honestly, we all felt disrespected with them in a three-down front. You can’t come in here and put five guys in the box and expect to stop six. I don’t know. We took that a little disrespectful, and we rushed for what over 300 yards? Something around there. It is what it is.”
Skattebo, a 5-foot-11, 215-pound junior, also led Arizona State with 35 receiving yards on three catches.
“I knew these dudes were big and heavy,” he said. “We knew going into the game they weren’t as physical as most other teams but they’re heavy. So when they hit you, it hurts, no matter how hard they’re coming — 300 pounds at 10 miles per hour or 16 miles per hour hurts the same. I just kept my feet moving.”
Mississippi State trailed 30-3 in the third quarter but scored 20 unanswered points to cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The Bulldogs never touched the ball again, with the Sun Devils running out the clock on 12 plays.
Skattebo had a game-sealing 39-yard rush that allowed ASU to kneel down.
“Until the end, we had our ups and downs there, but that was fun,” he said. “You can ask these guys up front, bullying dudes, grown men that are 300 pounds, that’s fun to us. That’s fun to the front-five, the front-seven and the running back. The quarterback probably hates it. He probably likes watching, but he didn’t complain one time the whole game.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture
![Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture Why Mississippi State football loss to Arizona State revealed a strong Jeff Lebby culture](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/08/PKNS/75130223007-usatsi-24184733.jpg?auto=webp&crop=3382,1904,x0,y239&format=pjpg&width=1200)
It was 11:10 p.m. Saturday in Starkville when Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt barreled into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
At that point, it would’ve been fair for Mississippi State football fans to call it a night. The Bulldogs (1-1) trailed 27-3 at ASU in the final minute of the second quarter. They were dominated in just about every statistical category. New coach Jeff Lebby looked like he was headed toward his first loss, and an embarrassing one.
And even if you gave the second half a chance, eyes just a crack open, that wasn’t encouraging either. Arizona State (2-0) took the opening drive of the third quarter for a field goal while eating 8 minutes, 27 seconds of game time. That just about decided the game before Mississippi State touched the ball in the second half.
Wrong.
Instead, MSU scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives and cut the score to 30-23 with 5:27 to play. The defense, which was torched for 346 rushing yards, needed one more stop to let the offense try to tie it. It would’ve been the largest comeback in program history.
Mississippi State’s path to a bowl game seems murkier than it was a week ago. But in the long-term, there’s still encouragement after the 30-23 loss.
“Our guys battled in an incredible way in the second half, and we’re going to hold on to that,” Lebby said in his postgame radio interview. “We’re going to find ways to get back in the building, get back to work and be able to walk into Davis Wade (Stadium) with a ton of confidence and ready to go win a football game.”
The encouragement from Mississippi State’s comeback effort
Lebby said after beating Eastern Kentucky 56-7 in Week 1 that there is an abundance of teachable moments in wins, just like losses.
There is plenty to point to after losing to Arizona State.
Mississippi State came out incredibly flat. The Sun Devils scored on their first five possessions. The MSU offense had one field goal, two punts, a fumble returned for a touchdown and a turnover-on-downs in the first half. MSU had -13 rushing yards in the first half.
There were concerns entering the game about the travel distance, late kickoff and high temperature. But let’s be real, Mississippi State was playing so poorly at the start that it was hard to judge if those were factors.
“I got to do a better job getting these guys ready to go play out of the gate,” Lebby said. “I thought our energy, our effort and our emotion was really good, but then we did not play clean there in the first quarter, so that part was frustrating.”
The Bulldogs outscored the Sun Devils 20-0 in the final quarter and a half. It was a surprise. Arizona State was rolling. Mississippi State was not.
MORE: Introducing Sam Sklar, the Clarion Ledger’s new Mississippi State beat reporter
For Lebby, a first-time head coach at any level, let it be a learning moment for him. It was his first time getting pinned in a corner. The Bulldogs adjusted correctly in the second half like good coaches do.
The rushing offense and defense both need to improve. Badly. Quarterback Blake Shapen has been impressive in his first two Mississippi State games and the wide receiver room is deep and talented as ever, but they can’t be the only answer.
That’s just for this season.
Mississippi State has its first tally in the loss column. But it isn’t a strike against Lebby leading the future of the program.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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