Zach Arnett will begin his first full season as Mississippi State’s head coach this weekend in the wake of the passing of Mike Leach.

Arnett believes the Bulldogs will be able to put forth the required mental focus now that some time has elapsed since the abruptness of Leach’s death last season.

“Obviously we’ve had 9 months to mourn, grieve, and for our players, obviously back in December getting ready for the bowl game, that was completely different time and they were in a completely different emotional state than right now,” Arnett said. “Now obviously I’m sure Saturday will be emotional for some. I know there’s going to be something to honor Coach Leach there at the game. But we’ve had time to process the tragedy that did happen.”

While Arnett will do his best to continue the legacy established by Leach, he intends to find his own voice to resonate with the Bulldogs.

“Obviously losing Coach Leach, not only who he was as a football coach, but as an individual and he’s certainly one of a kind. He is for sure, in my opinion a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His influence on the game is unquestioned and you see it at every level of football,” Arnett said. “Let’s be honest, no one is replacing or filling Mike Leach’s shoes. It would be foolish for me to try to be Coach Leach. Because that would be insincere and phony and players would see right through that.”

Arnett will still have Mississippi State embody the core beliefs and standards held under Leach.

“But his impact on this program and things that he believed were very important, characteristics of his team, I hope we can continue some of those,” Arnett said. “Because philosophically, I have the same viewpoints of Coach Leach of the trademarks of a winning football team, a winning culture.”

The biggest lessons Arnett gleaned from Leach had to do with the big picture of running a football program.

“Everyone always likes to talk schematics, the Xs and Os, but in my prior conversation with Coach Leach, interviewing with him, getting this job, much more of the discussions are about more of the philosophy behind the program. Being tough, being disciplined, not listening to the outside noise. Playing the next play no matter what,” Arnett said. “All of those things continue on in the program because those just time proven trademarks of winning football teams, and so for that, he’ll always stick with us.”

Mississippi State kicks off the season with a matchup vs. SE Louisiana on Sept. 2 (4 p.m. EST/SEC Network).