Nick Saban shares high praise for Mississippi State DC Zach Arnett
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Zach Arnett has one of the strongest endorsements a college football coach can receive. Nick Saban did not hold back praising the new Mississippi State defensive coordinator.
Saban was impressed by Jeff Lebby‘s move to bring Arnett back to Mississippi State as defensive coordinator. Arnett was Lebby’s predecessor as the full-time head coach of the Bulldogs. He was dismissed from his post during the 2023 season.
“This guy has a defensive scheme that is a pain in the butt to prepare for and play against and creates a lot of negative plays and puts a lot of pressure on the offense,” Saban said during SEC Media Days. “And you don’t need like great big physical dominant type guys to play his scheme. So I think this is going to be really important in them taking the next step. … [I]f they improve the defense and they can maintain what they’ve done on offense, and they’ve got some good players to do it, they’re gonna make a huge improvement and give lots of people lots of problems.”
Zach Arnett.#SECMD26 || 📺: @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/5ITt8gmjbu
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) July 23, 2026
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Arnett joined the Mississippi State staff in 2020 as Mike Leach’s defensive coordinator. After Leach’s passing in 2022, MSU named Arnett the new full-time head coach.
Weeks after Leach died, Arnett led the Bulldogs to a ReliaQuest Bowl win to complete the 2022 season. He coached just 10 games of the 2023 season before being fired. Saban’s Crimson Tide teams faced Mississippi State all 4 seasons during Arnett’s previous stint in Starkville.
The past 2 seasons, Arnett served as an analyst at Ole Miss (2024) and Florida State (2025).
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
