Report: Zach Arnett to Be Named Mississippi State HC in Wake of Mike Leach's Death
Dec 14, 2022
STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - OCTOBER 08: A view of the Mississippi State Bulldogs logo before the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on October 08, 2022 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Mississippi State will reportedly announce defensive coordinator Zach Arnett as its next head football coach following the death of Mike Leach, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.
It will reportedly be a four-year deal, though Thamel added that terms of the contract have not been finalized.
“The school wants to give the players a strong leader to help them through the grieving process and give them stability,” a source said. “Zach is the guy for that. Zach embodies MSU and understands it, and he’s going to build on the foundation that Coach Leach set.”
Leach died on Monday night after he was hospitalized for complications related to a heart condition, per ESPN. He was 61.
"We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world," his family said in a statement. "Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father's life."
Leach was in his third season at Mississippi State after prior stints at Texas Tech (2000-09) and Washington State (2012-19). He was 19-17 with the Bulldogs and 158-107 overall in his coaching career.
"I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Mike over the last several years," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said after learning of Leach's death. "I never knew quite where our conversations were going, but they always made me smile. He was an offensive innovator who always did things his way and was admired for it. His teams were well-coached and extremely challenging to defend. They played with poise and toughness, which is a credit to his leadership."
Arnett's first game as Mississippi State's head coach will be in the upcoming ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois on Jan. 2.
Arnett has served as Leach's defensive coordinator for the past three seasons with the Bulldogs. Prior to that, he held multiple positions for San Diego State between 2011-19, which included a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2018.
He also played college football at New Mexico as a linebacker.
Mississippi State Will Play in ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Illinois After Mike Leach's Death
Dec 13, 2022
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach talks with Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin before an NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
The Mississippi State football team will go forward with its ReliaQuest Bowl game appearance against Illinois on Jan. 2.
Interim athletic director Bracky Brett revealed the news to ESPN's Chris Low on Tuesday, one day after head coach Mike Leach died from complications of a heart condition.
As @HailStateFB grieves Mike Leach’s death, interim AD Bracky Brett tells ESPN that the Bulldogs will play in their ReliaQuest Bowl game on Jan. 2 against Illinois. “The players are 100 percent behind playing this bowl game and doing what coach Leach would expect them to do.”
The 61-year-old Leach coached at Mississippi State for three seasons after stints with Texas Tech (2000-09) and Washington State (2012-19). He led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 record this season capped by a 24-22 victory over Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl.
The Bulldogs ended the season winning three of four games, including victories over Auburn (39-33 in overtime) and East Tennessee State (56-7).
Thanks to that stretch, Mississippi State earned its best season under Leach, who led six of his teams to top-25 finishes in the Associated Press poll. This year's Bulldogs team is currently No. 24.
Leach went 158-107 during his career. Seventeen of his 21 teams finished with winning records.
The ReliaQuest Bowl will take place in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET between the Bulldogs and Illinois, who also finished with an 8-4 record.
Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will lead the team in the bowl game as its interim head coach.
MSU HC Mike Leach Dies at Age 61 Following Complications from a Heart Condition
Dec 13, 2022
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 19: Mississippi State Bulldogs Head Coach Mike Leach addresses the media during the SEC Football Kickoff Media Days on July 19, 2022, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, GA.(Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach has died at the age of 61.
The school announced on Tuesday that Leach died due to complications from a heart condition.
"Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather," the Leach family said in a statement. "He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world. Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father's life."
The university announced on Sunday that Leach had a "personal health issue" at his home and was taken to the University of Mississippi Medical Center by ambulance.
In a follow-up statement on Monday, Leach was said to be in critical condition.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley and Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who both played for Leach at Texas Tech, paid tribute to their former coach:
Coach- You will certainly be missed, but your impact on so many will live on-
Thankful for every moment. You changed my life and so many others.
All of our prayers are with Sharon & the Leach family-
Statement from Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury on the passing of Mike Leach, who was the head coach at Texas Tech during Kingsbury’s record-setting career as a QB there: pic.twitter.com/yleLkRHIOK
Leach just finished his third regular season as Bulldogs head coach. He was hired in January 2020 to replace Joe Moorhead. The California native improved his win total in each of his three seasons at Mississippi State, including an 8-4 mark in 2022.
A graduate of BYU in 1983, Leach moved into coaching four years later when he was hired as the offensive line coach at Cal Poly. He went on to spend 11 seasons from 1989 to 1999 as an assistant and offensive coordinator at Iowa Wesleyan, Valdosta State, Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Texas Tech gave Leach his first head-coaching opportunity in 2000. He led the program to an 84-43 record in 10 seasons, including tying the school record with 11 wins in 2008.
Leach was hired to rebuild the Washington State football team in November 2011. He took over a program coming off five consecutive losing seasons. After a 3-9 record in his first season, the Cougars made bowl appearances in six of the next seven years.
Washington State won a school record 11 games during the 2018 season.
Leach went 158-107 with eight bowl wins in 21 seasons as a head coach. Current successful college coaches such as Riley, Sonny Dykes, Dave Aranda and Dana Holgorsen all worked under Leach during his career.
Mississippi State HC Mike Leach in Critical Condition After 'Health Issue'
Dec 11, 2022
OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - NOVEMBER 24: head coach Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. during the first half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on November 24, 2022 in Oxford, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach was transported to the hospital by ambulance from his home Sunday with a "personal health issue," the school announced in a statement on Sunday.
The school announced Monday that Leach "remains in critical condition."
Mississippi State added it will provide more information on Leach's condition via social media once it becomes available.
Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett has been placed in charge of the football team until Leach returns. The Bulldogs are preparing to face the Illinois Fighting Illini in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 2.
Leach is in his third season as head coach of Mississippi State, leading the team to a 19-17 record in that span, including 8-4 this season.
The Bulldogs have earned a bowl berth in each of Leach's three seasons, beating Tulsa in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl and falling to Texas Tech in the 2021 Liberty Bowl.
Before joining Mississippi State, Leach served as head coach at Texas Tech for 10 seasons from 2000-09. He then served as head coach at Washington State for eight seasons from 2012-19.
The 61-year-old has an all-time record of 158-107 and 8-9 in bowl games.
Mississippi State OL Sam Westmoreland Dies at Age 18
Oct 19, 2022
STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 08: A general view of a Mississippi State Bulldogs helmet during the game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Arkansas Razorbacks on October 8, 2020 at Wade Davis Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Mississippi State offensive lineman Sam Westmoreland died Wednesday at the age of 18.
Head coach Mike Leach released a statement about Westmoreland:
The school did not release any details of Westmoreland's death but said in a statement it is working with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office, the MSU Division of Student Affairs and the MSU athletics department to determine the facts.
Mississippi State president Mark E. Keenum also issued a statement about Westmoreland:
"One of the most profound lessons I've learned while leading this great university is that the tragic loss of one of our students diminishes all of our students—and all of us at Mississippi State feel the impact of Sam Westmoreland's death. My prayers are with Sam's family and friends, with his MSU teammates and coaches, and with the Tupelo community during this most difficult time."
Raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, Westmoreland played football at Tupelo High School.
According to his official bio, Westmoreland earned Region 2-6A second-team honors as a high school senior and was named to the 2022 Northeast Mississippi Football Coaches Association All-Star Game.
After graduating from high school, Westmoreland enrolled at Mississippi State. The 19-year-old was a freshman walk-on for the Bulldogs football team this season. He did not appear in a game.
Westmoreland was an industrial technology major.
Mississippi State's Mike Leach Doubts Texas Spent $280K on Arch Manning Visit
Sep 23, 2022
TUCSON, ARIZONA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs speaks to his team during the NCAA football game between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium on September 10, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Mike Leach is casting doubts on reports of Texas spending $280,000 on a recruiting trip highlighted by quarterback Arch Manning.
“Have you ever been to or heard of rooms that can eat up that much of $280,000? I haven’t,” Leach said Thursday on his weekly radio show, per Stefan Krajisnik of the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. “Let’s make them really expensive. There’s eight recruits, hypothetically. Let’s make those rooms $3,000 a piece. Right there you still haven’t even dented it.”
“I think this is embellished. … But I would be curious if someone managed to be creative enough to find a way to spend that much money in that period of time on that number of people. I’d be curious exactly how it was done and what they did. I have some serious, serious, serious doubts about this.”
Leach said he read the article in The Athletic that highlighted the expensive recruiting visit, which featured eight high-level prospects and their families.
If Leach read the article, however, it's hard to see why he would have trouble believing the amount spent. Texas did not send out a press release bragging about spending over a quarter-million dollars on the trip; reporter Sam Khan Jr. obtained receipts and invoices via a public records request.
The amount spent would be verified by those receipts.
The report also details exactly how the money was spent, including comments from parents of the recruits who were on the trip. Texas laid out a 5-star red carpet for top recruits, and all parties took full advantage of the open checkbook.
This all seems like a pretty cut-and-dried situation.
MSU HC Mike Leach Says It'd 'Be Brilliant' for Him to Handle SEC Realignment
Jul 20, 2022
COLLEGE STATION, TX - OCTOBER 02: Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Mike Leach looks on prior to the game against the Texas A & M Aggies on October 02, 2021, at Kyle Field in College Station, TX. (Photo by Adam Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach knows just the person to handle the SEC's realignment: Mike Leach.
"They oughta let me handle that," he said Tuesday, per the Clarion Ledger's Stefan Krajisnik. "I'll have that done by lunch. I think it would be brilliant to let me handle it."
With Texas and Oklahoma incoming, Leach proposed moving Alabama and Auburn to the SEC East division. The Longhorns and Sooners would join Mississippi State in the SEC West.
"You knock those guys off and send them to the East and we have to play Texas and OU, tell me how I've lost on that deal," he said. "I have a lot of respect for those guys, but in this conference they can just go ahead and get in line with everybody else."
If the SEC follows the ACC's lead, the conference may not need Leach's guidance at all.
The ACC is doing away with its divisional structure in 2023 and shifting to a structure where each school has three rivals it plays every year and rotates opponents for the remaining five conference tilts.
The Pac-12 also changed its formula for the conference championship, with the two teams with the highest winning percentage within the conference moving on to the title game.
In general, Power Five divisions could be on the way out.
Maybe Leach can devise new scheduling formulas for the SEC to cover all of his bases.
Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech Blow Out Mississippi State to Win 2021 Liberty Bowl
Dec 29, 2021
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 28: Eric Monroe #11 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders reacts during the first half of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on December 28, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
The Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 34-7 in Tuesday's Liberty Bowl to capture their first winning season since 2015. The Red Raiders also hadn't won a bowl game since the 2013 Holiday Bowl in Kliff Kingsbury's first season as head coach.
Texas Tech entered Tuesday's game with just one win in its last five games.
Before Tuesday, the Red Raiders and Bulldogs hadn't met since 1970. Texas Tech lost that game 20-16. Mississippi State now leads the all-time series against Texas Tech 4-3-1.
Notable Stats
Donovan Smith, QB, TTU: 15/28 for 252 YDS, 1 TD and 5 CAR for 30 YDS, 1 TD
Will Rogers, QB, MSU: 32/53 for 290 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
Tahj Brooks, RB, TTU: 16 CAR for 107 YDS, 1 TD
Makai Polk, WR, MSU: 7 REC for 57 YDS
SaRodorick Thompson, RB, TTU: 14 CAR for 80 YDS, 1 TD
Rara Thomas, WR, MSU: 2 REC for 32 YDS, 1 TD
Red Raiders' Rushing Offense Gets Job Done
Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith was underwhelming in the passing game Tuesday night. However, the Red Raiders' rushing offense got the job done.
Texas Tech opened the game with a rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Tahj Brooks, who was the team's most potent player on the ground against Mississippi State. He finished with 16 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown.
The Red Raiders' performance on the ground was somewhat surprising, as they entered ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 150.7 rushing yards per game. The team's passing offense, meanwhile, entered averaging 257.7 yards per game, which ranked third in the Big 12.
Tuesday's game was Brooks' first game with more than 100 rushing yards since a Sept. 11 win over Stephen F. Austin State University. It was also his most productive game since then.
Brooks entered with 461 yards and six touchdowns on the ground, a significant increase from the 255 rushing yards and four rushing scores he had as a freshman in 2020.
In addition to Brooks, junior running back SaRodorick Thompson had his most productive game since an Oct. 16 win over Kansas. He finished with 14 carries for 80 yards and one touchdown, in addition to Smith's five carries for 30 yards and one score.
Thompson entered with 448 rushing scores and nine rushing touchdowns in 10 games.
Texas Tech's rushing performance was even more impressive when looking at Mississippi State's defensive stats. The Bulldogs defense entered having allowed 101.2 rushing yards per game, the third-least in the SEC and 10th-least in college football.
To be fair, the Mississippi State defense was without several key defensive players on Tuesday, including safety Jalen Green, defensive linemen Randy Charlton and Jaden Crumedy, and cornerback Martin Emerson, who declared for the NFL draft. The defense was also without linebacker Aaron Brule, who transferred to Michigan State.
Regardless, Tuesday's performance from the Red Raiders' rushing offense was impressive, and Texas Tech fans can look forward to another season of Brooks and Thompson in the backfield in 2022.
Will Rogers Underwhelming for Bulldogs
Tuesday's game was Rogers' worst of the season. There's no other way to put it.
The sophomore quarterback entered having completed 75.1 percent of his passes for 4,449 yards (370.8 yards per game) and 35 touchdowns to eight interceptions. His passing yardage was tied for second in college football with UVA's Brennan Armstrong, while his completion percentage ranked first.
Rogers completed just 32 of 53 passes (60.3 percent) for 290 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Red Raiders. He hadn't been held to under 300 passing yards since a Sept. 11 win over NC State.
However, Mississippi State's rushing offense didn't do Rogers any favors, either. Sophomore running backs Dillon Johnson and Jo'quavious Marks finished with just 14 carries for 81 yards.
The Bulldogs offense actually entered having averaged 385.7 passing yards per game, the most in the SEC, which further highlights Rogers' struggles in the pocket.
Mississippi State could have thrust itself back into Tuesday's game early in the fourth quarter, but Rogers threw a costly interception, and the Red Raiders charged back down the field to put things out of reach for the Bulldogs.
Rogers hadn't thrown an interception since a Nov. 6 loss to Arkansas. The Bulldogs went 5-2 in games he didn't throw a pick this season.
Despite his performance Tuesday, Bulldogs fans have a lot to look forward to from Rogers in the future. He set Mississippi State's single-season passing records for yards and touchdowns this season, which were previously held by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. He also became the first-ever Bulldog to throw for more than 4,000 yards in a season.
If there's one thing to take away from Tuesday's Liberty Bowl, it's that Rogers is still learning, but he has an incredibly bright future ahead among college football's best.
Mike Leach Says Texas Tech 'Cheated' Him Out of $2.6M with 2009 Firing
Dec 27, 2021
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach looks downfield at his players during the second half of the team's NCAA college football game against Tennessee State, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021, in Starkville, Miss. Mississippi State won 55-10. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach said that his former employer, Texas Tech, "cheated" him out of $2.6 million after firing him in 2009.
"Forever," Leach said when asked how long he planned to fight Texas Tech in court over the money, per Andy Kostka of the Clarion-Ledger.
"Why not? I mean, what do I got to lose? I don't have anything to lose. I mean, they cheated me out of $2.6 million, plus four years remaining on my contract."
The comments occurred during a sitdown with the media prior to the upcoming Liberty Bowl, which pits the Bulldogs against the Red Raiders.
Texas Tech fired Leach over his alleged treatment of former Texas Tech wide receiver Adam James in 2009. Kostka provided more context.
The scandal began in December 2009, when James accused Leach and his staff of locking him in a darkened room after he suffered a concussion. Craig James, Adam James' father and at the time an ESPN commentator, approached Texas Tech about his son's treatment.
James wanted Leach fired. Texas Tech President Guy Bailey asked Leach to write a letter of apology to James and his family, but after Leach refused, Bailey suspended him on Dec. 28, 2009. That prompted Leach to file a temporary restraining order against Texas Tech, hoping to still coach the bowl game.
Instead, according to court records, Bailey said he and athletics director Gerald Myers decided 'the relationship was probably broken.' They fired Leach for cause on Dec. 30, 2009.
Leach claimed there wasn't an investigation into how the team treated James and added that Texas Tech illegally hid public records from the former Red Raiders coach and his legal team.
He's been fighting Texas Tech in court for 12 years, calling into question the for-cause firing. The Texas Supreme Court notably rejected an appeal in 2012 after Leach sued Texas Tech for wrongful termination.
"I think settling for $2.6 (million) is very generous on my part, and the hiding of documents becomes even more disgusting because that shows a level of corruption," Leach said Monday. "I wouldn't even rule out some criminal prosecution on the thing. We'll see how it unfolds."
Trey Mongrue of WLBT provided some video of some of Leach's comments, which include remarks that he's been willing to "settle this thing for a long time."
"Been willing to settle for a long time"
Mike Leach has been in the middle of a wrongful termination legal battle with Texas Tech for a decade now
Leach moved on to Washington State, coaching there from 2012 to 2019 before landing at Mississippi State in 2020.
This year's Bulldogs team went 7-5 in the regular season. Their Liberty Bowl appearance will go down at 6:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis against the 6-6 Red Raiders.
Mike Leach Says CFB Players Opting Out of Bowl Games 1 of 'Biggest Absurdities'
Dec 12, 2021
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS - NOVEMBER 06: Head Coach Mike Leach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs arrives at the stadium before a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 06, 2021 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, who reportedly makes $5 million per season, isn't a fan of unpaid college football players skipping college bowl games to begin preparing for the NFL draft.
"You've got an obligation to the place that helped build and develop you and finish it out in the bowl," he told reporters Saturday. "That's part of it. You owe it to your team, you owe it to your fans, you owe it to your coaches and it’s the most bizarre thing in the world to me."
"Somebody says, 'Well, I can't play one more game.' They think they're going to have a storied 10-year NFL career, and then they can't play one more college game," he continued. "Well, that's ridiculous. I mean, guys will go to the NFL, they'll make the Pro Bowl and then they'll play in the Pro Bowl. It's one of the biggest absurdities that I've seen, and it's selfish, too."
The counterargument to Leach's argument is that every bowl game outside of the College Football Playoff is purely ceremonial, and the consequences for star players getting hurt in what are glorified exhibition contests can be pretty severe.
Take the case of linebacker Jaylon Smith. The former Notre Dame star was considered one of the top overall prospects in the 2016 NFL draft and likely would have been a top-10 pick until he tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee and suffered nerve damage during the Fiesta Bowl, which was not a CFP game that season.
Smith then dropped into the second round of the draft, losing millions in the process.
He has since said he doesn't regret his decision to play in the Fiesta Bowl, but he doesn't blame players who skip bowl games to avoid injury ahead of the NFL draft.
"Salute to those guys," he said in 2017 on Ed Werder and Matt Mosley's Doomsday Podcast (h/t CBSSports.com's Jared Dubin). "My experience, what I liked about people making their decisions, whether they're playing the game or not, it's your own decision. You have to make that decision for you. So for me, I made the decision to play in that game, and I don't regret it at all. That's the beauty of any decision I've made, it's been my decision. If I had the decision again, I would have played in that game."
As for Mississippi State, it is unclear if the team will have any players opt out of its Liberty Bowl matchup against Leach's former school, Texas Tech, on Dec. 28.
Leach did tell reporters that offensive tackle Charles Cross, a potential top-10 pick in the 2022 NFL draft if he chooses to forgo his senior season, didn't practice Saturday. And Leach said he couldn't remember if cornerback Martin Emerson—who already declared for the 2022 draft, forgoing his senior year—practiced Saturday.
So it's possible that Leach's public comments Saturday were directed at that pair, depending on their status for the team's bowl game.
