Greg McElroy previews changes in Mississippi State's offense in 2023

Things will be markedly different for Mississippi State football in 2023, namely with new head coach Zach Arnett taking over after Mike Leach passed away in December. And with Arnett, previously the Bulldogs defensive coordinator, getting promoted from within, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy is curious to see what changes on the other side of the ball.

Leach rose to prominence by deploying the Air Raid to an extreme, but McElroy expects a departure from that with the hiring of Appalachian State offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay to the same role in Starkville. With a new head coach and an outside voice taking over the offense, things are bound to be different.

“But, when you made the decision to go get Kevin Barbay from Appalachian State, it proves that the direction they’re going to go is going to be off-tackle stretch zone, as opposed to the drop back, short passing attack that Will Rogers and company used so successfully the last couple years,” McElroy said on a recent episode of the “Always College Football” podcast. “You’re going to say ‘Successfully?’ The offense was pretty dang efficient for the most part. Now, you saw them also start to lean a little bit more on the run last year. I don’t think I ever remembered seeing a Mike Leach-led team running the ball as often as they did last year. Well know those run numbers, those run opportunities are going to double, maybe triple under Kevin Barbay.”

With those changes to scheme, McElroy is curious how much it sticks on early with the personnel. Mississippi State had plenty of attrition to the transfer portal, but with Rogers back for another year and some other key players still in place, there’s upside.

“How will this work? That’s what I’m most intrigued by,” McElroy said. “It’s been an offensive line that’s really live in pass protection. It’s been an offensive line that’s live in two-point stances. Well, Appalachian State, yeah, you’ll see some two-point stances. But you’re going to see some guys firing off the ball. You’re going to see guys cut blocking. You’re going to do all these different things offensively that you have not done in the past. That is No. 1 for Zach Arnett. Get to know the offensive personnel, endear himself to the offensive players, and install a new offense. He’s got a lot on his plate here over the course of the next 15 practices.”