Zach Arnett describes the learning process as he becomes accustomed to being a head coach

December was a month filled with ups and downs for Mississippi State and Zach Arnett. He went from defensive coordinator to head coach after the sudden passing of Mike Leach, and he hit the ground running with the ReliaQuest Bowl against Illinois.

In fact, preparing for the Fighting Illini became less of a priority because he had to prepare for National Signing Day and the opening of the transfer portal window all while coping with Leach’s death.

“Obviously, since the change happened, there’s been a whole lot of things occupying my time,” Arnett said. “Studying Illinois on film typically got put to the back burner. I probably did that less than anything.”

Because he didn’t get to watch as much film on Illinois, Arnett decided to let his assistants take the lead during the game. He didn’t call the defense — despite providing the signals — and said they deserved the credit for the victory.

“I signaled the defense today, but I did not call the defense,” Arnett said. “We actually let one of our assistants, Matt Brock who’s the linebackers coach. He actually called it because I just found myself, I was getting pulled in so many different directions between signing day and all the other responsibilities of head coach. I certainly don’t want to take any credit for something I wasn’t really a part of other than if you guys think the signals went in pretty nice.

“Coach Spurrier and the offensive staff, they did a tremendous job. They called the right plays at the right time there at the end of the game. Obviously, incredibly happy with the defensive assistants the way they got our guys prepared to play. I keep going back to it, it’s players, guys. The guys could’ve found every reason to let outside noise affect them or look for excuses and I’m not ready for this game. All they did was went to work for the last several weeks, got themselves prepared to play. They certainly enjoyed their time here. … But they were locked in during football time, which was preached under coach Leach. They went out there and they played, they competed, they executed and we left with a win.”