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Mississippi State

New Mexico State transfer punter Zach Haynes commits to Mississippi State

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•12/29/23•

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Mississippi State Helmet
(Mark J. Rebilas | USA TODAY Sports)

New Mexico State punter Zach Haynes has committed to Mississippi State out of the transfer portal. He will again join forces with Cliff Odom, who left NMSU to take the special teams coordinator position in Starkville earlier this month.

Zach Haynes spent this past season under Odom at New Mexico State as a graduate student. He averaged 40.9 yards per punt in his 52 attempts, which was among the best in Conference USA. Now, he’ll take his talents to Mississippi State after Odom took the position under new head coach Jeff Lebby.

Odom, along with coaching defensive backs for New Mexico State, has also coached at UCF and Eastern Illinois during his career, which began at the high school level in 2012. He’s been a graduate assistant at Missouri and TCU, as well, before getting his first full-time opportunity at Stetson in 2017.

Odom also played defensive back at Baylor, graduating in 2011. He’s the son of longtime NFL defender Cliff Odom Sr., who played 13 years of professional football.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Track transfer portal activity

As of December 29th, 1,989 FBS players have entered the Transfer Portal.

While the NCAA Transfer Portal database is private, the On3 Network has streamlined the reporting process tracking player movement. If you find yourself asking, ‘How can I track transfer portal activity?’ our well-established network of reporters and contacts across college athletics keeps you up to speed in several ways, from articles written about players as they enter and exit the transfer portal or find their new destination, to our social media channels, to the On3 Transfer Portal.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

The On3 Transfer Portal Rankings allow for you to filter the On3 Industry Rankings to find the best of the best in the portal, starting with Overall Top Players.

You can dive deeper into the rankings and filter by position whether it is Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Tight End, Offensive Tackle, Interior Offensive Line, Edge, Defensive Line, Linebacker, Cornerback, Safety, Athlete, Kicker, Punter, or Long Snapper you’re looking for.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.