Lane Kiffin addresses the hiring of Zach Arnett

After less than a season as the head coach at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs fired Zach Arnett. Now, in-state rival Ole Miss and its head coach Lane Kiffin made the decision to bring Arnett in as a staffer on the team.

The decision to hire Arnett is one that Kiffin has since addressed while speaking to media members.

“I’ve had a lot of respect for Zach and thought they did a great job over there in Starkville during his time on defense and caused people problems,” Lane Kiffin said. “And, so, had been in discussions. Actually, today I think is his first day.”

Zach Arnett’s role with Ole Miss’s football staff is set to be as an analyst. That’s an off-field coaching role.

“Always liked what you learned from Coach [Nick] Saban, and it’s a two-way street. Both ways. You give people opportunities and they get to come learn from you and it’s exciting that we kind of have another what you would call a big name probably happening soon, also to add to our staff. So, I think that shows people wanting to come here and be a part of it, but it also, you know, we don’t just hire anybody because they were coaches,” Kiffin said.

“It’s people that we think are really knowledgeable in the conference and as coaches in general, to add to our staff. So, this was a really good fit that way. He came down, met with myself, met with Coach [Pete] Golding. Excited to put him in the defensive room, especially with conference knowledge, and so it should be really good.”

Arnett took over at Mississippi State following the untimely passing of Mike Leach. He led the Bulldogs to a win in their bowl game before getting the job full-time. However, it was a difficult transition in 2023, which saw Mississippi State go 4-6 under Arnett before he was let go by the program. Because of that timing, he did not coach in the Egg Bowl against Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss.

Prior to becoming Leach’s defensive coordinator at Mississippi State Arnett was a defensive position coach and coordinator at San Diego State, under head coach Rocky Long.

Lane Kiffin would do the EA Sports video game for free

One big topic around college football has been the new EA Sports video game. It’s something that Lane Kiffin says he’d be willing to do for free.

“My brain thinks about ‘What would help in recruiting?’ If you did pay me for that, I wouldn’t want it,” Kiffin said. “I’d want you to put it into our NIL.”