Zach Arnett talks about players adapting to new Mississippi State system

There’s a lot of new going on in Starkville this year during Mississippi State’s fall camp. Even so, Zach Arnett knows that that’s not always a bad thing.

Arnett addressed how the installation of their new systems is going, and how the Bulldogs are handling it, during a media session this week. He said some position changes and some new scenarios are forcing his players to learn and learn quickly. Still, in some cases, it has already helped a few of them to add something new to their games that originally wasn’t there before.

“We’ve got some guys playing new positions, right? Trying to find a faster way to get them on the field,” Arnett said. “You’ve got guys obviously moving to new positions.

“Then, yeah, anytime with what we’re doing offensively? When you start getting into those heavier personnel sets?” Arnett continued. “If we stay in our base defense, that forces a lot of DBs to have to come down closer to the line of scrimmage and fill gaps and support the run, which they don’t have as many reps of doing that, right? So that forces you to improve your skillset,” explained Arnett.

Again, the loss of Mike Leach changed a lot of what Mississippi State looked like during his tenure this offseason. Arnett stepped in as a head coach with a new philosophy. He also then brought in Kevin Barbay from Appalachian State and promoted Matt Brock to take over coordinator duties.

Much still needs to be sorted out for a team that not many know exactly what to make of coming into the season. However, Arnett sees the progress that he’s wanting to considering the positions that the staff is putting the players into early.

Greg McElroy raves about Arnett’s first offseason at Mississippi State

Mississippi State has flown under the radar this offseason as Zach Arnett’s program prepares for life without Mike Leach.

The Bulldogs hired from within following Leach’s passing as Arnett was promoted. Although hiring from within isn’t always the flashiest move, Greg McElroy believes it was the perfect move for Mississippi State.

“Interesting situation here, because I don’t think nationally a lot of people know a whole lot about Zach Arnett. But they need to familiarize themselves with this young head coach that has done a great job at Mississippi State the last couple years,” McElroy said on ‘Always College Football’. “Two top 15 defenses in the past three years and did so with an air raid offense. Now, Mike Leach altered his approach. It wasn’t your traditional air raid where they’re gonna run a ton of tempo, gonna run a ton of plays, and gonna hang their defense out to dry.”

“When you look at how he attacks, you look at how he tries to go after the opposing passer? I really like this hire,” said McElroy. “He’s gonna do good things there in Starkville. I think they’re gonna return to being a very dangerous, very physical football team. They’ve been that the last couple years but I think that could even be amplified with how they’re gonna control the line of scrimmage offensively.