WATCH: Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon addresses Zach Arnett firing and start of coaching search
Mississippi State’s Zac Selmon has been athletic director for less than 11 months. But on Monday, Selmon officially began his first coaching search within one of the Bulldogs’ major sports on campus.
A couple of hours after announcing the dismissal of head coach Zach Arnett, Selmon met with the media to share his thoughts on Arnett along with the upcoming search.
“Earlier this morning I met with Zach Arnett and let him know he was relieved of his duties as head football coach at Mississippi State,” recalled Selmon. “I want to thank Coach Arnett for his contributions first as defensive coordinator and the head coach after taking over after the tragic passing of Coach Leach. Zach is a great man of integrity. I wish him and his family all the very best in future endeavors.
“As the responsible leader of our athletics department, I constantly look at ways we can get better. Part of that is looking at the health of our programs. When necessary, it’s my responsibility to correct areas where we’re falling short. It has become clear that we need a shift in leadership, therefore, we must act.”
Selmon acknowledged that Mississippi State will use a national search firm to aid in the process although he did not name which search firm that would be. Of course, with the December signing period a month away plus the transfer portal, Selmon recognized the timeframe he will be up against with the new hire.
“Clearly we want to be as fast as we can,” explained Selmon. “We also want to make sure we are thorough and diligent, understanding there is a lot of football left to play in this season. We don’t want to be jumping out there if it is not the right fit and not the right person for Mississippi State.
“We also understand what’s upcoming. We understand what happens with the transfer portal. We understand the recruiting calendar. We understand finals’ schedule. At the core we will make sure we hire the best person for Mississippi State.”
Selmon was also quick to point out his “open-minded’ approach with the search. He prefers to not zero in on one type of coach or background at this point.
“You always go into the search open-minded,” Selmon mentioned. “So I don’t want to say it’s got to be an offensive person or a defensive person or it has to be a sitting head coach. What you do look for is winning qualities, somebody that’s got winning traits. Somebody that knows what winning looks like at the highest level. You know when you got winning DNA.”
Selmon, a former Wake Forest tight end (2003-07), ended his press conference warning of rumors that consistently surround coaching search and told reporters not to believe anything unless they heard it from him. And Selmon added that he doesn’t intend to discuss the search publicly until the Bulldogs introduce the new head coach.
“During this process, we’ll be thorough, we’ll be diligent and we’ll be efficient,” Selmon noted. “I’ve been around football my entire life. I know what good, winning coaching looks like. Bulldogs are about action. We’re not about complaining. The next time I speak publicly on this it will be when we introduce our next head football coach.”
