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Mississippi State making a change at Defensive Coordinator, Zach Arnett set to return to Starkville

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk4 hours agoRobbieFaulkOn3

A historically bad defensive regime has come to an end at Mississippi State.

Sources confirmed to Maroon and White Daily the news that Defensive Coordinator Coleman Hutzler has been relieved of his duties by head coach Jeff Lebby. In addition to the firing, reports from On3’s Pete Nakos have suggested that former defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will be returning to replace him.

The news of Arnett’s return is a bombshell to State fans and inside the SEC. The former State coordinator and head coach spent three seasons as the team’s defensive coordinator from 2020-2022 and then was named the head coach for the 2023 season after Mike Leach tragically passed away.

Arnett is remembered in two different ways by Bulldog fans. His head coaching tenure was trending towards a disaster as the Bulldogs struggled to a 5-7 season and he was fired just 10 games into the year. On the defensive side, his unit was a bright spot for all four seasons he was on campus.

Since leaving Starkville, Arnett was a Defensive Analyst on one of the top defenses in the country in 2024 at Ole Miss and then was hired at UNLV by Dan Mullen to be DC. He would leave that post before officially coaching a game and spent this year as an Analyst for Florida State.

The firing of Hutzler ends two difficult years for Bulldog fans as the State defense was not only one of the worst defenses in the SEC, but the entire country.

In 2025, State improved its talent and depth on the defensive side of the ball and got off to a great start. As the season wore on, however, the Bulldog defenses numbers began to regress to what transpired back in 2024. Hutzler’s reign ends having surrendered 15 games of 400 yards or more and six out of 24 with 500 or more yards surrendered.

The Bulldogs finished the year 94th in scoring at 29 points per game and that number climbed over the course of the SEC schedule. The total defensive numbers fell back into the triple digits as the Bulldogs were 103rd nationally at 406 yards surrendered per game. State’s defense was 117th in the country defending the run at 190 yards a game as the Bulldogs gave up three-straight games with a 100-yard rusher.   

State was also poor at getting pressure on the quarterback in two seasons under Hutzler. After recording an SEC-low 10.0 sacks a season ago, the Bulldogs doubled that number in 2025 and still finished 99th in the country with 20.0 sacks. In the final game against Ole Miss, the Bulldogs didn’t even record a tackle for a loss.

Lebby gave Hutzler his first shot at play calling duties. The longtime SEC assistant had been a co-DC for Texas in 2020, but spent most of his career as a position coach prior to arriving in Starkville. He coached at Florida, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Alabama among other schools and State hired him to coach defense after two seasons under Nick Saban as the Special Teams Coordinator and Outside Linebackers coach.

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