Lane Kiffin just made another addition to his coaching staff and this one might surprise Rebel fans. Kiffin made the decision to hire former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett as an analyst for the Rebels. Now this might shock Rebel fans as Arnett comes from a rival school and his record wasn't that great.
NEWS: Ole Miss has hired former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett, @zach_berry reports.https://t.co/ub4arWBSxS pic.twitter.com/NwXn2zjUWQ
— On3 (@On3sports) March 6, 2024
Granted, Arnett had to take over under sad circumstances after the passing of legendary coach Mike Leach. However, he only made it a year after going 5-6 overall. The biggest win the Bulldogs had in his head coaching tenure was a win in the ReliaQuest Bowl, the first game his team played in after Leach's passing. The following season, the Bulldogs went 4-6 and he didn't even get to finish out the season.
After Arnett was fired, Kiffin shared his thoughts and feelings on the matter. He did not understand how a program could only give a guy 10 games before they decided to fire him. Kiffin talked about how times have changed and programs don't give coaches any time to build up and develop a program like they used to.
Arnett will be an analyst on Kiffin's staff focusing primarily on the defensive side of the ball. Even with his short stint as a head coach at Mississippi State, Arnet has a lot of coaching experience. His coaching career started in 2011 as a graduate assistant at San Diego State and after three seasons was promoted to linebackers coach.
In 2018, Arnett was promoted to defensive coordinator but still remained a position coach, then in 2020 was hired by Mississippi State as defensive coordinator.
According to Josh Pate on his podcast The Late Kick, Lane Kiffin has one of the best coaching staffs in the SEC. Will Arnett help or hurt the Rebels? Only time will tell.