Mississippi State is unsurprisingly making staff changes after another frustrating campaign in the 2025 college football season. Ahead of a potential make-or-break year three, head coach Jeff Lebby fired defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler and is in talks to reunite with former Bulldogs head coach Zach Arnett.
After going just 5-7 in 2025, Mississippi State informed Hutzler that he would not be returning for the 2026 college football season, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported. Hutzler has been with the team for the last two seasons, having joined Lebby's inaugural staff in 2024 after two years at Alabama.
In his two years on the job, Hutzler has coached the worst defense in the SEC at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs allowed over 400 yards and 29 points per game in both seasons, ranking dead last in both categories in 2024 and second-worst in 2025.
Hutzler's defenses have notoriously struggled to contain the run, allowing an SEC-high 216.9 rushing yards per game in 2024. They marginally improved in 2025, allowing 189.5 rushing yards per game, but still ranked last in the conference.
Mississippi State had given Hutzler his first full-time defensive coordinator job after over a decade as a special teams coordinator with multiple programs. Hutzler was hired as Texas' co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2020 but was let go after just one season.
Lebby coached the Bulldogs to a 2-10 season in his first season before improving to 5-7 in 2025. He owns a dismal 1-14 record in SEC play but came close to pulling off several upsets in 2025, losing to Tennessee, Texas and Florida by one score.
Mississippi State expected to hire ex-HC Zach Arnett
Mississippi State is already eyeing Arnett as his replacement, with the Bulldogs “expected to target” their former head coach, per Thamel. Arnett spent one year as the team's interim head coach in 2023, following the sudden passing of Mike Leach. He was fired at the end of the 2023 season and spent the last two years with Ole Miss and Florida State.
Before his promotion to interim head coach, Arnett spent three seasons as Mississippi State's defensive coordinator. He was easily the Bulldogs' best on the job in the last decade and was twice nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in the FBS.
Although Arnett has only occupied analyst roles since his firing, he was slated to be Dan Mullen's inaugural defensive coordinator at UNLV in 2025 before shockingly resigning just months after signing with the team.
