Mississippi State football: Zach Arnett’s recruiting strategy seems to be working

Zach Arnett is on a hot streak as he continues to build the 2024 Mississippi State football recruiting class.

The 2024 Mississippi State football recruiting class has been growing in impressive ways. We’re a little ways away from signing day, but it sure is safe to say that Zach Arnett’s in-state strategy sure seems to be working.

Back in February, Arnett joined Richard Cross and Brian Hadad over on the SportsTalk Mississippi radio show and during that interview, the head coach of the Mississippi State football program spoke about how his coaching staff was crafted and the value of having coaches with ties to Mississippi when it comes to recruiting in-state prospects.

“There’s been no mystery to what I’ve wanted to accomplish here in terms of the recruiting prowess of the staff, particularly their ties in the state of Mississippi,” Arnett told Hadad and Cross.

To expand upon that, Arnett highlighted the success of recruiting in-state prospects during the last recruiting cycle. And he highlighted his desire to have even more success recruiting in-state going forward.

Zach Arnett, Mississippi State football thriving with in-state recruiting

“Of the top 25 players in Mississippi, we signed 12 of them, which is more than any other school. I would like to see us sign even more,” Arnett said at the time.

And while it remains to be seen as to how many of the top 25 Mississippi high school athletes that the Bulldogs will end up signing, but Arnett and company are off to a great start so far with the way they’ve been recruiting in 2024.

Tuesday, Arnett and his coaching staff made some major recruiting splashes as the Bulldogs landed three 4-star athletes from the state of Mississippi.

First came PJ Woodland, a talented cornerback from down in Hattiesburg. Next came JJ Harrell, a dynamic wide receiver from up in Sardis. And then the day got wrapped up with the addition of Starkville’s very own Braylon Burnside, yet another explosive receiver.

And what’s interesting about those recruiting wins is that two of the three commitments came from recruits who were in contact with Chad Bumphis.

Bumphis was a key addition this offseason and certainly a familiar face for many Mississippi State football fans. While it was difficult to see all of the turnover on the offensive side of the MSU coaching staff, it was exciting to see Bumphis return back to his alma mater and home state after coaching out west with the Utah Utes.

Now Bumphis is back home and helping the Mississippi State Bulldogs land key athletes who can come in and compete from day one.

As a result, Mississippi State is now sitting with the No. 6 recruiting class in the SEC for 2024. That puts the Bulldogs ahead of the following:

• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Ole Miss Rebels
• Auburn Tigers
• Texas A&M Aggies
• Vanderbilt Commodores
• Kentucky Wildcats
• Missouri Tigers

Things are going to change between now and signing day, that’s inevitable, but this is incredible to see from Arnett and his coaching staff. The addition of Bumphis was huge. And this staff is certainly built to recruit well.

And that sort of recruiting can certainly help Arnett elevate what Mike Leach got established. If the Bulldogs can sustain this recruiting momentum, then signing day is going to be a lot of fun this year.