Mississippi State football coaching search guide: Everything to know as MSU replaces Zach Arnett

Zac Selmon is now tasked with finding a football coach

Mississippi State athletics director Zac Selmon is a name to watch in the athletics director world. He’s a young star who, at 37-years-old, now has a chance to really make a mark on an athletics department.

To my knowledge, Selmon has never been in charge of finding a head coach before, but he seems pretty poised to do just that.

There’s no real reason to doubt that Selmon, a former college football player who worked for one of the best, most effective athletics departments in America for years, will do a bad job as he tries to find a new head coach for the Mississippi State football program.

He’s got connections. This is an SEC job (even if it’s admittedly not the best SEC job), and Zach Arnett’s buyout is manageable.

This should be a solid search. It’s not ideal that Mississippi State had to move on from a head coach in less than a year, but this was such a bizarre situation and unprecedented situation that included:

• A head coach tragically and unexpectedly dying
• MSU not having a true athletics director when searching for a new head coach
• The Bulldogs promoting a coordinator with the purpose of maintaining continuity
• That new head coach drastically altering the coaching staff and program he inherited
• Firing a number of the offensive coaches and then hiring offensive position coaches before managing to hire an offensive coordinator
• Arnett’s contract being built in a manner that seemed like a trial basis (it was an easy buyout clause and he had up to $2.2 million in incentive-based bonuses available)
• Arnett struggling and taking a nine-win team and failing to ensure bowl eligibility

It’s just a unique circumstance for MSU to be in. People are going to ask questions about if it was wise to fire a coach in his first year, but this isn’t a normal situation. It’s fine. And now Selmon will look for a new head coach.