Former Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Zach Arnett reacts after a failed series of down against the Auburn Tigers during the second half at Jordan-Hare Stadium. John David Mercer-Imagn Images

Former UNLV DC Zach Arnett Resurfaces At Florida State After Abrupt Resignation

Originally posted on UNLV Rebels on SI
By Mark Morales-Smith | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 10:53 AM ET

In what was one of the stranger stories of the offseason for the UNLV Rebels football program, new head coach Dan Mullen hired Zach Arnett to his staff to be the team’s new defensive coordinator, however, Arnett abruptly resigned from the position in April before ever really even getting started.

UNLV never gave out any information on the resignation the only thing that has been said is that it was due to personal reasons. The whole situation felt very weird, however, the team moved on and the Rebels hired associate coach Paul Guenther to be the team's interim defensive coordinator. All is well that ends well.

Now, Arnett has found himself a new landing spot. He will serve as a defensive analyst for the Florida State Seminoles this season. He will be working under defensive coordinator Tony White. Both men got their start coaching under Rocky Long who Arnett also played for during his days playing linebacker for the New Mexico Lobos.

NEW: Florida State has hired former Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett to an analyst role, @PeteNakos_ confirmshttps://t.co/DECrhdA3yE pic.twitter.com/JEmCgHenH3
— On3 (@On3sports) June 11, 2025

Arnett coached under Long at San Diego State starting in 2011 where he eventually became the defensive coordinator before moving on to Mississippi State to take their defensive coordinator job in 2020. He also had a brief stint as head coach of the Bulldogs after the sudden death of head coach Mike Leach. Unfortunately, he didn't even survive a full season as a head coach and was fired with two games left in the season after going just 5 - 6. After that, he moved on to become an analyst for Ole Miss in 2024 before taking the UNLV defensive coordinator job in 2025.

While we don't know what happened at UNLV, hopefully, he was able to sort out whatever the personal issue was and can get back on track to have a successful season with the Seminoles.