Former Lobo, La Cueva grad Zach Arnett hired as UNLV's defensive coordinator

A familiar face is returning to the Mountain West.

Former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett has been hired as the defensive coordinator at UNLV, the program announced Monday via release.

Once considered one of the best rising coordinators in college football, Arnett joins head coach Dan Mullen’s staff after spending one season as a defensive analyst at Ole Miss. The 38-year-old Albuquerque native had been previously linked to the same role at Appalachian State and the head coaching vacancy at UNM, his alma mater.

Arnett is a little over a year removed from a brief stint as Mississippi State’s head coach. He was promoted to the role after the unexpected death of former coach Mike Leach in December 2022. Arnett was fired in November 2023 after compiling a disappointing 4-6 record in his first season.

UNM is scheduled to play at UNLV this season. A date is expected to be announced in February.

A La Cueva High School graduate, Arnett racked up 200 total tackles as a linebacker at UNM from 2005-08 under head coach Rocky Long. He returned to the game in 2011 as a graduate assistant under Long at San Diego State, working his way up to a two-year stint as the Aztecs’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2018 and 2019.

In his final season at SDSU, Arnett called a defense that allowed just 12.7 points per game, second nationally behind Georgia (12.6 points per game). The Aztecs finished 10-3 with an appearance in the conference championship game and a 34-11 win over Central Michigan in the New Mexico Bowl, Long’s last game at SDSU.

In light of that success, Arnett was hired as Syracuse’s defensive coordinator in January 2020. He resigned less than two weeks later to take the same role at Mississippi State after Leach targeted Long, then 73, to help rebuild one of the worst defenses in the SEC.

Arnett helped change the Bulldogs’ fortunes immediately, coaching a defense that allowed the fourth-fewest yards in the SEC from 2020 to 2022. He was nominated for the Broyles Award, given annually to the best assistant coach in college football, in each of his first two seasons, and helped lead Mississippi State to two postseason appearances.

Leach died of “complications due to a heart condition,” Mississippi State announced on Dec. 13, 2022. Arnett agreed to a four-year, $12 million deal to become the Bulldogs permanent head coach two days later, eventually leading Mississippi State to an emotional 19-10 win over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 2, 2023.

From there, Arnett overhauled the Bulldogs’ offensive staff and replaced Leach’s signature Air Raid offense with a pro-style scheme. After a 2-0 start, Mississippi State averaged an SEC-worst 21.8 points per game and Arnett was fired on Nov. 13, 2023 after the program suffered its second three-game conference losing streak.

Arnett was subsequently hired by rival Ole Miss and spent this season working as a defensive analyst for the Rebels. Football Scoop reported that he was being targeted for Appalachian State’s defensive coordinator position before he was linked to the same role at UNLV after Mullen was hired on Dec. 12.

Details of Arnett’s contract with UNLV were not available at the time of publication.