Aggies & Bulldogs Fire Head Football Coaches

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Mississippi State announced Monday that it had fired head football coach Zach Arnett after just one season.

Mississippi State (4-6, 1-6 in the SEC) has lost six of its past eight games and is coming off a 51-10 loss to Texas A&M, which just fired its coach, Jimbo Fisher, on Sunday.

"As part of my thorough and continued evaluation, I have determined that a change in leadership is necessary to move our football program forward and position it for the highest level of success," Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said Monday in a statement. "I have the utmost respect for Zach Arnett and am incredibly appreciative of the effort he put forth in leading our football program. However, the progress and on-field results have not been of the standard required for Mississippi State to achieve the level of success we need and expect."

The Bulldogs have struggled on offense. They have scored more than 17 points just once in seven SEC games, and in their past four games, have scored a total of 33 points.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork on Sunday night said it was his decision to fire football coach Jimbo Fisher earlier in the day, saying that the program was "stuck in neutral."

Bjork said he called interim Texas A&M president Gen. Mark Welsh after the Aggies' loss to Ole Miss on Nov. 4 and asked to meet.

"The assessment that I delivered was that we are not reaching our full potential," Bjork said at a news conference. "We are not in the championship conversation and something was not quite right about our direction and the plan. We should be relevant on the national scene."

In Fisher's first three seasons in College Station, the Aggies were 26-10 and finished No. 4 in 2020 -- the second-highest ranking ever for the program, after the 1939 national championship. Over the past three seasons, Texas A&M is 19-15, including an active nine-game road losing streak that is tied for the program's longest since the AP poll began in 1936.

Fisher's A&M tenure ends with a 45-25 record over six seasons and no appearances in the SEC championship game.