Syracuse Football: Zach Arnett leaves team for Mississippi State job

Syracuse football no longer has a defensive coordinator after Zach Arnett reportedly leaves the team. Here are all the details and what it all means.

In an absolute shocker, it appears that now-former Syracuse football defensive coordinator Zach Arnett has left his post.

Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports dropped the bombshell on Wednesday afternoon saying:

"“Mississippi State is expected to hire Zach Arnett as defensive coordinator. He’d recently taken the Syracuse DC job. Arnett runs the 3-3-5 defense he learned from Rocky Long.”"

***UPDATE***

Statement from Athletic Director John Wildhack on Zach Arnett via an official press release:

"“We are disappointed that Zach Arnett has decided not to honor the commitment he made to Syracuse University. We will continue to work diligently to find the best defensive coach for our program.”"

If this news ends up being true, suddenly the Syracuse football team is in desperation mode searching for a new defensive coordinator ahead of the 2020 season.

For context Thamel has been all over the Syracuse football news this offseason:

• Thamel originally reported that Rocky Long was visiting with Dino Babers in Central New York for the vacant defensive coordinator job.
• He also was one of the first people to report that Arnett had left his post at San Diego State to join the Syracuse football squad.

In a press release on January 11 Syracuse University announced the hiring of Zach Arnett.

Here are the original statements from Dino Babers and from Zach Arnett via the original press release:

"Dino Babers“Zach is a very talented coach. He learned under a great defensive mind in Rocky Long at San Diego State and excelled when he got the opportunity to run the defense there. His qualities, both as a person and as a professional, are an excellent fit for our program. I’m excited to welcome Zach, his wife, Emily, and their children, Case and Collins, to Syracuse.”Zach Arnett:“My family and I would like thank Coach Babers for this tremendous opportunity. He’s someone I have the utmost respect for and his philosophy of developing the whole student-athlete – not just the football player – is one I believe in strongly. Syracuse is an outstanding place with a great football tradition. I’m excited to be part of it. I can’t wait to get to Central New York and get started.”"

This is an embarrassing moment not only for Syracuse but also for Dino Babers who put his neck out on the line to bring this guy in. Not to mention Zach Arnett who made a commitment to Syracuse but skipped out of town, a very bad look on all involved.

The only other person we’re aware of that has interviewed for the Syracuse defensive coordinator position is Rocky Long, former head coach at San Diego State. Currently, he’s still a free agent and has a desire to get back into coaching as a defensive coordinator.