Transcript: Everything Mississippi State Head Coach Zach Arnett Said Ahead Of Week 1 Matchup Vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Mississippi State football returns to the field for Week 1 action against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Saturday, Sept. 2. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT.
Mississippi State's head coach Zach Arnett, who enters his first year at the position for MSU, addressed the media ahead of the opener:
Opening statement:
"Appreciate everyone being here. We’re excited to get things kicked off. It’s been a long, physical training camp. We’re kind of tired practicing against each other and want to spend some time preparing for someone else. There’s a new energy and excitement around the building. It’s game week. That should help improve our practice efforts. We want to say thank you to the fan base. The season tickets being sold out will be a heck of an environment around here come Saturday. It definitely has the players excited. You want to play in front of a packed house."
We’re facing a quality opponent. A challenge for us. Their coaching staff has done a heck of a job, coming off a conference championship. They were co-champs last year and beat the team they tied with. They’re extremely dynamic on offense. They put up a lot of points on everyone. Very sound on defense. You’ll earn everything you get. I shared that with the players Saturday. We’ll have our hands full and play a full 60 minutes."
Question: "How will things be different for you as the head coach of a season opener?"
Zach Arnett: "There are more things I’m responsible managing. First press conference, oversee the practice schedule, get enough reps, but not too much. It’s a balancing act. I’ll have to give you the second part of that answer next week."
Q: "Does it help for you having a veteran team going into the opener?"
ZA: "We’ve watched quite a bit of film already, getting into some scouting and treating it like a game week. You don’t have to watch much film to know you are playing a very talented football team. They can spread you out. A lot of great route concepts. You have a transfer quarterback coming in that’s first-team all-conference. The returning quarterback is the second-team all-conference. You worry about a team that has that kind of veteran presence at quarterback. That’s who makes an offense go."
Q: "How locked in are you to the starters on the depth chart released today?"
ZA: "That will go all the way through the week. You can’t play a guy if he has a horrible week of practice, doesn’t know the game plan, who doesn’t execute assignments. Every player understands that. They certainly have a leg up. That’s why they’re listed there."
Q: "Have you done any preparations on in-game adjustments?"
ZA: "Being a defensive coordinator the last three years, you have to make in-game adjustments. If you’re asking timeout strategy, managing the clock…certainly that’s been a big-part of my off-season study. There’s a whole lot of theory on when to use them, how to use them. It’s been interesting off-season reading."
Q: "Who do you lean on that has helped your adjustment to head coach?"
ZA: "The staff here. There’s over 100 years of experience on the current staff. There’s quite a few former head coaches. Joey Jones and Steve Campbell work in the building. They have quite a bit of head coaching experience. I don’t need to call a bunch of people around the country. Tony Hughes has also been a head coach."
Q: "Did coaching the bowl game help you to get ready?"
ZA: "I don’t know. The result of the game kind of determines what the evaluation is. Any time you have experience doing something…we talk about that with the players…there’s value in that. It’s nice to have a veteran team back. I imagine it’s the same with coaching."
Q: "Do you talk with players about preseason projections?"
ZA: "Not now. We have to prepare for the first game. Worrying about preseason projections, all that does is keep us from the job at hand, preparing for Southeastern Louisiana. We have to control what we can control. How we prepare and how we show up for the game Saturday. That’s all we need to be focused on."
Q: "What does it say about your recruiting that several freshmen are on the 2-deep?"
ZA: "We were excited about that recruiting class when we signed it. It’s a little validation. You evaluated good, you recruited, got them signed, and they live up to the hype. Now, you feel confident you can throw them out there. Until they’re in the fire, it’s all potential."
Q: "What has to happen on the field for you to say it was a successful weekend?"
ZA: "Winning is the first part of that. There’s no such thing as an ugly win. You put in year-round work. There are some issues that have shown up in training camp that we have to get addressed to give us the best chance to win. We’ve got to have ball security on the offensive side, you can’t beat yourself by giving away possessions. We have to tackle better on defense, simply getting lined up. We feel good about our 1s on both sides of the ball. Off that last question, true freshmen don’t handle change as well. I don’t want to see fumbles, I don’t want to see a whole bunch of penalties."
Q: "What are your impressions of Seth Davis?"
ZA: "He’s done a great job with his carries. He has real good feel for knowing where the seams are before they open. There is an instinct, as a ball carrier and defender, on where the hole is going to emerge. Some guys have a feel for that. Some guys don’t. You try to coach that stuff as best you can, but you let them play and evaluate. Seth never seems to get hit square. He’s a small stature guy. He manipulates his body and never seems to take a shot. Glancing blows."
Q: "What gives you confidence in your secondary?"
ZA: "We’re 20 practices in. You evaluate every single play on film. You grade everything. Those are the guys who grade out the best. It’s not some magic formula. They get lined up, they’ve got their eyes in the right place, they react accordingly, and they put themselves in the best place to make plays and not hurt the defense. We’ll continue to evaluate that."
