Following a disastrous two-win 2024 season, Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell had to make some big time changes to his coaching staff. Despite coming into the season ranked in the preseason top ten, the Noles were one of the worst teams in the country, finishing 131st in points scored and 87th in points allowed per game.
Understandably, out went a pair of coordinators – Alex Atkins and Adam Fuller – and in came Gus Malzahn and Tony White, tasked with overseeing the offense and the defense respectively.
Now it’s Norvell who finds himself on the hot seat, and even with the start of the season less than three months away, the 43-year-old head coach is still adding to his staff.
“Florida State has hired former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett to its coaching staff in an analyst role,” writes Brendan Sonnone of 247Sports. “Arnett is expected to help the Seminoles on the defensive side of the football, working under defensive coordinator Tony White.”
Arnett and White have history with one another, as Arnett was a standout linebacker who led the NCAA in forced fumbles during the 2008 season at the University of New Mexico, playing for White, who was the Lobos linebackers coach. The two would go on to coach together at San Diego State for a handful of seasons before White eventually went on to become the cornerbacks coach and defensive passing game coordinator at Arizona State.
Around that same time, Arnett would branch out, heading to the SEC to join Mike Leach’s staff as the Mississippi State Bulldogs defensive coordinator in 2020. After Leach’s death in 2022, Arnett took over as head coach of the Bulldogs, and led the team to a 4-6 record before being fired in November 2023. Arnett most recently served as an analyst on Lane Kiffin’s staff at Ole Miss during the 2024 season.
One of the biggest issues the Seminoles defense had last season was turning over opposing offenses, forcing just four turnovers the entire season. Based on Arnett’s track record – and the law of averages – this should be improved in 2025. In 2019, Arnett’s second season as the defensive coordinator at San Diego State, the Aztecs were the number two scoring defense in the country and forced a staggering 27 turnovers on the season.
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