NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
STARKVILLE — When Zac Selmon was introduced in January as Mississippi State’s athletic director, the talking points were vast. He discussed NIL. He talked about athletes excelling in the classroom. He touched on the importance of the Bulldog Club. He stressed the importance of winning the right way.
But whether it’s fair or not, his first stint leading an athletic department, especially in the SEC, will be defined by one thing: His success in hiring football coaches.
His first test is imminent after Mississippi State (4-6, 1-6 SEC) fired coach Zach Arnett on Monday, launching the start of a national search with two games still to play in the regular season.
“You always go into a search open-minded,” Selmon told reporters Monday. “I don’t want to say it’s got to be an offensive person or a defensive person or has to be a sitting head coach. I think what you do look for is you look for winning qualities – somebody who’s got winning traits.”
“You know when you’ve got winning DNA,” he later added. “I don’t want to pigeonhole where we’re at. You clearly want somebody that can built culture.”
Selmon hasn’t made a decision of this magnitude before, but he believes his experience has prepared him for it.
He was a tight end at Wake Forest who has worked his way up in college athletics through the administrative side – highlighted by more than a decade spent working under Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione.
“My dad had a construction company growing up,” Selmon said. “He’d always look at my eyes and say, ‘Are they still soft or do they’ve got scars on them?’ I think over my tenure in this business, if you look at my hands, they’re pretty scarred up. That’s a testament for the people I used to work for and work with. I have experience at every level and at every position, every…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-mississippi-state-football-coaching-211437021.html
Author : The Clarion Ledger
Publish date : 2023-11-13 21:14:37
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
