From a MSU 247 mod on Arnett
" .... As far as LSU goes, I am told that there are a couple of issues that arose in their courtship. Orgeron and Arnett don't appear to be on the same page philosophically. Orgeron wants to run a lot of multiple fronts. Zach is a little flexible with all of that, but is pretty much married to the 3-3-5. I am also told that there was some confusion about Arnett's buyout. It is around 2 million. Arnett signed a new contact that was effective December 1st. With that signed agreement came a huge increase in the buyout. There is a misconception that Zach's SEC buyout is 450K. It's more like four times that. As I have posted on this board before, there is no wiggle room with that buyout. There are no negotiations to be had. Mississippi State will not accept anything less than the full amount of that buyout. Apparently, some didn't get that memo.
I have heard enough from people that I trust that things with LSU and Zach Arnett will not move forward for multiple reasons. I am told a name to watch in the LSU DC search is New Orleans Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen. Nielsen and Orgeron have coached together at both USC and Ole Miss. They are very close and see football the same way. Obviously, that would be a name that would likely make LSU fans happy. That's their issue to deal with.
So what about Texas? Based on what I am hearing, Arnett is a candidate, but not a priority candidate at this time. In many respects, that is the last spot to fill. Texas is a school that has the money to handle the buyout even in these COVID crisis times. That said, I am told by someone with knowledge of the search that the reports last week about Arnett being near the top of the Texas' wish list were premature at the very least. That's not to say that they don't eventually ramp things up with Zach, but I am told there are some other candidates with connections to Sark that will be pursued first....."
One last tidbit on Arnett is that he is represented by Thayer Evans. Maybe he has changed but Evans used to be a world class Texas-hater