Mississippi State targeting Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as next head coach
Mississippi State is on the verge of hiring its next head football coach.
Sources told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger that Mississippi State is targeting Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to be its head coach. The deal is not done, but it’s expected to be completed.
Mississippi State is targeting Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby as its next coach, sources tell @YahooSports. Deal not done, but discussions are expected to result in a hire.
Lebby is a former assistant under offensive minds like Art Briles, Gus Malzahn and Lane Kiffin.— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 26, 2023
Lebby, 39, is a longtime offensive assistant who had stops as offensive coordinator at UCF and Ole Miss before landing at Oklahoma under Brent Venables in 2022. Under Lebby’s guidance, the Sooners have had one of the best offenses in the country this season, averaging 502.4 yards and 43.2 points per game.
Oklahoma finished out the regular season with a 10-2 record thanks to a 69-45 victory over TCU on Friday.
Notably, Lebby is the son-in-law of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, who was fired in 2016 amid an investigation into the BU athletic department’s handling of sexual assault allegations, many involving football players. Lebby was on staff at Baylor under Briles from 2008 to the time of his dismissal. He first was a quality control coach, and then was promoted to running backs coach and later passing game coordinator. He also held the role of assistant director of football operations from 2008 to 2011.
Jeff Lebby set to replace Zach Arnett at Mississippi State
Lebby would replace Zach Arnett, who was fired Nov. 13 after going just 4-6 in his first season as the Bulldogs’ head coach. Arnett, 37, was MSU’s defensive coordinator for three seasons and was promoted to head coach following the sudden death of Mike Leach last year. Following Leach’s death, Arnett led the Bulldogs to a victory over Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Arnett was promoted to head coach before Zac Selmon was hired as MSU’s athletic director. Selmon decided to make a change after seeing just 10 games with Arnett in charge in 2023.
The Bulldogs went 1-1 in the two games after Arnett’s firing to finish 5-7 and see their 13-season streak of reaching bowl eligibility snapped.
MSU has been a bit of a revolving door since Dan Mullen departed for Florida in 2017 following a nine-year run in Starkville. Joe Moorhead was dismissed after two seasons, leading to the hire of Leach, the former Texas Tech and Washington State coach.
Leach went 19-17 overall and 11-15 in SEC play before his sudden death on Dec. 12, 2022, at age 61. And then Arnett, Leach's defensive coordinator, was pushed out to open the door for Lebby in Starkville.
