OU football OC Jeff Lebby a top target at Mississippi State as head coach, per report
OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is the top target to be Mississippi State’s new head coach and is expected to be hired at the school, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellinger reported Saturday.
Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon is a Norman product who was most recently at OU from 2015 until January when he was hired in Starkville.
Lebby, an OU alum, spent the last two seasons as the Sooners’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
The Sooners averaged more than 500 yards of total offense and more than 43 points per game this season, leading the Big 12 in both categories.
Lebby’s offense had its best overall performance of the season in Friday’s 69-45 win over TCU, where the Sooners have 607 yards of total offense and scored their most points in a Big 12 game since 2003.
“I want all my guys to have opportunity,” Sooners coach Brent Venables said of Lebby after the win. “I’ll support them in any way I can. My charge to all the staff — all the staff — is everything has its time. Some of it is not ideal time. Stay focused and locked in to what we’ve got to do, and that’s what our players deserve.”
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Jeff Lebby helped bring Dillon Gabriel to OU
One of Lebby’s first priorities when he joined Venables’ staff was to rebuild the quarterback room.
He did that by adding Dillon Gabriel from UCF and then signing Jackson Arnold in the 2023 class.
Gabriel has thrown for 6,828 yards and 55 touchdowns in two seasons with the Sooners, while Arnold is widely seen as the quarterback of the future.
“I’ve always believed in him,” Gabriel said after the TCU win. “I know as coaches, the journey and wanting to be a head coach is something that I think he’s always wanted to be, as well as a bunch of coaches on our staff.
“But just the growth I’ve seen him make since my freshman year to now, same he’s seen with me. It’s crazy what two, three years can do. He’s very special offensively, what he does, which he’s grown in that way too, but just the man he is. I think he’s learned a bunch. I played today for a big reason for him and being able to do it again together.”
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Offensive coordinator candidate for Sooners if Jeff Lebby leaves
But while the numbers were strong for the Sooners’ offense under Lebby, he drew fire for having his father-in-law, disgraced former Baylor coach Art Briles, on the field after an OU game early this season, and for his play-calling in losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State.
If Lebby does leave, one candidate figures to be Sooners offensive analyst Seth Littrell, an OU alum who has plenty of experience as an offensive coordinator and was the head coach at North Texas from 2016-22.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football's Jeff Lebby top target at Mississippi State as head coach
