New MSU coach Jeff Lebby feels 'indebted' to Brent Venables, Sooners

DALLAS, Texas — New Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby expressed nothing but gratitude for his time in Norman on Tuesday.

The former Sooners offensive coordinator took the stage at SEC Media Days as he prepares for his first season as the Bulldogs' head coach. Lebby left the Sooners for Starkville back in December, but said he feels appreciation for his two seasons under OU head coach Brent Venables.

"Getting the opportunity to work for coach V for the last two years, he created an opportunity for me to go back to my alma mater and be able to get that thing off the ground with him," Lebby said during his press conference. "A great experience for me was being able to see him do it from year one to year two, and (him) being this great coordinator who had an incredible amount of success and then be able to get into that head coaching chair and find ways just to keep getting better.

"It was all about what's best for the program. It's all about what's best for the people inside our room. (He's) as consistent of a leader and as a man as there is, I believe that, in all of college football. I'm indebted to him forever for giving me that experience."

Venables made Lebby one of his first assistant coaching hires after he arrived in Norman in December 2021. Lebby previously played at OU as an offensive lineman and later served as a student assistant from 2002-2006 while Venables was on staff as the defensive coordinator and also saw stints at Baylor, UCF and Ole Miss.

The Sooners' offense was very solid in Lebby's first season, as they ranked 13th in total offense (474 yards per game) and 32nd in scoring offense (32.8 points per game). Lebby and the Sooners took a significant jump forward last season, as they ranked inside the top four nationally in scoring offense (41.7 points per game) and total offense (507 yards per game).

But Lebby's second and final season with the Sooners was a bit rocky. He came under fire following the Sooners' losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State, particularly his late fourth-down play call against the Cowboys that resulted in Drake Stoops being tackled short of the first down. Still, the Sooners finished with a prolific offense on their way to a 10-2 regular season.

Two days after the Sooners' 69-45 win over TCU in their regular-season finale, Lebby accepted the job at Mississippi State. The 2024-25 season will mark Lebby's first as a head coach.

Venables expressed nothing but respect for Lebby during his appearance at SEC Media Days on Monday.

"I love Jeff," Venables said. "Jeff is one of my favorite people on this planet. He's always in a great mood, his perspective on life and the game of football and on the locker room, real juice and energy, genuineness and positivity. He's a coach's kid. So the game and the locker room have always been a sanctuary for him, which helps him be a very successful coach.

"He'll do a great job. He's aggressive. He's innovative. He relates well to people. He brings out the best in people. He has the ability to instill confidence in the simplest ways. And I know he's put together a really outstanding staff. He's led athletic director, Zac Selmon, known him for a long time. Zac is an assassin of his own, young athletic director that has a tremendous future as well, and I know the passion in Starkville, Mississippi is very real, and so they'll support him in all the right ways to be successful."

In addition to Venables, Lebby also expressed his excitement for quarterback Jackson Arnold, who will lead the Sooners as the starting quarterback this fall. He also discussed Seth Littrell, who served as an OU offensive analyst before being promoted to co-offensive coordinator after Lebby's departure.

Lebby said there are similarities between their offensive schemes and said he's confident Littrell will succeed in Norman.

“I think there’s a ton of similarities from a run-the-ball-first mentality, that toughness and the lines of scrimmage," Lebby said. "There’s great familiarity from a system standpoint. Some guys that he had hired at North Texas were guys that were inside the tree for a long time. So he kind of made that change. He had made that change and had been much more our style.

"He brings a ton of experience. He brings experience as a head football coach. He brings great experience as a coordinator and play caller and a guy that’s done it at a really high level. He does right by the people. He does right by the kids and he’s gonna fight his butt off for that university.”

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