Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby on Mississippi State Rumors: 'Time and a Place for All That' | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
David Craig After his team's 69-45 win over TCU on Friday, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby declined to address his candidacy for Mississippi State's vacant head coaching job.
George Stoia III @GeorgeStoiaJeff Lebby on the Mississippi State rumors: "To me, there's a time and place for all that… We're focused on the now… We'll see about that." <a href="">#Sooners</a>
Eli Lederman @ByEliLedermanJeff Lebby says his focus was on today's game and that there's "a time and place" when asked about links to the Mississippi State HC job: <a href="">
The 39-year-old Lebby is finishing his second season as OU's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He previously coached Ole Miss in the same capacities in 2020 and 2021.
Mississippi State is looking for a new head coach after parting ways with Zach Arnett after just one season. Arnett worked as the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator under ex-head coach Mike Leach, who passed away in Dec. 2022. He led the Bulldogs to a win in the ReliaQuest Bowl to close the 2022 season. However, a 4-6 start (1-6 SEC) in 2023 led to Mississippi State changing course.
Scoring has been a problem all season, to the point where MSU is 105th among 133 Division I FBS teams in 2023. The Bulldogs averaged just 12.6 points per game in 2023 against SEC opponents.
Bringing in an offensive guru is a must for this team, and someone like Lebby could be the answer. Lebby's Ole Miss teams were 14th and 24th in scoring in Division I FBS. Last year's OU team was 33rd but jumped all the way up to fourth this year, and that's not counting the 69-point romp against TCU.
For now, though, Lebby remains the Sooners' OC. OU's regular season is over, but the team awaits results of other games to see if it qualifies for the Big 12 Championship Game.