Jeff Lebby (born January 5, 1984) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Mississippi State University, a position he has held since 2024, earning an annual salary of $4.5 million.[1] He has previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma, an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), Baylor University and University of Central Florida (UCF).
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Mississippi State |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 2–8 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | January 5, 1984 McGregor, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma (2007) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2002–2006 | Oklahoma (SA) |
| 2007 | Victoria Memorial HS (TX) (OL/TE) |
| 2008–2011 | Baylor (OQC) |
| 2012–2014 | Baylor (RB) |
| 2015–2016 | Baylor (PGC/RB/ORC) |
| 2017 | Southeastern (OC) |
| 2018 | UCF (QB) |
| 2019 | UCF (OC/QB) |
| 2020–2021 | Ole Miss (OC/QB) |
| 2022–2023 | Oklahoma (OC/QB) |
| 2024–present | Mississippi State |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 2–8 |
Playing career
Lebby played high school football at Andrews High School.[2] He earned All-State honors his senior year and signed with Oklahoma to play football. An injury ended his playing career in college.
Coaching career
Early career
After the injury ended his playing career, he switched to coaching and stayed at Oklahoma as a student assistant.[3] At Oklahoma, he would meet then-Oklahoma quarterback and future boss Josh Heupel. He left Oklahoma to coach the offensive line and tight ends at Victoria High School (Texas).
Baylor
Lebby came back to the collegiate ranks in 2008, and served various roles for Baylor across nine seasons which included passing game coordinator for two seasons. From 2008 to 2011, he was the assistant director of football operations.[4] He also served five seasons as a running backs coach.[4]
Role during 2015 Baylor football scandal
While coaching at Baylor University, Lebby was named by Baylor student Dolores Lozano as one of the coaches that took no action against running back Devin Chafin after she reported being physically assaulted three times by him.[5] After Art Briles was terminated by Baylor, Lebby defended Briles, who is also Lebby's father-in-law, and sold shirts with #CAB (Coach Art Briles) in a show of continued support.[6]
Southeastern
He got his first full time offensive coordinator opportunity at Southeastern, an NAIA school in Florida. He helped lead Southeastern to the Mid-South Conference Sun Division title and a playoff berth. Southeastern would finish with the No. 1 scoring offense and the No. 3 total offense in the NAIA that year.
UCF
On December 24, 2017, UCF announced the hire of Lebby as their quarterback coach, reuniting with Josh Heupel. Under his guidance, quarterback McKenzie Milton was 7th in yards per attempt and 9th in passing efficiency rating. Milton would finish 6th in Heisman Trophy voting that year.[7] He was promoted to offensive coordinator the following year in 2019. His offense ranked 5th in total offense and true freshman quarterback Dillon Gabriel threw for 3,653 yards and 29 touchdowns.[8]
Ole Miss
On December 11, 2019, Lebby was hired by Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss to serve in the same role as he did at UCF.[9] In his first season with the Rebels, Lebby's offense ranked eighth in total offense.[10]
On January 6, 2021, Lebby signed a two-year extension with Ole Miss.[11]
Oklahoma
On December 8, 2021, Oklahoma football finalized a deal for Lebby to be the Sooners' new offensive coordinator under newly hired head coach Brent Venables. Lebby’s contract with Oklahoma is for three years and $5.7 million dollars.[12]
During his first season at Oklahoma, the Sooners were ranked 13th nationally in yards per game,[13] improving to 4th in 2023.[14]
Mississippi State
On November 26, 2023, Lebby was named the head coach at Mississippi State.[15]
Personal life
Lebby is married to his wife, Staley, and they have two children.[16] Lebby is the son-in-law of American football coach Art Briles and the brother-in-law of Kendal Briles.[17]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024 | Mississippi State | 2–8 | 0–6 | ||||||
| Mississippi State: | 2–8 | 0–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 2–8 | ||||||||
References
- ^ Eckert, David (November 27, 2023). "Here are contract terms for new Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
- ^ "Jeff Lebby, Offensive Tackle, Andrews". 247 Sports. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ Trotter, Jake (September 22, 2015). "Baylor assistant Jeff Lebby On Sideline for Oklahoma-Tulsa game". ABC 7 News. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
- ^ a b "Jeff Lebby, Football Coach, Baylor". Baylor Athletics.
- ^ "Joe Schad Reports Disturbing New Allegations about Devin Chafin and Coach Lebby". Our Daily Bears. June 7, 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
- ^ "Ex-Baylor football coach Briles and his family to start campaign benefiting Waco advocacy center for crime victims". Dallas News. November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ^ "2018 College Football Leaders". Sports Reference.
- ^ "2019 College Football Team Offense". Sports Reference.
- ^ Murphy, Brian (December 12, 2019). "Jeff Lebby Leaves for Ole Miss, Marking UCF's First Coaching Change in 2 Seasons". Black And Gold Banneret.
- ^ "College Football Team Total Offense Stats 2020". ESPN. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ "Ole Miss OC Lebby agrees to new 2-year deal". ESPN.com. Associated Press. January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Brian (December 17, 2021). "Report: Oklahoma Releases Contract Terms for Jeff Lebby, Ted Roof". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ "College Football Team Total Offense Stats 2022". ESPN. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ "College Football Team Total Offense Stats 2023". ESPN. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ Langlois, Brandon (November 26, 2023). "Offensive Mastermind Jeff Lebby Named Mississippi State Head Football Coach". Mississippi State Athletics. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
- ^ "Jeff Lebby – Mississippi State profile". Mississippi State Bulldogs. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Hoover, John E. (September 10, 2023). "COLUMN: Family or Not, Art Briles Has No Place On Oklahoma's Sidelines". SI.com. Retrieved October 24, 2024.