All Sooners

Official: Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby Agrees to Deal With Mississippi State

The Sooners' offense has been explosive in two seasons under Lebby, and has attracted some serious quarterback talent over the last two years.

John E. Hoover

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Brent Venables’ coaching tree has sprouted its first branch — and now Venables must gather up the seeds.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has been hired by Mississippi State, the school announced on Sunday, and for Venables, his challenge is now two-fold.

Venables will need a new play-caller, of course, and a good one. Sooner fans are used to big numbers and dynamic offenses, and filling Lebby’s shoes will be a critical hire for Venables as Oklahoma transitions to the Southeastern Conference.

Secondly, Venables will have to act quickly and decisively to keep all the quarterbacks that Lebby has recruited, starting with 2024 projected starter Jackson Arnold (a sophomore next year) as well as 2024 prospects Michael Hawkins and Brendan Zurbrugg and 2025 prospect Kevin Sperry.

Arnold is the priority, naturally, because he’s next in line to start for the Sooners after two-year starter Dillon Gabriel presumably moves on next year (he was non-committal on his future when asked about it after OU’s season finale on Friday in Norman).

Arnold's father Todd told the OU Daily on Saturday Lebby's departure wouldn't cause Arnold to leave.

"It doesn't affect Jackson," Todd Arnold wrote in a text message. "He plays for OU."

Arnold was a 247 Sports 5-star prospect at Denton (TX) Guyer and was named Gatorade National Player of the Year. He's played in five games this season, completing 18-of-24 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns and also rushing for 78 yards and a score.

But the other QBs are big, too — some of whom (along with their families) have formed lasting relationships with Lebby through the recruiting process, and some of whom may want to join him in Starkville.

In his first season at Frisco (TX) Emerson, Hawkins is a 4-star prospect and the No. 21 overall QB in the class, according to 247 Sports Composite rankings. Zurbrugg is a 3-star prospect from Alliance, OH, who was previously committed to Northwestern and ranks No. 56 nationally at his position. And Sperry, the No. 13 QB in the ’25 class, is a 4-star prospect who moved from Rock Hill, TX, to Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, OK, so he could be closer to OU and Lebby for the rest of his high school career. Two of the three are still playing in their high school football playoffs.

Lebby interviewed for the MSU job last week and by Saturday had quickly emerged from a small collection of names as the Bulldogs’ leading candidate. He was under contract at OU through 2025 at a salary of $1.9 million per year.

Lebby, 39, came to OU as a 4-star high school offensive line prospect in the class of 2002 from Andrews, TX, but he never suited up for the Sooners due to a back injury. Instead, he immediately transitioned as a student assistant on Bob Stoops’ coaching staff, graduated from OU in 2007 and has been on a fast track almost ever since.

Lebby coached high school football in Texas in 2007, worked at Baylor under Art Briles for five seasons as the Bears’ running backs coach, was offensive coordinator at Southeastern University in Florida in the NAIA in 2017, coached quarterbacks at UCF under Josh Heupel in 2018 and was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2019, and coached at new rival Ole Miss as Lane Kiffin's offensive coordinator in 2020-21.

Venables hired Lebby on Dec. 10, 2021, and Lebby immediately went to work, flipping Flower Mound, TX, prospect Nick Evers’ verbal commitment from Florida to Oklahoma (Evers is now at Wisconsin).

Lebby also quickly landed Gabriel, who had entered the transfer portal from UCF and was minutes away from boarding a flight to California, where he would begin classes the next day at UCLA, when Lebby called.

Gabriel rejoined Lebby, for whom he played in 2019 at UCF, and together they’ve flourished. Lebby originally recruited Gabriel to UCF out of Mililani High School in Hawaii in 2018.

“He means the world to me,” Lebby Friday said after OU’s 69-45 win over TCU.

Gabriel said Friday he thinks Lebby will be a good head coach.

“I’ve always believed in him,” Gabriel said. “I know as coaches, the journey in 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 2-3 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. So if that doesn't speak enough of being able to suit up and run through a brick wall for that guy, shoot, then I don't know what does.”

As a true freshman with Lebby in Orlando, Gabriel completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 3,653 yards with 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions before Lebby left for Ole Miss.

In two seasons under Lebby in Norman, Gabriel has completed 66 percent of his passes for 6,828 yards with 55 touchdowns and 12 INTs. He’s also set career-highs this season with a passer efficiency rating of 172.0 and a completion percentage of 69.3.

Gabriel is No. 4 all-time in NCAA FBS history in touchdowns accounted for (152), No. 7 all-time in passing yards (14,865) and No. 8 in passing touchdowns (125).

Lebby has had a few lowlights at OU as well, such as running up-tempo offense with a dwindling lead against Oklahoma State in 2022 (OU held on to win), and three straight conservative handoffs while trying to run out the the clock in an eventual loss at Kansas this year.

Lebby’s off-field decision-making has also been called into question at times.

In 2015, as a Baylor assistant coach, Lebby was a sideline guest of fellow former Baylor staff member Philip Montgomery when Montgomery’s Tulsa team played at Oklahoma (in-person scouting is strictly prohibited by the NCAA, and Lebby’s attendance was against the rules). He received a public reprimand from the Big 12 Conference and was suspended for half a game.

This season, after the SMU game, Lebby invited his father-in-law — Briles, the disgraced former Baylor head coach — onto the field to pose for photos.

In the aftermath of that PR debacle, OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said he was “disappointed” in Lebby and the situation “shouldn’t have happened and it was my expectation it never would, based on boundaries we previously set.”

Lebby’s involvement in the Baylor sexual assault scandal was never fully clarified, although at least one former female Baylor student reported that she contacted Lebby directly, alleging that one of his running backs had physically assaulted her on three separate occasions. Lebby also later participated in the marketing of “#CAB” T-shirts to support “Coach Art Briles” after Briles was fired by the school.

Castiglione said after the hire in 2021 that OU “vetted him from every angle, on and off the field” with a “thorough review and background check, and spoke to his previous employers.”

At Mississippi State, Lebby will work for MSU athletic director Zac Selmon, son of OU football legend Dewey Selmon. Zac Selmon played tight end at Wake Forest but worked for Castiglione for nine years at OU, where he received his master’s degree in 2015.

On Friday, Venables addressed multiple reports that Selmon had interviewed Lebby.

“I want all my guys to have opportunity,” Venables said. “I’ll support them in any way I can. My charge to 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. Don’t be a distraction.

“But I’m for all my guys having opportunity to advance their careers.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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