SEC Media Days: Why Mississippi State HC Jeff Lebby is 'Indebted Forever' to Brent Venables

The former Oklahoma offensive coordinator said he learned plenty from Brent Venables on how to get a program up and running.

Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby / John E. Hoover / Sooners on SI

DALLAS — Another familiar face for Oklahoma took the stage on Day 3 of SEC Media Days. 

Former OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, who is about to begin his first season as the head man at Mississippi State, got his first experience at the podium in Dallas. 

He’s had a whirlwind offseason, taking a new job and then trying to hold a roster together. 

It’s not a process he’s unfamiliar with, however. 

Lebby was one of Brent Venables’ first hires at Oklahoma, and he got to experience the same situation with the Sooners firsthand. 

Growing up in football, Lebby has always had head coaching aspirations. 

Not only was he excited to work under Venables, he got to see how the OU coach handled the change in job description from one of the nation’s top assistants to head coach and CEO of a program — the exact transition Lebby made this offseason. 

“A great experience for me is being able to see him do it from Year 1 to Year 2,” Lebby said, “and being this great coordinator who had an incredible amount of success and being able to get into that head coaching chair and find ways 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, as consistent of a leader and a man as there is, I believe that, in all of college football. Indebted to him forever for giving me that.”

Oklahoma had a bit more success at holding on to pieces of its roster during Venables’ transition, as Lebby only has a pair of returning starters to build on.

But Venables’ philosophy on how to attack the transfer portal still rings true with Lebby as he pieced together his first team in Starkville last winter. 

“I think as much as anything it’s still trying like heck to protect the (locker room),” Lebby said. “Addressing the needs that’s on your roster immediately while making sure you’re getting the right people at the same time which is, you know, easy to say and hard to do. (Venables) was passionate about that which was incredible for me.”

Venables isn’t the only influence Lebby will draw upon as he takes the helm of his own program for the first time. 

He also worked under Josh Heupel and Lane Kiffin prior to returning to Oklahoma.

But Lebby will always be thankful of his time with Venables. 

“I love Jeff,” Venables said on Tuesday. “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.”

Thankfully for both Venables and Lebby, the Sooners and the Bulldogs won’t meet until at least 2026, meaning Lebby can lean on Venables for any other speed bumps as he gets his Mississippi State program off the ground. 

“Getting an opportunity to work for Coach V the last two years,” said Lebby, “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.”