The Final Ride for Jeff Lebby and Matt Corral: How Their Relationship Reshaped Ole Miss Football

Jeff Lebby and Matt Corral owe a lot to one another, and they will take the field together for the last time on New Year's Day in the Sugar Bowl.

When Jeff Lebby made the decision to take the offensive coordinator job at Oklahoma, he admits that it wasn't an easy one.

Lebby has been a part of a resurgence at Ole Miss, a program that two years ago finished the 2019 season with a record of 4-8. On Saturday, that same program will be in the Sugar Bowl as the No. 8 team in the country with a chance to secure an 11-win season, something that has never been done in school history.

Lebby is a graduate of Oklahoma, and he likely has aspirations to one day be an FBS head coach himself. The move back to Norman from Oxford makes a lot of sense on different levels, but instead of focusing solely on his new role with the Sooners, Lebby is electing to call one final game as Ole Miss' offensive coordinator on Saturday.

His quarterback is a big reason why.

"It has been a lot, obviously, because early signing day and the way that works, being able to go back to Norman (Okla.) and see that part of it through, while at the same time knowing that I wanted to be here," Lebby said. "I wanted to be here for Matt [Corral]. I wanted to be here for all these guys, to be able to go finish this thing the right way. Just a great opportunity for us to be able to go win 11 games for the first time in the history of the school, and that matters. So, it mattered to me to be here for them, and that's why I'm here."

The decision wasn't an easy one for Lebby for other reasons as well, namely how he and his family have forged a home in Oxford over the last two seasons. Even so, coaching is a business, and heartstrings associated with an alma mater can be difficult to ignore.

"I think people that have followed it closely understand how thankful I am and how much me and my family have loved Oxford (Miss.) and loved Ole Miss," Lebby said. "So, it was hard. At the end of the day, being back there was an opportunity I felt like had to go do and was excited about doing. And that's ultimately what I decided."

In a way, Lebby and Corral owe a lot to one another. When Lane Kiffin was hired as the head coach at Ole Miss and Lebby was brought in as his offensive coordinator, Matt Corral was fresh off spending the majority of his 2019 season as the backup quarterback to John Rhys Plumlee. Corral won back the starting job in Lebby's system, however, and the success the Rebels have had on the field has had an effect on the career paths of both Lebby and his quarterback.

Jeff Lebby has an opportunity to return and coach at his alma mater, and Matt Corral, difficult 2019 season and all, has a chance to be taken in the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft. Some projections have him as the first signal caller off the board.

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Luke Altmyer / © John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff Lebby and Matt Corral will make their Ole Miss exits at the same time, and in a way, that's fitting. For the Rebels, however, the question after the Sugar Bowl will be, "What will the offense look like in 2022?"

It's obvious that Lane Kiffin is an innovative football mind, and he recently made his hire of a new offensive coordinator in Charlie Weis Jr. While the look of Weis and Kiffin's offense is yet to be seen, another question will center around who the quarterback is in Matt Corral's void.

"There's good players inside the building," Lebby said. "There's going to be really good players that show up between now and Aug. 1, once they start fall camp. They're going to continue to get really good players. So, I would sure expect for this thing to keep climbing in the direction that it's been climbing the last two years. I don't see any reason for change there."

While there has been plenty of discussion about Ole Miss finding a quarterback out of the transfer portal, Corral's backup, Luke Altmyer, has a chance to win the starting job at Ole Miss next season. Altmyer spent his freshman season in a limited playing capacity, mostly when Corral would leave a game due to injury this fall.

"Luke's a football junky," Lebby said. "He loves it. He's ate up with it. He goes about it the right way. The kid spends a ton of time in the building. He understands what it takes to be a great player at the position. 

"I think it's been invaluable for him to be able to sit here and watch Matt [Corral] do it at the highest level from a preparation standpoint," Lebby continued. "And, obviously, the way Matt plays the game every Saturday is incredibly unique. That's been huge for Luke as well. Got a big-time future, for sure."

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Ole Miss will take on Baylor this Saturday in the Sugar Bowl, a school that has ties to Jeff Lebby as well. Lebby spent the 2008 to 2016 seasons at Baylor as an assistant under Art Briles who was fired in 2016. Briles is also Lebby's father-in-law.

"They've done a great job this year," Lebby said. "Defensively, they've done an unbelievable job creating turnovers. They're here in New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl because of creating turnovers. That's what's got them to this point."

Although Lebby has a tumultuous history with Baylor, that isn't his biggest focus heading into the weekend.

"I think the biggest thing is us finding a way to get to 11 wins," Lebby said. "I think that's all the sauce we need. Being able to do something that's never been done in the history of the school is going to mean a lot to these kids and mean a lot to us as a staff. So, that's the focus."

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Matt Corral / © Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Corral hasn't spent much time thinking about the end of his Ole Miss career, but he will likely be faced with those emotions on Saturday.

"I haven't really started thinking about that," Corral said. "It hasn't really registered, but I'm sure when that clock hits zero, I'll feel it."

As one of the top projected quarterbacks for this year's NFL Draft, Corral could have taken the path of other high-profile draft picks and opt out of the Sugar Bowl, both for his health and to preserve his focus for the combine. No one would have blamed him, either. Corral is likely staring a large payday in the face when April rolls around.

Even so, he says it never crossed his mind to not participate in his final game in an Ole Miss uniform.

"It's my teammates," Corral said. "I couldn't live with what they'd think of me if I left. No one really understands how close we really are. It would have been the wrong thing to do."

Corral has come a long way since he started his Ole Miss career in 2018. That year, one where Ole Miss was under a postseason ban for NCAA violations, Corral was involved in a bench-clearing brawl with rival Mississippi State, having his helmet ripped off in the process. Ole Miss was blown out in that game 35-3.

The next year didn't fare much better for the Rebels in the Egg Bowl, either. Corral was essentially benched in the 2019 season, the final one for Matt Luke as head coach, in favor of John Rhys Plumlee. He did, however, come in and lead a dramatic comeback drive that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter against Mississippi State.

An unsportsmanlike conduct call on Elijah Moore later, however, and the Rebels came up short again.

Now, Corral has defeated Ole Miss' in-state rival two years in a row and has his program back in a New Year's Six bowl for the first time since the 2015 season. He wants to go out with his teammates who experienced those lows in 2018 and 2019 on a winning note.

"This game is important because it's the next one," Corral said, "and the people that I came in with, they're the same ones who were with us when we had four wins. Nothing changed. Just scheme and buying in."

Sep 6, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Mississippi Rebels offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby talks to the crowd after a victory against the Louisville Cardinals in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Just like Lebby choosing to coach one final game at Ole Miss in part due to Corral, Corral's decision to play one final game was thanks in part to Lebby.

"That's a relationship I'll have for the rest of my life," Corral said. "Most of these moments I've had at Ole Miss will have been with Lebby, Coach Kiffin and this team we have right now. I wouldn't trade the world for it. Coach Lebby saying that is the same thing as me not opting out. That's how I feel about my team."

"It's been incredible and humbling watching him play the way he plays," Lebby said. "I think the thing he's got going for him more than anything is he's an inspiring guy, and the way he puts it on the line for his teammates and his university every Saturday is unlike anything out there in the country. I believe that, and I'm dang proud to coach him.

"I think the most exciting part, man, is he's just getting started. We've got a great relationship, getting stronger every day, and I'm just proud of him. Ready to go do it one more time with him."

Ole Miss and Baylor will kick off in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 at 7:45 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN.

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