Former Josh Heupel Assistant Is SEC’s Newest Head Coach

Mississippi State filled the final head coach vacancy in the SEC by hiring Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to succeed Zach Arnett, officially announcing the hire on Sunday evening.

An offensive mastermind, a dynamic play caller and the engineer of some of the most feared offenses in college football.

Please join us in welcoming the 36th head football coach in program history, Jeff Lebby!

📰 » https://t.co/VOgdIY8aMC@Coach_Leb | #HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/LEY36LlLeD

— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) November 26, 2023

The Bulldogs’ newest head coach has an interesting connection to Tennessee football’s program. Lebby comes from Josh Heupel’s offensive coaching scheme after spending two seasons as a Heupel assistant at Central Florida.

Heupel hired Lebby as his quarterback coach when he took the UCF job ahead of the 2018 season and promoted Lebby to offensive coordinator ahead of the 2019 season. Lebby left Orlando to be Lane Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss following the 2019 season.

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In Heupel and Lebby’s two seasons together, UCF posted a 22-4 record and averaged 43.2 points and 43.4 points per game respectively.

Lebby spent two seasons as Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at Ole Miss before leaving to be the primary play caller for Oklahoma’s Brent Venables— a defensive minded head coach. After a rocky 2022 season, Oklahoma’s offense bounced back this season helping Lebby land his first head coaching job.

Lebby will face both his former bosses in his first season at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs travel to Knoxville during the 2024 season though the date is unclear as the SEC hasn’t released official schedules yet.

But Lebby will tangle with his former boss Kiffin every single year as the two battle for Magnolia State supremacy.