On a night where Kentucky was losing its head coach to Texas A&M, then wasn’t (Stoops is now saying he’s staying), it appears the Mississippi State head coaching job may actually be filled.
Sports Illustrated and AL.com (the Alabama network of papers that includes the Birmingham News, and others) are both reporting that Oklahoma offensive coordinator and former Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is on the verge of accepting the Bulldogs’ head coaching job (Mississippi State closing in on Jeff Lebby as next football coach, reports say).
That would mean he would officially be replacing the recently-dismissed Zach Arnett, who was only on the job for 10 months – Arnett was the replacement for the late Mike Leach, but was fired after less than a season after making overwhelming changes that a majority of the fan base was not only uncomfortable with, but apparently were too much for the players: the Bulldogs went 1-6 in the Southeastern Conference and most recently dominated by rival Ole Miss on Thanksgiving night.
Not only did the Bulldogs lose to the Rebels, but they were embarrassed by both LSU and Alabama, as well.
The story was apparently originally broken on X, the former Twitter, by Yahoo! Sports’ own Ross Dellenger. Dellenger said in his tweet (do we still call it that?) that the deal isn’t done, but that talks were expected to lead to Lebby getting the position.
Lebby, who went to OU, was on the winning end of the Sooners’ Friday win over TCU, 69-45, and is only 39 years old. In addition to Ole Miss, he’s also coached at Baylor and Central Florida. His Sooners’ offense this season averages 492 yards per game, ranking seventh in total offense in the nation.
