Oklahoma is expected to hire Ole Miss offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby to the same position on Brent Venables’ staff, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman. Lebby, a former Oklahoma football player, led the Rebels to one of the top offenses in the nation.
Under Lebby’s tutelage, Ole Miss ranked No. 4 nationally with 506.7 yards per game. Quarterback Matt Corral developed dramatically, too, throwing for more than 3,300 yards and 20 touchdowns to just four interceptions while completing 68.4% of his passes. The Rebels won 10 regular-season games for the first time in program history and will play in the Sugar Bowl for the second time in the past seven years.
While Lebby served as the team’s offensive coordinator, head coach Lane Kiffin was the primary play caller. Lebby also played a secondary role as the OC at UCF behind head coach Josh Heupel in 2019. As such, Oklahoma will be Lebby’s first opportunity to have full control of an offense at the FBS level. Still he has played a major role in developing star quarterbacks like Corral and Dillon Gabriel. Unquestionably, his first task at Oklahoma will be to help retain dynamic quarterback Caleb Williams.
Lebby’s hiring represents a commitment for the defensive-minded Venables to dynamic offense and quarterback play. While some defensive coaches slow things down to protect their defense, Venables has coached on the same team, but on the other side, of quarterbacks like Sam Bradford, Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence while winning three national championships.
Lebby got his start under his father-in-law, Art Briles, at Baylor. He coached on the Bears staff from 2008-2016, primarily as a quality control and running backs coach. He was not retained after Briles’ staff was let go after the 2016 season and became the offensive coordinator at NAIA Southeastern before former OU teammate Heupel hired him as QBs coach at UCF.
