Mississippi State “is targeting” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby for its head coaching vacancy, according to a tweet posted Saturday night by Yahoo!’s Ross Dellenger.
Dellenger reported that the “deal is not done, but discussions are expected to result in a hire.”
A source close to the situation told AllSooners the school has “more work to do” but expects to hire a new football coach “soon.”
Lebby interviewed for the job in Starkville this week, then returned to coach the Sooners to a 69-45 victory over TCU on Friday in Norman.
"Hopefully, it was pretty clear today that my focus was on one thing," Lebby said, "and my energy and my mindset and how we wanted to go play was on one thing, and that was going 1-0 today."
Lebby, 39, has blossomed in two seasons as the Sooners’ OC, as OU ranks among the top 10 offenses in the nation in passing offense (314.7 yards per game, No. 7), total offense (492.9, No. 7) and scoring offense (40.8 points per game). OU is also 11th nationally in third-down conversion percentage (.486) and fifth in team pass efficiency rating (172.03).
Lebby is a former OU offensive line recruit from Andrews, TX, who began his coaching career as a student assistant under Bob Stoops and was brought back by Brent Venables in December 2021.
Lebby coached at Baylor, UCF and Ole Miss under Art Briles, Josh Heupel and Lane Kiffin before returning to his alma mater.
MSU fired Zach Arnett on Nov. 13 after Arnett started 4-6 in his first season replacing the late Mike Leach.
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