Brent Venables explains what made Jeff Lebby the right fit as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator

As he put together his first staff as Oklahoma head coach, Brent Venables made a big splash by hiring Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. It sounds like it was a no-brainer decision, too.

Venables appeared on The College Football Daily podcast and discussed Lebby’s addition to the Sooners staff. Last year at Ole Miss, Lebby helped Matt Corral develop into a Heisman contender and eventual NFL Draft selection, and he’ll try to replicate that success at Oklahoma. The Sooners went and got former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel from the transfer portal after Caleb Williams transferred to USC to re-join forces with Lincoln Riley.

With spring ball in the rear-view mirror and training camp on the horizon, Venables said Lebby has been a great fit so far.

“Who he is as a husband and a father and a leader and who he was as a player, knowing what he comes from,” Venables said. “He’s been incredibly successful [in] everything he does. He does it and overdelivers. He’s done the same thing as an offensive coordinator. So philosophy, scheme, adjustments, creativity, understanding defense. It’s one thing to intimately understand your side of the ball. But when you intimately understand how people do what they do and why they do what they do on the other side of the ball, I think takes your game as a coordinator to a whole ‘nother level. Jeff has, instinctually, those same types of qualities, as well.

“And then he’s got a great presence to him. Anybody who’s met Jeff is like, ‘Man, he’s impressive.’ Humble, well-spoken, strong command, got a great presence. He’s a tough guy. But he’s very technical and [a] tremendous teacher.”

Brent Venables goes into great detail about what made Oklahoma the perfect job for him

When Brent Venables got the call to become the next Oklahoma football coach, it just felt right. Venables had been the defensive coordinator for 10 seasons at Clemson and received plenty of other offers in his time with the Tigers.

Ultimately, it was those connections that played a part in luring Venables back to Oklahoma.

“Relationships was a big part of it having lived and been a part of this program, this community, this university for 13 years,” Venables said on the College Football Daily podcast, in part. “That was a big part of it. Certainly a level of comfort in relationships with the same athletic director in Joe Castiglione, who is as good as there is in the business. Not only success, but championship excellence and stable leadership. Joe Harroz — the president of our university — when I was here before he was the dean of our law school. Then he became general counsel for the university and now the president.”