Jeff Lebby says goodbye to Ole Miss after taking Oklahoma OC job

When Oklahoma hired former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as head coach, it needed to get a strong offensive coordinator. The Sooners got their guy — and he said farewell to Ole Miss Wednesday night.

News broke Wednesday that Jeff Lebby is getting ready to take over as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator. The Sooners haven’t made it official, but Lebby tweeted a goodbye to Ole Miss and Oxford Wednesday night.

Hard to describe how thankful we are as a family for the last two years – what an incredible ride it has been – THANK YOU Ole Miss – THANK YOU Oxford – #HYDR #Family #ScoredFromFar pic.twitter.com/jzJF3zjHG4

— Jeff Lebby (@Coach_Leb) December 9, 2021

“Hard to describe how thankful we are as a family for the last two years,” Lebby tweeted. “What an incredible ride it has been – THANK YOU Ole Miss – THANK YOU Oxford.”

Lebby has been at Ole Miss for two years and led the Rebels to a top-10 offense both years. This past season, Ole Miss finished the regular season with the No. 4 offense in the country, averaging 506.7 total yards per game.

He also played a big role in the development of Matt Corral, who was in conversation for the Heisman Trophy. Corral is considered one of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s NFL Draft and threw for more than 3,000 yards for the Rebels.

Prior to his time at Ole Miss, Lebby worked at UCF where he worked with McKenzie Milton and Dillon Gabriel. Now, he’s on his way to Norman where he can work with star quarterback Caleb Williams.

Report: Oklahoma Sooners to hire Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator

According to multiple reports, including a first mention from Lee Benson of Oklahoma City’s News9, Lebby has agreed to leave Oxford in favor of Norman, where he’ll become the next offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. He will succeed Bill Bedenbaugh, who left with former head coach Lincoln Riley for USC.

While Venables has a previous tie to Oklahoma, as he served as the defensive coordinator prior to his time at Clemson, so too does Lebby: an Oklahoma alumnus, Lebby signed to play football for the Sooners before an injury ended his playing career. He quickly moved into a role as a student assistant, serving for four years on Oklahoma’s staff before moving on.

Lebby was hired as part of Lane Kiffin’s initial staff at Ole Miss in 2020, and he put together back-to-back seasons of high-flying offense with the Rebels. In 2020, Ole Miss’ offense totaled 555.9 yards of offense per game and managed to average five touchdowns per contest — despite playing an all-SEC schedule due to the pandemic. Things hardly changed in 2021; in fact, Lebby and the Ole Miss offense just took a step further in the right direction with quarterback Matt Corral, who finished as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks this season. En route to Ole Miss’ first 10-win regular season in program history, Lebby’s offense averaged over 500 yards of total offense per game, averaging 6.7 touchdowns per contest.