Jeff Lebby shares what he learned from Brent Venables, Lane Kiffin, Josh Heupel

Jeff Lebby is getting the opportunity to run his own program now at Mississippi State after working under some excellent head coaches in recent years.

Lebby spent time at UCF under Josh Heupel, at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin and at Oklahoma under Brent Venables, prior to getting his opportunity as a head coach with Mississippi State.

Lebby joined The Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday and shared what he learned at his previous stops.

Lebby started with what he learned at his most recent stop under Brent Venables at Oklahoma.

“Just incredible consistency, every single day in the building. I thought he did an incredible job of painting a picture and creating a vision for our guys every day. And being the same guy, day in, day out. Holding himself to this incredible standard, while holding everybody in the organization to that standard,” Jeff Lebby said. “And for that, incredibly grateful for my time there with him. … No chance I’m sitting here today without my two years there in Norman.”

Lebby was then asked about his time working under Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021. Kiffin is, of course, still with the Rebels and will be coaching against Lebby in the Egg Bowl every year.

“The two years in Oxford as we got going, from an offensive standpoint, an offensive mind, I think everybody realizes who he is and what he is from the schematics standpoint,” Lebby said. “There was great growth for me getting in that building, and I think we all know that Egg Bowl is going to be a fun one.”

Finally, Lebby spoke about Josh Heupel and what he learned from him. Lebby worked under Heupel at UCF in 2018 and 2019. Heupel is now the head coach at Tennessee.

Lebby and Heupel have had a close relationship for years, dating back to Lebby’s time as a player at Oklahoma when Heupel was coaching there.

“Obviously I think fondly of coach Heup. Heup has been a dear friend of mind and have so much respect for him,” Lebby said. “Obviously had an opportunity to work for him there at UCF, and him giving me the opportunity — one to be an offensive coordinator and two to coach the quarterbacks.

What he did for my growth, from a quarterback standpoint, and being able to coach the position, develop these guys at a really high level, being able to fix guys fundamentally and making sure that we’re owning our process every single day. So much credit, obviously to Heup, for giving me the opportunity to do what I’m doing right now.”