WATCH: Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby holds first press conference

Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby held his first press conference with the media Monday evening, capping off a whirlwind of the past 48 hours. And of course, the highly-successful offensive coordinator at Oklahoma and Ole Miss talked a lot about State lighting up the scoreboard in the future.

But he also spoke about having that same excitement and energy in all phases of Bulldog football.

This past regular season under Lebby’s direction, Oklahoma ranked third nationally with 43.2 points a game and ranked fourth nationally with 502.4 yards a game. Joined by LSU and Oregon, Lebby’s offense was one of just three schools to rank in the Top 6 nationally in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense (321.8 passing yards per game).

“Just the excitement, fun, energy, passionate, touchdowns, violent defense, people that play with a ton of passion and a ton of toughness,” explained Lebby. “That is what I want our people to see on Saturday.”

As an offensive coordinator since 2019, Lebby has been tops among all active offensive coordinators in 50 point games (14), as well. Also since 2019, Lebby’s offensive system has produced five individual 3,000-yard passing seasons and four individual 1,000-yard receiving seasons.

Lebby was also asked about putting his staff together and he clearly wants assistant that know the toughness of the SEC atmosphere.

“It’s not just about me but it’s about the people we bring into the building,” Lebby noted. “We’ve got incredible leadership of people I can lean on as we move through this together to put together an elite staff. I do plan to put together a staff that has incredible experience and know exactly what it’s supposed to look like in all three phases.

“We’re going to be able to get the right people in the building. From a timeline standpoint will be a little different depending on how a couple of things shake out. But I’m very, very confident in the people that are going to be here and get these guys to where we want to go.”

From a timeline perspective, some of those new staff members could be known in the coming days.

“Feel good about where we’re at,” Lebby mentioned about his staff. “When the next couple of days play out there will be guys added to (the staff). I’ve been incredibly excited with how many people of great quality want to be a part of our staff and understand what the work environment is going to be about, understand we are going to put players first.”

Lebby noted that he will hire an offensive coordinator in the future. But he was quick to point out he will be the guy calling plays.

“I will continue to call it,” added Lebby. “I think that is important for me as we get this thing started, having one voice as we moved forward. Putting together a staff, still having the ability to hiring an offensive coordinator from a title standpoint to take some of the day to day and to have total control of some of the organizational thins that go on whether it be practice or gameplanning so I do have the ability to be the head coach.”

During his press conference, Lebby also discussed the future of his defensive staff. And finding experience is also a key for coaches on that side of the ball.

“I think it is incredibly important to have a guy come in here that’s done it, lived it and had great experience,” Lebby said of his defensive hires. “I continue to talk about wanting to hire guys that know what it looks like inside this league. That’s important. This league is different than any others and I want a guy that had success and a lot of different experiences.”

From a recruiting standpoint, Lebby has already started the process of reaching out to 2024 Mississippi State commitments. That process will continue on Tuesday, as well.

“That actually started this morning,” Lebby noted. “It will be non-stop for me tomorrow, obviously. I wanted to have the opportunity to meet with the team last night, had a bunch of player meetings today. But it will be immediate, a full day of it tomorrow. I will try to reach out to every one of those guys that are committed by the end of the day tomorrow. So looking forward to connecting with them, connecting with their families and talking about State and the direction we are going.”

Of course, Lebby already has experience of the Egg Bowl rivalry with Ole Miss after being the Rebels’ offensive coordinator for two seasons. And he expects that game to be a lot of “fun” in the coming years.

“I know the importance of that game after living it for two years,” said Lebby of the Egg Bowl. “I understand how prideful State is. I love the fact our fanbase wants that game more than any one of them. Sitting in this chair, I don’t take it lightly. It’s going to be a lot of fun. People in this state are going to have a lot of fun with that game and I’m one of them.”