Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby praises former boss Brent Venables

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When Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables got the job at OU, one of the first hires he made was bringing Ole Miss' Jeff Lebby (an OU alum) to Norman as Oklahoma's new offensive coordinator. It was a hiring that proved fruitful for Lebby, as he became Mississippi State's head coach after just two years with the Sooners.

Despite Lebby gearing up for Year 3 with the Bulldogs, the two men who spent two seasons running either side of the ball at OU have never faced off. That will change in 2026, as Oklahoma travels to Starkville in October. As Lebby took his turn at the podium for SEC Media Days, he was asked about facing off against Venables and calling plays head-to-head against his former boss.

"Just so much respect for how he does what he does," Lebby said. "Again, that's a guy that has had as much success, and really sustained success, as a play caller as there is in all of college football. So, there'll be great challenge in that, and there's a lot of things to be done that need to be done before we get to that point. But it will be another incredible opportunity with Oklahoma coming to StarkVegas."

Of course, both head coaches call the plays for their teams on their respective sides of the ball, something Lebby has done since he got to MSU. The Bulldogs do not have an offensive coordinator. Venables has toggled between play-calling during his four years as a head coach. He gave those duties to Ted Roof in 2022, but called the plays himself in 2023. He hired Zac Alley to take over play-calling for 2024, but when Alley left, Venables assumed full defensive control and took back play-calling duties for 2025, his best defense yet as OU's head coach.

Venables has extensive experience calling plays, doing it for a number of years as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, then running the defense for a wildly successful stint at Clemson before the Sooners hired him.

Lebby's two years at OU were up and down, with good numbers in both seasons. From 2022 to 2023, the Sooners made a big offensive jump under Lebby and quarterback Dillon Gabriel, which helped OU jump from six to 10 wins. He called the best statistical offense of the Venables era at Oklahoma in 2023.

When Lebby left and Gabriel transferred to Oregon, the Sooners made Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley (and later Finley and Kevin Johns after Littrell was fired) co-offensive coordinators, which was a misfire on Venables' part. The same goes for the QB position, where Jackson Arnold (and a few games of Michael Hawkins Jr.) wasn't the answer. The 2024 season produced OU's worst offense since 1998. That's all led to the Ben Arbuckle-John Mateer duo at Oklahoma, and they're gearing up for their second season together at OU in 2026 after helping the offense take a step forward in 2025.

Now, Venables and Lebby will get to match wits as play-callers on opposite sidelines for the first time as head coaches, with Venables' complex scheme looking to shut down Lebby's wide choice veer-and-shoot attack. Clearly, Lebby still has plenty of respect for the man who helped him get his first head coaching gig.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby praises former boss Brent Venables

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