Mississippi State football: 5 questions as Bulldogs reportedly target Jeff Lebby

As the Mississippi State football program reportedly targets Jeff Lebby to lead the next era in Starkville, folks are going to have some big questions about this possible hire.

According to a report from Ross Dellenger, it looks like the Mississippi State football program. With this sort of decision, as with any coaching decision, people are going to ask questions here. And as it comes to Lebby, people are going to have a lot of question.

Especially pertaining to Lebby’s resume.

It’s a bit of a noteworthy hire given Lebby’s offensive philosophy, coaching pedigree, and who he’s coached with. While he’s never been a head coach before, his veer-and-shoot system will remind folks of what Baylor was doing about a decade ago.

There’s inconsistencies in his offense, but Lebby scores points.

He has recruiting ties to Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Mississippi and was a part of the quick renovation project that Brent Venables orchestrated at Oklahoma. Before Lebby was at OU, he spent a couple seasons with Lane Kiffin, helping the Ole Miss Rebels get turned around. And before that coached for the UCF Knights for a period of time.

And, well, prior to that he was with Art Briles at Baylor. Which, all of that is going to lead to some folks having questions.

5 questions as Bulldogs tab Jeff Lebby to lead MSU

I also have questions.

Now, as MSU is reportedly heavily interested in hiring Lebby, let’s examine the decision and go over a few questions I have.

These aren’t all the questions I have, but, well, here’s five of them.

Is Jeff Lebby truly ready to lead a program?

He’s a playcaller who gets plenty of hype and has made plenty of splashy showings with his offense over the years. But, well, Lebby has never been a head coach. He’s never had to manage the bevy of responsibilities beyond just coordinating an offense.

It’s worth remembering that Joe Moorhead and Zach Arnett were taking over as head coaches after being coordinators and this was their biggest gig to date. For varying reasons, they struggled immediately as coaches. Moorhead had never been a head coach at this level and Arnett had never been a head coach prior to the opportunity at MSU.

Lebby is now poised to leap straight from coordinator to head coach in the SEC, college football’s most pressurized stage. Generally speaking, it seems like there’s very little grace period or tune-up years to really get a program built and established (though MSU fans likely need to be patient with Lebby as he tries to turn over the roster).

It seems likely that Selmon and MSU see plenty of potential in Lebby, but this is a gamble. It’s a risky hire. It might pay off, but it might also completely and totally fall apart.

A lot of eyes are going to be on Lebby and Starkville and folks will definitely have a lot to say about how this plays out for the Mississippi State football team.