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Mississippi State football: Jeff Lebby welcomes Cody Kennedy

By Ethan Lee

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby talks with Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Oklahoma won 69-45.
Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby talks with Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel (8) before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Oklahoma won 69-45. /
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Jeff Lebby continues to build his coaching staff and he’s welcoming new Mississippi State football offensive coordinator Cody Kennedy to Starkville. 

With Jeff Lebby serving as the architect of Mississippi State football’s new offense (and the team as a whole, but we’re focusing on the offense specifically here for a moment), it makes sense that Lebby would be interested in picking up an offensive line coach who understands how his veer-and-shoot offense is supposed to work.

So while some Arkansas fans might try to dismiss the hire of Cody Kennedy and a number of Mississippi State football fans might be a bit concerned about the addition, it’s important to remember that getting the right coaches for this system is more important than just making splashy hires.

And in the addition of Kennedy to this MSU staff, the Bulldogs are getting someone whose offensive line may have struggled when Dan Enos was the OC, but it thrived when Kendal Briles was running the offense in Fayetteville.

And now, Lebby is trusting Kennedy to help renovate the Bulldogs’ offensive line as part of an effort to help equip this team for the drastic change its about to see on offense.

Mississippi State football: Jeff Lebby issues statement on hire of Cody Kennedy

With the hire of Kennedy to be the Bulldogs’ OL coach, Lebby issued the following statement:

https://twitter.com/HailStateFB/status/1730692355358097479

“We’re thrilled to add Coach Kennedy to our staff here at Mississippi State. For more than a decade, including four years in the Southeastern Conference, he’s guided game-changing offensive lines. Coach Kennedy will bring a physicality and toughness to our front, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him join us in Starkville.”

Kennedy’s last season at Arkansas will draw some criticism and critiques from onlookers, but there’s a good chance that this hire is exactly what Lebby’s system needs to be successful sooner rather than later.

Year one will still probably be a year zero situation for the Bulldogs, but at least they’re adding an offensive line coach who, on paper, seems to share the same sort of vision for what the offense is supposed to look like.

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