Last week, Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby made a stunning and controversial move, firing Wide Receivers Coach and beloved Bulldog alum Chad Bumphis. Bumphis, who is one of the greatest wideouts in Mississippi State history, had been in the position for three seasons, and during his tenure, State's receivers were regularly the bright spots of the team.
It was a move no one saw coming, but for an unknown reason, Lebby felt State needed to make a change. Given the controversial nature of the decision, it was, and still is, imperative that Lebby made a stellar hire to replace Chad Bumphis.
But unfortunately for him, he's already missed out on his top target. State had zeroed in on former Kentucky WR Coach L'Damian Washington as Bumphis' replacement, but on Sunday it was announced the Washington is not only not going to Starkville, he's going to rival Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is hiring L’Damian Washington as its wide receivers coach, per the school.
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) December 15, 2025
The former Missouri and NFL wide receiver worked at Kentucky this season. Was a candidate for a few SEC jobs. Ultimately, he’s headed to Oxford. pic.twitter.com/AoAZBavnyW
Washington, a former standout WR at Missouri who had a short stint in the NFL, worked with Jeff Lebby in 2022 when he was the interim WR Coach at Oklahoma. He then took a full-time position in the role at South Florida under Alex Golesh, staying within the Veer and Shoot coaching tree. In 2025, he made the move to Kentucky, where he quickly became one of the more popular assistants in Lexington.
With the head coaching change at Kentucky, Washington was again looking for a new role, and he was viewed as an attractive candidate as a WR Coach by multiple schools. Kentucky's younger WRs progressed well throughout the 2025 season, and Washington has done good work as a recruiter.
Given his ties to Lebby, the Veer and Shoot offense, and newly-hired MSU assistant Bush Hamdan, L'Damian Washington appeared to be a strong fit and would have been a good hire. Instead, he's going to the rival school in Ole Miss, meaning MSU will be frequently battling him for players in the coming seasons.
There's no getting around the fact that this is a tough look for Jeff Lebby. Firing a beloved former player and then missing on his top target to replace him, to the rival school of all programs, is not what you want. It doesn't mean Lebby can't still make a good hire to coach his WRs, but there's just going to be added scrutiny over his staffing decisions moving forward.