Tim Tebow says Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby should be up for SEC Coach of the Year

Mississippi State football (4-3, 0-3 SEC) hosts the No. 22 Texas Longhorns (5-2, 2-1 SEC) in Starkville this afternoon. It's a key game for a Bulldog team that is hoping to return to a bowl game for the first time since 2022.

It's also a key game for the Bulldogs given that they're currently on a 15-game SEC losing streak, and getting a good but not great Longhorns team at home is one of their best remaining chances and ending that streak.

Despite the SEC loses piling up for State, it's clear the Bulldogs are a much better team than they were a season ago, so much so that the job HC Jeff Lebby has done is receiving some praise from the media. On Saturday's edition of SEC Nation, college football legend Tim Tebow suggested that Lebby should be up for honors this year.

"This is a really good Mississippi State team, and I honestly really believe that Jeff Lebby right now deserves to be up for Coach of the Year."

Tim Tebow

Tebow illustrated how this Mississippi State team, in all actuality, should have two more wins right now. He pointed out how the Bulldogs missed on multiple touchdowns downfield and had the turnover at the end in a two-point loss to Florida and went as far as to say that State gave away the Tennessee game.

Tebow ultimately wasn't a big enough believer to pick them over Texas today, but he's clearly impressed with what he's seen so far. However his SEC Nation cohost, Roman Harper, also spoke highly of the Bulldogs ahead of their meeting with the Longhorns, and Harper did in fact take State to pull off the upset.

"I trust Mississippi State and what they're doing more than what I've seen out of the University of Texas so far this year. The ups-and-downs of Texas, that bothers me. I know what Mississippi State is." Harper went on to say that the attacking nature of the Bulldog offense coupled with their ability for turnovers defensively makes them a scary matchup for Texas playing on the road.

It's a much different story discussing this State team than it was a year ago, and they're getting their flowers because of it. That said, you only get respect for close losses for so long before it becomes a question as to why you haven't managed to turn those games into wins. The Bulldogs have a good opportunity to finally find a conference win this afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium.