DALLAS ― First-year Mississippi State football coach and offensive guru Jeff Lebby inherited one of the SEC’s worst offenses.

No SEC team recorded fewer points or first downs than the Bulldogs in 2023. Mississippi State finished 13th out of 14 programs in passing yards per game, ninth in rushing yards and 12th in total offense.

He brought in 19 total transfers, including 11 on the offensive side of the ball, headlined by veteran Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen.

“I think the confidence comes in the preparation and the guys that we have from the standpoint of having Blake being our QB,” Lebby said at SEC Media Days on Wednesday. “A guy that has great experience, he’s a Big 12 champion. He knows what it’s supposed to look like. So that piece of the puzzle was huge for me and for us being in Year 1. That gives us the chance to get off the ground the way we want to.”

Not long ago, a coach bringing in an experienced quarterback like Shapen for the first year of his tenure would have marked a truly rare occurrence. The transfer portal changed that.

Now, Lebby can turn to a player who threw for 5,574 yards and 36 touchdowns in 27 games at Baylor right from the jump.

There’s still a learning curve for Shapen. At Baylor, he played in a pro-style offense, under center roughly 50% of the time. Lebby’s offense will operate almost exclusively out of the shotgun.

“It’s (taken) a lot of time, for sure,” Shapen said. “… Now coming to a more spread-out offense, wider splits, things like that. Getting the ball out quick and throwing the ball down the field.”

Lebby’s offense at Oklahoma last year ripped off 82 plays of 20 yards or more to rank eighth nationally. Mississippi State’s offense produced 42 such plays.

If the Bulldogs can get this right, they should be a much more fun watch in 2024.

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“I think the fans and the people, they kind of understand coach Lebby’s history and what he’s done offensively,” Shapen said. “So I don’t think it’s going to be a huge surprise, but I think when we’re able to put up some points and change the outcome of some games, I think that’ll be a big surprise.”

Walking the path toward that goal, the Bulldogs are prioritizing having some fun of their own.

“I truly think when you walk in the double doors every single day, if you enjoy who you do it with and how you do it, then you’ve got a chance to pour into it just a little bit more,” Lebby said. “So maybe you stay for 20 more minutes, 20 get elite recovery because of what’s going on in the training room and what’s going on in the weight room. That culture to me matters. People want to be inside the building when they enjoy being inside the building.”

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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