What Mississippi State football’s Jeff Lebby said of play-calling plans, QB needs

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby is known for running an exciting offense, exemplified by the 43.2 points Oklahoma averaged this season with him as offensive coordinator. As he enters his new role in Starkville, he will hold a strong role in bringing that exciting attack to MSU.

Lebby will call plays, he said during his introductory news conference Monday.

“That’s important for me as we get started in this thing, having one voice as we move forward,” he said.

However, he does anticipate hiring an offensive coordinator to handle day-to-day operations and have control of organizational things with practice or game planning. It also gives Lebby time to focus on duties as the head coach.

“He’ll be an incredible extension of me, one that I trust,” Lebby said. “One that understands the system and has lived in it, for sure.”

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A big part of his offensive success through his stops as coordinator at Central Florida, Ole Miss and Oklahoma has been the quarterback. Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel ranked sixth nationally with 305 passing yards per game this season.

Lebby, who will make an annual base salary of $4.51 million across his four-year deal, praised the quarterbacks on MSU’s roster, freshman Chris Parson and former Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright, with Will Rogers now in the transfer portal. However, it’s clear Lebby will be attacking the transfer portal for a high-caliber option.

“As we move forward from a quarterback position, we want guys that can do both to be able to keep people honest with their feet and be able to throw it all over the yard,” Lebby said. “That’s who we’re going to be, who we’re going to recruit to. From a system standpoint, I’ve got a good feeling we’re going to be able to get who we need to get.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.