What to Expect out of Jeff Lebby's Offense at Oklahoma
The next piece of Brent Venables’ program has fallen into place.
Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby has been hired to the same position at Oklahoma, giving the Sooners hope that their string of explosive offenses will continue even without Lincoln Riley at the helm.
At 37-years-old, Lebby has officially been an offensive coordinator for three seasons, and he’s yet to have an offense finish outside the top five in all of college football in total offense.
In 2019, Lebby’s UCF offense finished as the second most explosive offense in the country, averaging 541.5 yards per game with freshman quarterback Dillion Gabriel at the helm.
After finding great success under Josh Heupel at Central Florida, another offensive guru came calling.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was able to convince Lebby to make the move to Oxford where Lebby again starred.
In two seasons with Matt Corral at quarterback, the Rebels finished third in total offense in 2020 and fourth in total offense in 2021.
And though Sooners fans grew accustomed to Riley’s style of offense, Lebby gets results in a very different way.
At Ole Miss, Lebby’s offense was lighting fast, resembling more the speeds of Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford-led offenses under former offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson.
Despite the blistering speeds, Lebby still shows a commitment to the run game, fitting the modern mold of the air raid offense infused with power zone running schemes.
In fact, this season’s Ole Miss offense ranked ninth in the country in rushing yards per game, even playing against vaunted SEC defenses week-in and week-out.
When Lebby was first installed as the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss, he emphasized that no matter how much his unit spreads out opponents, he still wants his offense to be the most physical unit on the field.
“The things that we live by, you’re going to hear us talk about being fast, fearless and physical on offense,” Lebby told Ole Miss play-by-play voice David Kellum ahead of his first season at Ole Miss in 2020. “… We’re going to be a physical football team that’s going to be incredibly physical. I truly believe there has not been a championship football team that hasn’t found a way to be physical in every area of their football team.
“… That’s everything you do — from being a ball-carrier, to blocking on the perimeter, to blocking in the core. Everything you do, you’ve got to find a way to be physical. It’s a physical game. If we’re going to hoist the trophy, we’re going to find ways to be physical at every position on the offensive side of the ball.”
Lebby’s offensive philosophy will be music to Venables’ ears, as he laid out a similar vision for what he wants his offense to look like during his introductory press conference on Monday.
"I think you just watch how offenses work today with obviously a fast pace,” Venables said. “Mostly everybody is no-huddle or the sugar huddle. Just being aggressive and physical. Just because you spread out doesn't mean you have to lose the physical element. I think it's more important than anything else that you maintain, establish, nourish, enhance and improve a standard of physicality that goes with whatever scheme you're implementing.
“… I believe you've got to throw the ball in this day and age without question. I think that's never changed. You've got to be aggressive in the things that you're doing, be diverse in your presentation and make the defense move and adjust and be right on the field. I think that you've got to be known for something, so having a strong identity that has shown it can stand the test of time is important as well.”
Lebby checks all of those boxes, especially when it comes to the pre-snap presentation. The new OU offensive coordinator has worked directly under Art Briles, Heupel and Kiffin, who all three have done a great job over their careers of utilizing pre-snap motion and window dressing to confuse opposing defenses and exploit weaknesses.
Oklahoma’s offense under Lebby will be no different, as he’s deployed plenty of motion looks before the snap over the past three years at UCF and Ole Miss.
The Sooners’ track record of quarterback development should also continue under Lebby, as he was able to bring Gabriel along throughout the season at UCF and then he turned Corral into a Heisman Trophy contender this season for the Rebels.
Lebby’s first task will be to try and convince Caleb Williams that he’s the right coach to get the young star to the NFL. But even if Williams opts to transfer to play under a different coach, it shouldn’t take too long for Oklahoma’s offense to get back on track under Lebby’s guidance.
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