STARKVILLE — Jeff Lebby still remembers sitting in an office grinding tape with Josh Heupel 20 years ago for Oklahoma football.
Lebby, now a first-time head coach at Mississippi State, kick-started his coaching career as a student assistant at Oklahoma from 2003-06. In 2004, Heupel, now Tennessee’s coach, was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma after starring at quarterback for the Sooners.
Their paths have crossed multiple times since their coaching infancies at OU and will take a new twist this week when Mississippi State (2-7, 0-5 SEC) plays at Tennessee (7-1, 4-1) on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN). It’s the first time Heupel and Lebby will face each other as head coaches.
The Bulldogs and Volunteers are in very different stages of program rebuilds, but, in some ways, Lebby could model Mississippi State to what Heupel has built at Tennessee.
“Jeff’s extremely smart, highly competitive and works extremely hard,” Heupel said. “He’s got a personality that allows him to have great relationships with young people, and at the same time have the traits to challenge them. I think that’s why you continue to see them grow throughout the course of the season, and why he’ll do a great job down there.”
Heupel left Oklahoma after the 2004 season, but returned as the quarterbacks coach in 2006, Lebby’s final season as a student assistant. After that, the two of them faced each other for years while on opposing Big 12 teams. Heupel stuck with Oklahoma until 2015, and Lebby was on the Baylor staff from 2008 to 2016.
They reunited in 2018 when Huepel was hired as the UCF head coach. He brought in Lebby as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, and they coached together for two seasons.
Heupel took the Tennessee job in 2021 after Jeremy Pruitt was fired for his involvement in a scandal that left UT with vacated wins and a program probation. Before Heupel arrived, Tennessee hadn’t won nine games since 2016 or achieved double-digit wins since 2007. He’s quickly turned the Volunteers around with seven wins in 2021, 11 in 2022 and nine last season. This season, they’re competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff and are tied with four other teams that have just one conference loss in the SEC.
“A guy that I got more respect for than maybe anybody in the entire profession,” Lebby said about Heupel. “Great friend, someone that has been a great mentor to me. Having an opportunity to work for him was an incredible experience. … Just a ton of respect for who he is as a person, as a father, as a husband and then obviously as a football coach as well.”
Nine assistant coaches in Saturday’s game also have ties to Lebby and Heupel.
At Tennessee, five assistants have worked with Lebby: tight ends coach Alec Abeln, outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee, quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and secondary coach Willie Martinez.
At Mississippi State, four assistants have worked with Heupel: tight ends coach Jon Cooper, running backs coach Anthony Tucker, cornerbacks coach Corey Bell and special teams coordinator Cliff Odom.
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Lebby’s first season hasn’t gone as well as Heupel’s — the Bulldogs just snapped a seven-game losing streak with a win last week against UMass — but both of them are known as offensive gurus. At UCF, Heupel and Lebby’s offense ranked in the top six nationally in points per game in 2018 and 2019. Mississippi State averages more points per game in conference play (24.2) than Tennessee does (22.8) this season, even after MSU starting quarterback Blake Shapen’s season-ending injury in Week 4.
However, Lebby is climbing an uphill battle financially. Last year, Mississippi State reported $115 million in revenue to Tennessee’s $202.1 million. The defense has been the story for the Volunteers this season, allowing the fewest points in SEC. MSU’s defense has been one of the worst statistically in the country, an area Lebby will have to solve next season.
“I’ve seen a great deal of consistency, him being exactly who he’s supposed to be as a leader and a guy that I think those players inside the building and his staff know what to expect every single day,” Lebby said of Heupel. “Results won’t dictate who he is as a person or how he interacts. There is a lot of that. You hear me talking about it non-stop every single day as we are fighting to build this.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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