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What Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said about his former boss

Posted on by Gerres
What Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said about his former boss

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel have a long history together.

Both were graduate assistants at Oklahoma in the early 2000s, then coached against each other in the Big 12 (Lebby at Baylor, Heupel at Oklahoma), and Heupel brought in Lebby to lead his first offense in Central Florida. Now they meet as head coaches on opposite sides of SEC play.

On Monday, Lebby spoke about his time and experiences working with and against Heupel weekly press conference. Here’s what Lebby had to say about his former co-worker/boss:

On his relationship with Heupel…

A guy I have more respect for than maybe anyone else in this industry. He’s a great friend, someone who has been a great mentor to me. Just look at what he has done, how much success he has achieved, what culture he has created in an amazing place.

On what he can copy in Starkville, what Heupel did in Knoxville…

He has maintained a lot of consistency by being exactly who he needs to be as a leader and as a guy. I think the players in the building and the staff know what to expect every day, and the results won’t dictate who he is as a person again, how he interacts. You hear me talk about you non-stop every day as we fight to build this.

Remembering our times together in Norman…

This is where it all started. I was a student assistant and a man working together in a tiny office and spending many hours together, picking apart opponents and finding ways to create shortcuts for staff and players. There was a lot of growth inside, and being 19, 20-year-olds and being able to spend that every day with him was great and that was kind of the beginning.

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