Could the hiring of Jeff Lebby insert the Oklahoma Sooners into the Arch Manning sweepstakes?
Oklahoma has their offensive coordinator for the foreseeable future in alumni Jeff Lebby who has spent time coaching at Baylor, UCF, and most recently Ole Miss. While at Ole Miss, Lebby led the Rebels to some elite heights offensively despite not having the four-star and five-star talent that other SEC schools can boast.
Some of the quarterbacks Lebby coached include: Dillon Gabriel and Matt Corral. Gabriel, the former UCF quarterback who is now in the transfer portal searching for his next destination led a UCF offense that ranked second nationally in total offense (540.5), fifth in scoring (43.4), and eighth in passing (316.7) in 2019.
With Matt Corral at the controls for the last two years, the Rebels finished third in total offense in 2020 and fourth in total offense in 2021 across the entire NCAA.
Lebby’s quarterbacks get results, and he’s done it in two different locations with two seemingly different types of quarterbacks. Gabriel came from Hawaii as a less than six feet scrawny Gatorade Player of the Year who was lightly recruited and ranked as the 758th prospect in the country.
Corral was on the complete opposite end of that same spectrum as a highly recruited quarterback from California who had a rocky start to his college career before ultimately finding stability and success at Ole Miss. That success and stability under Lebby have him primed to be a first-round draft pick come April.
Enter Arch Manning, the wunderkind quarterback who is football royalty. The nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning and the grandson of Archie Manning. Three SEC legends and three NFL quarterbacks who have mountains of success at the highest level. Genetically, the tools are there. Can Lebby’s success with two varied levels of talent prove to one of the most successful sporting families that he’s worthy of taking on the task of molding Arch Manning into the family’s fourth NFL quarterback?
His tools are well documented and his recruitment is one of the more fascinating stories to follow because of his namesake and the expectations attached to it.
Lebby was the quarterbacks’ coach and offensive coordinator at Ole Miss the last two seasons which coincided with Manning’s meteoric rise through recruiting rankings. The connections to Ole Miss were too hard to ignore. His grandfather and his uncle Eli are living legends and revered among the fanbase. Lebby had the offense humming and it’s hard not to imagine Manning and his family of well-accomplished quarterbacks not taking notice.
Lebby has moved on and there’s no real guarantee, Lane Kiffin, all by himself can sell Ole Miss to Arch Manning with no play-caller or offensive coordinator in place. Other schools recruiting Manning heavily are the Georgia Bulldogs, Clemson Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, and Texas Longhorns.
Oklahoma was never in on Manning mostly due to the fact that while he was still here, Lincoln Riley, had already earmarked Malachi Nelson (No.2 ranked player and second ranked QB in the country) as his guy for 2023. He went all in and got Nelson to commit to Oklahoma before he flipped Nelson from OU to USC after Riley made his move to the west coast.
Lebby’s relationship with Manning and his family should allow for the new Sooners OC to reach out on behalf of Oklahoma and put an offer on the table. It’s also being reported that the Mannings like Lebby a lot.
Gerry Hamilton, a national analyst for On3said this in a recent article after Lebby was announced to Oklahoma:
Lebby was heavily involved and was the central figure recruiting him for Ole Miss.The Manning family really likes Lebby.
Lebby may not run as much of a pro-style system as someone like Georgia but Manning could thrive and showcase his skills in any system. Oklahoma can’t afford not to try.
Manning’s commitment would pay huge dividends on the recruitment trail as offensive skill players and even defensive players will want to play with the number one quarterback who also happens to be the number one player in the nation. It’s a major play and if this new regime is serious about building a monster, quarterback recruiting can’t dip.
No one knows who the leader is for Arch Manning and it may be a recruitment that stretches well into his senior season at Isidore Newman in Louisiana, but the Sooners would be wise to reinsert themselves into this race especially considering the reports of the Mannings’ fondness of Lebby.
From my own perspective, I don’t think Oklahoma will land him but it’s absolutely worth a shot. I have reservations about a few parts of his game but as a junior he has a lot of time and the best resources in the world to continue to refine and work on his game. If the Sooners don’t go all in on Manning, Jalen Rashada of Pittsburg, CA would be the next call I’d make for the 2023 class.
Jeff Lebby has some interesting decisions over the next few months as he sets his recruiting board for 2023 and tries to hit the spring and summer hard trying to reel in talent to his alma mater and bring that dynamic and lethal offense from Mississippi to Oklahoma.
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