Tag: Jeff Lebby

Clemson director of player development Thad Turnipseed joining Oklahoma staff per reports

Tiger Illustrated’s Larry Williams reports that Clemson director of player development Thad Turnipseed is joining Oklahoma.

Tiger Illustrated’s Larry Williams reported that Thad Turnipseed is leaving Clemson to join Brent Venables at Oklahoma.

Turnipseed served as Clemson’s director of player development, freshman transition and external affairs.

ESPN’s Chris Low confirmed the report and said that Turnipseed will serve as Venables’ “right-hand man.”

Without an official announcement from Oklahoma yet, it’s unclear what exactly Turnipseed’s role will be with the Sooners, but he’s worn a variety of hats in the past and chances are his job title at Oklahoma will be similar to the position he just vacated at Clemson.

Turnipseed’s background is interesting. He was a former Alabama football player that was part of the Crimson Tide’s 1992 national championship team whose career ended early because of knee injuries.

The story goes that Turnipseed owned a construction and flooring business when he was approached by former Alabama athletic director Mal Moore for a donation on a capital campaign Moore wanted to kick off.

Jokingly, Turnipseed responded that he couldn’t help much in terms of donations but that he could help build it.

What followed was Turnipseed became one of the most important behind-the-scenes figures at Alabama.

The New York Times’ Matt Fortuna wrote a great piece about Turnipseed ahead of the 2017 College Football Playoff’s national championship game.

Here’s a portion of what Fortuna wrote about Turnipseed at the time detailing his role to begin with at Alabama and some of what he wound up doing at Clemson.

He started as the director of capital projects, working his way up to roles as associate athletic director for special projects and, more important, as Saban’s director of football external affairs. The catchall job titles forced Turnipseed to perform many duties; he helped to design and oversee more than $200 million in athletic projects, including stadium renovations and expansions, and helped to build a room in Saban’s house dedicated to recruiting.

At Clemson, Turnipseed was tasked with building the Tigers’ recruiting department, which has added positions with new-media-era titles — assistant director of football operations and creative media, director of new and creative media, coordinator of digital content — not to mention dozens of student helpers. These seemingly amorphous roles are all aimed at spreading Clemson’s message in forward-thinking ways, using social media to connect with recruits from a distance while also monitoring their behavior for potential red flags. – Fortuna, New York Times

Turnipseed is the second Clemson staffer to join Oklahoma. Venables announced that defensive analyst Ted Roof would be joining OU as the Sooners’ next defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Venables also announced Jeff Lebby as Oklahoma’s new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and that OU would retain Bill Bedenbaugh, Joe Jon Finley, Cale Gundy and DeMarco Murray on his coaching staff.

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Brent Venables announces first two assistant coaching hires in Jeff Lebby, Ted Roof

Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables announced the hirings of offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby and defensive coordinator Ted Roof.

Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables announced his first two assistant coaching hires on Friday. Venables named Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and Ted Roof as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Lebby comes over to the Sooners from Ole Miss where he was the Rebels’ offensive coordinator and helped lead Ole Miss to its first 10-win regular season in program history.

Ole Miss currently owns the nation’s No. 4 total offense, averaging 506.7 yards per game. The Rebels are No. 9 in rushing offense with 224.2 rushing yards per game and No. 21 in passing offense with 282.4 passing yards per game.

Under Lebby’s direction, each of his past three offensive units have ranked in the top four nationally in total offense and in the top 20 in scoring offense.

“I’m grateful to Coach Venables and Joe Castiglione for the chance to come back to OU and serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. My five years here as a player and then student assistant under Coach (Bob) Stoops represent some of the best of my life. They provided me with a real love and respect for the game of football and laid the foundation for my understanding of what it means to be a successful coach. I will work daily to earn the faith Sooner Nation has put in me to represent this storied program,” Lebby said in a statement.

Venables said Oklahoma is getting one of the most talented offensive coordinators in the country.

“We’re thrilled to welcome to our staff maybe the hottest offensive coordinator in college football. The more thoroughly we scouted Jeff, the more we became convinced that he has the character and ability we need and want at OU. Jeff’s offenses and the players he’s coached are some of the most productive in the game. He’s going to bring a dynamic and diverse system that will take advantage of our playmakers. He’s one of the best when it comes to game planning and attacking defenses with his smart and aggressive style. His relentless and innovative approach will make us incredibly difficult to defend. We’re excited to have one of the fastest-rising coaches in the game leading our offense and quarterbacks,” Venables said.

Meanwhile, Roof joins Oklahoma after a 35-year coaching career. Roof served as a defensive analyst for Clemson this season.

The Georgia Tech alum has served as defensive coordinator at Massachusetts, Western Carolina, Georgia Tech, Duke, Minnesota, Auburn, UCF, Penn State, North Carolina State, Appalachian State and Vanderbilt.

In the 2019 season as Appalachian State’s defensive coordinator, Roof helped the Mountaineers to a 13-1 record and guided a unit that led the nation in defensive touchdowns.

As Auburn’s defensive coordinator, Roof led an Auburn defense in 2010 that held Oregon to 19 points—30 points below the Ducks’ season average—and a 14-0 campaign and the BCS national championship.

From 2008-20, Roof’s defenses held opponents to 110 rushing yards or less 57 times.

Roof was also Duke’s head coach from 2004 to 2007. During his playing career, Roof was a first-time All-ACC selection as a senior in 1985.

“There have been so many great coaches, players and tough-minded competitors who have made up all the championship teams that have been part of the incredible Oklahoma tradition. For me, it is an honor and a privilege to serve on an OU football staff under the strong leadership of Coach Venables. I have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for him both as a man and a coach. He’s got a long track record of success, molding championship teams and maximizing student-athletes’ football abilities. But he gives them much more than that. He equips them with the tools and helps them develop the successful habits that will make them champions off the field for the rest of their lives. Brent gets that. He understands the privilege and responsibility that goes with it,” Roof said of joining Oklahoma.

Venables cited Roof’s experience, ties to the southeast and ability as a recruiter for reasons why the hire made sense for OU.

“Ted is one of the most experienced coordinators and one of the best teachers in all of college football, and he’s done it in some of the premier conferences in the sport – the SEC, Big Ten and ACC. He has a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience, most of which has been in the southeastern part of the country where he is very well connected. He’s been a head coach, is a fabulous recruiter and is one of the most revered players in Georgia Tech history from his time as a linebacker there. We’re fortunate to have a person of his stature lead our defense, and he’s going to make us stronger and tougher on that side of the ball,” Venables said.

Venables also announced that he is retaining Cale Gundy, Bill Bedenbaugh, DeMarco Murray and Joe Jon Finley on his Oklahoma coaching staff.

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With Jeff Lebby now on board, will the Sooners get in on Arch Madness?

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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Oklahoma’s offense now led by Jeff Lebby sends out first quarterback offer of new regime

2022 four-star quarterback prospect Nick Evers is Jeff Lebby’s first QB offer since taking over as the offensive coordinator for Oklahoma.

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Things are moving fast on the recruiting trail, and that’s exactly how Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby want it. New Sooners’ head coach and his new offensive coordinator have hit the ground running with the early signing period just a week away.

Lebby ran an explosive and fast offense at Ole Miss, and you can be sure he’s going to bring that to Oklahoma. Lebby’s first order of business is to settle himself and situate the quarterback situation in Norman.

There’s the massive elephant in the room in approaching Caleb Williams and his family and trying to do what’s necessary to lock him in for the long haul. Williams could conceivably transfer after the coach he signed to play left for another school on the west coast.

With Spencer Rattler entering the portal a last week and uncertainty about Caleb Williams, the Sooners are in no spot to get caught with their pants down.

Enter Nick Evers, the first quarterback offer of the Lebby-led Sooners’ offense. Evers is a four-star quarterback who de-committed from the Florida Gators earlier this week and received a visit from Lebby and Joe Jon Finley. It didn’t take long for the Sooners to offer the four-star quarterback.

This isn’t a random shot in the dark. Evers was being recruited by Ole Miss even before he committed to Florida. Who was Evers’ primary recruiter from Ole Miss? Jeff Lebby.

Oklahoma has a significant need to have another scholarship quarterback on the roster regardless of whatever happens with Caleb Williams. One could make a strong and almost bulletproof argument they could do with another scholarship quarterback on top of that. Not having three scholarship quarterbacks is a slippery slope.

Evers is an athletic dual-threat quarterback who ran for over 600 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior. He stands 6-foot-3, and his film shows a confident, accurate QB with enough zip to make all the throws. Evers has long strides and seems very alert and comfortable bailing from the pocket if need be. He’s not afraid to let it rip into a tight window.

A staple of Lebby’s offenses has been the utilization of the dual-threat quarterback, which certainly fits Evers and Williams. Another focal point of the offense is the marriage of the quarterback run game with a dynamic running back that provides read-option opportunities in the offensive scheme. That type of stress creates nightmares for teams.

On top of an offer, Gerry Hamilton of On3 reported that Evers will also be in Norman for an official visit this weekend.

There’s no real smoke yet, but Lebby is very much in this race, if nothing else, because he’s had a previous relationship with Evers. And an official visit can change a lot for a prospect in a short amount of time.

There’s no guarantee the Sooners land him. Still, Lebby being on the job less than 48 hours, extending an offer, and setting up an official visit with a quarterback he’s previously recruited makes some noise in the recruiting world. At the same time, he is comfortable and confident in what he sees from the kid from Flower Mound, Texas. That level of comfort could ultimately pay significant dividends.

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Per report, Oklahoma Sooners to hire Jeff Lebby to be offensive coordinator

According to a report from Lee Benson of Oklahoma City’s News 9, the Oklahoma Sooners have a “done deal” with Jeff Lebby to be their next offensive coordinator.

The Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff is coming together under new head coach Brent Venables. It was long rumored that Venables was interested in bringing along Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to serve in the same role with the Oklahoma Sooners, and it appears that it’s a “done deal.”

According to Lee Benson of News 9 out of Oklahoma City, the Sooners will be hiring Jeff Lebby away from the Rebels, where he’s had a ton of success as Matt Corral’s offensive coordinator for the last two seasons.

Under Lebby, Corral completed at least 68.9% of his passes each year and averaged more than 8.8 yards per attempt the last two seasons. This season, Corrall rushed for 11 touchdowns and 597 yards.

According to Pro Football Focus, if you take away the sack yards that NCAA official stats count as rushing yards, Corral has rushed for 717 yards and 5.7 yards per carry.

Before his time at Ole Miss, Lebby was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Josh Heupel at UCF. After an injury ended his playing career, Lebby was once a student assistant under Bob Stoops from 2002-2006.

Lebby does come to Norman with baggage after serving under Art Briles and being named in the Baylor sexual assault scandal.

Per an Orlando Sentinel story written when Lebby was hired as the offensive coordinator at UCF, leadership discussed their feelings on the matter and their comfort level in bringing Lebby on board.

UCF athletics director Danny White had this to say: “After meeting with Jeff and learning firsthand his personal experience at Baylor, and after speaking with the administration at both Baylor and Southeastern, we became not only comfortable but excited to bring a coach and person of Jeff’s caliber to UCF. I think the results of the last 12 months speak for themselves, and Jeff’s contribution to our program both on and off the field have been profound. Our staff and, more importantly, our student-athletes love working with him.”

It’s important to note that athletics director Joe Castiglione and president Joseph Harroz would not bring Jeff Lebby on board as the offensive coordinator if they didn’t feel comfortable with his past.

All eyes turn to the rest of the staff. As Benson reports, the Sooners are turning back the clock to bring back strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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5 Reasons Brent Venables to Oklahoma makes perfect sense

Here’s five reasons why Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables makes perfect sense to be Oklahoma’s next head football coach.

ESPN’s Chris Low reported that Oklahoma hopes to finalize a deal as early as today to make Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables the Sooners’ new head coach.

Low also reported that Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby would be Venables’ top choice as offensive coordinator if the deal gets reached.

Venables always felt like a very real possibility and he’s been the overwhelming favorite to get the job with the Oklahoma fan base.

Now, let’s take a look at five reasons why Venables as Oklahoma’s next head football coach makes perfect sense.

Offensive coordinator hot board: Who Auburn is considering

Who do you think Auburn should get?

The Tigers are currently without an offensive coordinator after firing Mike Bobo.

I doubt Auburn makes a hire within the next couple of days, but I’m sure the Tigers will have an answer a couple of weeks before their bowl game rolls around.

There have been several names tossed around, but specifically Eric Kiesau, the current wide receivers coach at Auburn. It would not surprise me if Harsin elected to make an in-house hire, or if he went out to get someone he’s very familiar with.

Here are the candidates Auburn is considering hiring to be the next offensive coordinator.

Five candidates to replace Mike Bobo

Here are five candidates to replace Mike Bobo.

Bryan Harsin finally pulled the trigger.

Auburn has fired offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after a pathetic showing from his offense in the month of November. Auburn has scored a combined 15 second-half points in the last five games.

Bobo has bumped up Auburn’s averages by a small margin as opposed to 2020 (29.6 points per game in 2021 compared to 25.1 points per game in 2020), but the way the Tigers have fallen apart over this past month has been inexcusable. The offense has cost Auburn greatly in games where they should have won or had a legitimate chance to win.

Here are five candidates to replace former Auburn offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.

Josh Heupel discusses his familiarity with Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discusses his familiarity with Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.

Tennessee (4-2, 2-1 SEC) will host No. 14 Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1 SEC) and head coach Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Week 7.

Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EDT and SEC Network will televise the matchup.

First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with media Monday and discussed Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.

During Heupel’s tenure as UCF’s head coach, Lebby served as quarterbacks coach in 2018 and was elevated to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2019. Lebby served as a student assistant coach from 2002-06 when Heupel was a graduate assistant (2003-04) and quarterbacks coach (2006) at Oklahoma.

“Jeff does a great job, was our quarterbacks’ coach at UCF when I first got the job there,” Heupel said. “He’s a highly competitive guy, does a great job. You can see offensively that there’s a rhyme and a reason behind everything they’re doing. They’re going to put defenses in a conflict. Uptempo, similar to what we do and I think we are the top two teams as far as plays per minute in Power Five football. They do a great job of being balanced and creating big plays, too.

“It starts with the quarterback, but they’re really efficient in the run game, him being a part of that as well. He does great job on scrambles too, so even though you want to push the pocket on him, you have to do a great job of bottling him up and they have special playmakers on the outside too.”

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Quadry Jones discusses NIL, playing for Josh Heupel and Jeff Lebby

Quadry Jones discusses NIL, playing for Josh Heupel and Jeff Lebby at UCF.

Quadry Jones enters his fourth season at UCF.

The 6-foot, 176-pound quarterback has appeared in six games for the Knights from 2018-20.

Jones is 5-of-6, for 124 passing yards, and two passing touchdowns, while rushing for 15 yards on eight attempts.

His offensive production came under Josh Heupel. Heupel served as UCF’s head coach from 2018-20 and is currently in the same capacity at Tennessee.

Jones joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss how student-athletes can now benefit from their name, image and likeness.

“I have been doing a few camps already, as soon as they gave us the NIL,” Jones said. “I have one coming Aug. 1, so all of the Orlando quarterbacks, come out and support.”

Jones also discussed playing for Heupel at UCF.

The UCF quarterback mentioned playing in Heupel’s offensive system was an easy transition as a freshman. He played in a similar offense at Jones High School in Orlando.

“It was kind of easy to pick up on because I was already used to hand signals,” Jones said. “It was pretty simple. It was pretty much based off speed. If you have some guys at receiver, you are going to have a pretty good offense to just run right past people — just the simple stuff to use catching the ball and turn up field.”

The entire show with Jones can be listened to here or below. Jones discusses NIL, majoring in criminal justice, playing for the likes of Heupel and Jeff Lebby, and learning quarterback footwork from his former coaches.

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