Ole Miss fans have celebrated Thanksgiving and an Egg Bowl win over rival Mississippi State University, beating the Bulldogs 17-7. What really got Rebel fans’ attention, though, was the most recent coaching hire at Mississippi State. Former Ole Miss and most recently Oklahoma Offensive Coordinator Jeff Lebby signed a five-year contract to serve as the Bulldogs’ head football coach.
Lebby served under Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin in both of their first seasons with the Rebels. In Lebby and Kiffin’s second year with the Rebels, Ole Miss earned its first 10-win regular season in the history of the program.
The combination of Kiffin and Lebby’s offensive minds created one of the strongest Rebel offenses in a long time. Ranking third nationally and first in the SEC, Lebby made an immediate impact on the Rebels’ offense and quarterback development, especially with former quarterback Matt Corral.
Together as a powerful offensive unit, Ole Miss topped the SEC in total offense, averaging 562.4 yards per game.
After two incredible seasons with the Rebels, Lebby went on and started a new tenure with the Oklahoma Sooners as their new offensive coordinator.
Constructing the No. 1 offense in the Big 12 during the 2023 regular season, Lebby was already a difference-maker on the sidelines. The Sooners’ offense was able to move dominantly through the air, with Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel recording his second consecutive 3,000-plus passing yards season with the Sooners. Under the offensive guidance of Lebby, Oklahoma went 6-7 in 2022 and 10-2 in 2023.
It did not take long for Kiffin and Ole Miss fans to make their opinions on Mississippi State’s new hire very clear on X; Kiffin posted a photoshopped picture of Lebby on Kiffin’s shoulders with the caption “Welcome home @coach_leb #BackInTheOtherSip,” implying a joking father-and-son dynamic between the two, referencing his return to Mississippi after the Bulldogs’ most recent loss in the Egg Bowl.
On the night that the Bulldogs officially welcomed Lebby home as head coach, Ole Miss and Mississippi State’s social media went to war. Juice Kiffin’s X account posted a picture of Kiffin’s girlfriend with the caption “dad brought her instead of me?” at the Egg Bowl, and Kiffin fired back with the repost and said “We tried son. @HailStateFB said you weren’t allowed in the Stadium. Maybe uncle Jeffrey will change that rule.”
Another tweet was posted from the airport when Lebby was welcomed to Starkville. A sports reporter and fans awaiting his entrance posted a photo of a poster that said “Go to Hell Ole Miss.”
An X account with the username @everythingolemiss reposted and said, “Let me get this straight: On a night when MSU is announcing a new coach, they have a sign talking about Ole Miss, their rival, who just won the Egg Bowl for the 3rd time in the last 4 years. This is too good.”
Whether it is blunt comments made from Kiffin or other Ole Miss sports accounts calling the shots, it has been made very clear that despite all Lebby did for Ole Miss, Ole Miss fans will always make sure to claim “big brother” status over Mississippi State.
Now that the Bulldogs have a new head coach like Lebby to lead the program, Mississippi State has potential to be a strong contender in the SEC next year and many years to come, while also having the ability to make future Egg Bowls much more competitive since both Kiffin and Lebby both have plenty of offensive expertise.
