Ole Miss Inks OC Jeff Lebby To New Contract
OXFORD, Miss. — (Courtesy of Ole Miss SID) En route to an Outback Bowl victory, Ole Miss enjoyed one of the most prolific offensive seasons in SEC history in 2020 and is taking steps to ensure that momentum continues.
Rebel head football coach Lane Kiffin agreed to a new contract on Saturday, and now offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is locked down with a new two-year deal. Lebby was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award, honoring the nation’s best assistant coach.
“Coach Lebby did an incredible job managing our offense and preparing Matt (Corral) every game,” Kiffin said. “Coach Lebby brings the innovative mentality we want in our program, and we look forward to building on the historic success of this season’s offense.”
Ole Miss broke the SEC record for total offense in conference games (562.4 ypg), besting LSU’s mark of 550.0 yards per game set during the Tigers’ run to a national title last season. The Rebels rank top-20 in the country in 10 offensive categories, including total offense, scoring offense (40.7), rushing offense (217.7), passing offense (344.8), passing yards per completion (14.99), team passing efficiency (183.5), completion percentage (.714), first downs (249), third down conversions (.504) and kick return defense (17.1).
Under Lebby’s guidance, Corral is the FBS leader in total offense (384.3 ypg) and among the top 10 in almost every passing category. Notably, he is third in total QB rating (89.7), trailing only Alabama’s Mac Jones and Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and fifth in passing yards (333.7 ypg).
A finalist for the Manning Award and semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, Corral became the fifth Rebel ever to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season, joining Eli Manning (2002 & 2003), Bo Wallace (2012 & 2014), Chad Kelly (2015) and Jordan Ta’amu (2018). Corral’s 29 touchdown passes tied for third-most in a single season, while his 3,337 passing yards are sixth-most in school history.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
