Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby Illustrates Defensive Philosophy

Mississippi State hired former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby as its new head coach, hoping to revive the Bulldogs' presence in the Southeastern Conference and the college football world.

Mississippi State is desperate to score a lot more in the next couple of years as the Bulldogs finished the season with the lowest average points per game in the SEC. Lebby's expertise on this side of the ball should help Mississippi State as it did for Oklahoma and Ole Miss, but the Bulldogs also need assistance on defense due to multiple current/future NFL Draft departures.

Lebby spoke on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning about his new role as a leader of all three phases of the game and broke down his defensive philosophy.

"From a program standpoint, we're going to talk about playing with great effort, being incredibly physical and then being able to execute," Lebby said. "Those three things will be staples of how we play football on the defensive side of the ball. In a perfect world, I'd love to see it be very multiple—being able to do things in a lot of different pictures, create a lot of different stresses while having the ability to be incredibly sound.

Lebby explained that he'll be on the lookout for current players who "fit that mold" and identify them as leaders of the defense. Additionally, he'll support those players and the team itself in "every way possible."

"I want to be around the guys a ton," Lebby said. "I don't want an offense, defense and special teams...I want a great team. As we look to build this thing, that's what I want it to be all about. Still, I want to be able to get around these guys from a defensive standpoint."

Nevertheless, Lebby understands that he can't be with the defense for the entirety of practices—especially since he's calling the plays on offense—but he is looking forward to that challenge of his new role.