Mississippi State HC Jeff Lebby makes strong statement about Tennessee HC Josh Heupel ahead of matchup with Vols
The Tennessee Vols will be back in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night for a matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Jeff Lebby, who is in his first season as Mississippi State's head coach, is very familiar with Vols head coach Josh Heupel. Lebby and Heupel have known each other for two decades, dating back to […]
The Tennessee Vols will be back in Neyland Stadium on Saturday night for a matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Jeff Lebby, who is in his first season as Mississippi State's head coach, is very familiar with Vols head coach Josh Heupel.
Lebby and Heupel have known each other for two decades, dating back to the early 2000s when Lebby was a student assistant and Heupel was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma.
In 2018, Lebby joined the coaching staff at UCF as Heupel's quarterbacks coach. In 2019, Lebby was promoted to offensive coordinator (Lebby left Heupel after the 2019 season to become Lane Kiffin's offensive coordinator at Ole Miss).
On Monday, Lebby was asked about his relationship with Heupel and he left no doubt how he feels about his former boss.
"A guy that I got more respect for than maybe anybody in the profession," said Lebby when asked about Heupel. "A great friend that had been a great mentor to me. Had an opportunity to work for him. It was an incredible experience. A guy that's incredibly consistent. You look at what he's done. The amount of success that he's had, the culture he's created at an incredible place. And man, just again, a ton of respect for who he is as a person, as a father, as a husband, and then obviously as a football coach as well."
Around the same time that Lebby was speaking to reporters in Starkville, Heupel was speaking to reporters in Knoxville.
And Heupel was asked what it'll be like coaching against Lebby on Saturday.
"I’ve known Jeff for a long time, dating all the way back to Oklahoma when he was still a student there," said Heupel. "And have great respect for him [and] his staff. It’s not just Jeff that I know — I know a bunch of their guys. Good people, good coaches, and doing a good job down there. So it’ll be unique in that I’ve sat in the staff room with those guys before.”
It's clear that there's a lot of respect between Lebby and Heupel, which is why I wouldn't expect to see much "pettiness" between the two programs on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.
One play from Nico Iamaleava against Kentucky tells Tennessee Vols fans all they need to know about the young QB
Says a lot about the former 5-star QB
