Mississippi State's Jeff Lebby Lists Qualities He's Seeking in a New Quarterback
The Mississippi State Bulldogs football team has had quite the past seven days.
Quarterback Will Rogers, who is among the all-time SEC leaders in multiple career passing categories, entered the transfer portal on Nov. 24. One day later, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was hired as Mississippi State's next head coach after Zach Arnett was fired.
Lebby has already been faced with the tough task of finding a new quarterback to replace Rogers and listed some qualities he's seeking in one on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
"The biggest thing you want is an experience in production," Lebby said on Thursday. I was looking this morning and there's a couple of guys out there that have that. I want to be able to do what we've done from a 50-50 standpoint—being incredibly balanced, able to throw it all over the field and run the football. The QB being involved enough to keep people honest, keeping plays alive and being able to extend them is important to me. Those qualities are ones that I'm looking for."
In addition to being a clear-cut leader on Saturdays, college football coaches preach that the quarterback must act as one every other day of the week as well. This is a crucial asset that Lebby is hoping his future quarterback imposes immediately.
"If he's going to be the face of State, he's going to need to be a guy that knows how to get it done on and off the field," Lebby said. "We want the total package. I think we'll be able to get that without a doubt. There's a lot of things that sell here and I'm looking forward to getting in front of a couple of these guys and go get one."
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. Nevertheless, turning the offense around is only a portion of the future quarterback's responsibilities.
