The Mississippi State Bulldogs surprised many people in the industry by firing former head coach Zach Arnett after less than a year in charge of the program. Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is the man charged with turning the Bulldogs around in 2024.
Here’s Lebby’s salary, contract, and net worth as the Bulldogs head coach.
Jeff Lebby’s Salary and Contract in 2024
Arnett was the lowest-paid head coach in the SEC in 2023, and the Mississippi State administration stepped up their compensation for Lebby in 2024. According to a memo distributed to the media shortly after Lebby was hired in late November of 2023, the new Bulldog head coach is set to make an average base salary of $4.51 million over the next four years.
That four-year contract length is the longest term length allowed for state employees in the state of Mississippi.
As would be expected, Lebby’s contract is laden with incentives. He’ll receive a bonus of $50,000 if he’s named SEC Coach of the Year and $100,000 if he’s named National Coach of the Year. Once he wins four games in an SEC season, he’ll receive an extra $125,000 for each SEC win, so if he wins six conference games in a season, for example, he’ll receive a $250,000 bonus.
As is standard with Power Five coaching jobs, he’ll receive a bonus for postseason performance. These bonuses do not stack, but he’ll receive the highest bonus he’s eligible to receive.
Those bonuses include $100,000 for participation in an SEC “Tier 3” bowl game or $150,000 for the TaxSlayer, ReliaQuest, Duke’s Mayo, Las Vegas, Music City, Texas, or Liberty Bowl. He’d receive $200,000 for a Citrus Bowl bid.
If Mississippi State makes the College Football Playoff, Lebby would receive a bonus of between $250,000 (for a first-round appearance) and $1 million (for a National Championship win).
Jeff Lebby’s Net Worth
While Mississippi State is Lebby’s first head coaching gig, he was handsomely compensated as an assistant coach. In 2022, Lebby’s base salary of $1.8 million as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma ranked fifth-most in college football among assistants.
He received a base salary of $1.9 million in 2023 as part of an escalating contract with the Sooners.
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Even before that, Lebby was in the $1 million club, making $1.2 million in 2021 at Ole Miss. Some sources believe that because of this, Lebby’s net worth is close to $5 million. While his salary has ramped up in recent seasons, he has been a high-ranking coach at various FBS college programs for nearly 15 years.
Lebby’s 2024 salary is over 50 percent higher than Arnett’s last season, but still ranks as the second-lowest in the SEC, ahead of only Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea.
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