Three old friends reunited in April at a Turnpike Troubadours concert at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa.

The legendary Red Dirt band was getting back together for its first shows after a nearly three-year hiatus to work out personal issues. The trio — Jeff Lebby, Kendal Briles and Mike Dunn — had traveled from Norman, Fayetteville and Midwest City, respectively, to break from the football jobs that position them all within an hour and a half of Oklahoma’s second-largest city.

They, too, were reuniting in a way after some respective trials and tribulations.

Lebby’s return to his alma mater as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator in December has brought him closer to some of his best friends, such as Dunn, the head coach and athletic director at Carl Albert High School, and Briles, the offensive coordinator at Arkansas. He’s also just a two-and-a-half hour drive from the Fort Worth area, where his mom, Kathy, lives.

Lebby presides over a football staff of 12 former Oklahoma players and coaches, most of whom he built trust with, whether it was coming up as a recruit from Andrews, Texas, or when he was a student assistant at OU from 2002-06. He also takes on the challenge of leading the Sooners’ offense, which under Lincoln Riley was one of the nation’s most prolific for the past seven years.

“The added bonuses for my family and life outside of football is special,” Lebby said. “They’re unique and, in this profession, you don’t get that often. There’s very few that get the opportunity to do what I’m doing right now. And I’m humbled and grateful for it. And man, I don’t take it for granted at all.”

The opportunity to rejoin the Sooners this season was the best of both worlds for the 38-year-old assistant known as one of college football’s brightest offensive minds due to his successes at Central Florida and Mississippi.

The move puts him closer to some of the friendships he has garnered through football along the way.

“Life is a funny thing,” Dunn said. “And I think we were both put in these positions for a reason. We always talked about our paths crossing again. … I took the Carl Albert job, a year later he took the offensive coordinator job, and I think it was just all meant to be.”

'It was like driving a car'

Lebby and Dunn first met through J.D. Runnels, who was a fellow member of OU’s 2002 recruiting class. Dunn and Runnels were high school teammates and friends at Carl Albert in Midwest City. 

Lebby and Runnels connected as incoming freshmen at Oklahoma, and while they are still close, it’s Dunn who later became more than a best friend — more like family. 

“It was always easy,” Dunn said of his relationship with Lebby, who would become his college roommate. “It was like driving a car.”

Dunn has been with Lebby through every step of his adult life, whether helping Lebby through a career-ending back injury, navigating the start of his coaching path or traveling to concerts around the country, one of their favorite pastimes, from Pearl Jam to Radiohead to Robert Earl Keen. 

While they particularly love Red Dirt country music, their bond goes back to when Dunn and Lebby were college freshmen. Lebby was living at the since-demolished Bud Wilkinson athletic dorms and Dunn attended the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

During Lebby’s first semester in Norman, he called Dunn informing him he’d reaggravated an old high school back injury, forcing him to medically redshirt before eventually becoming a student assistant.

Dunn knew Lebby needed help coming to grips with the end of his playing days. Dunn drove down the next morning and spent the November weekend with Lebby, sharing tears and working through what Lebby would do next. That weekend, they decided they would both be football coaches and forged a friendship that has lasted over 20 years. 

“He had a pretty good outlook as far as what he wanted to do next, and he always wanted to be a football coach,” Dunn said. “Jeff made that decision then that he was going to be a college football coach and go all in on being a student assistant.”

The two spent so much time together that Dunn had an idea based on the fact that Lebby’s would-be freshman roommate never arrived in Norman. 

“I would go and I’d stay the whole weekend in Norman,” Dunn said. “I finally just said, ‘You know what? I’m hanging out here all the time, so I might as well just go to OU.’ … That’s where it all started.”

Dunn transferred to OU that spring and negotiated to become Lebby’s roommate at the athletic dorms. That spring break, the duo traveled to Austin to hang out with Briles, Lebby’s lifelong family friend, who was then a quarterback at the University of Texas. 

Two years after graduating, Lebby joined Briles on the staff of his father, Art Briles, at Baylor in 2008. The Briles and Lebbys go back to when Jeff’s dad, Mike, and Art were on staff together at Sweetwater High School from 1982-84. Lebby even married Art’s daughter, Staley.

Dunn has become closer with both sides over the years. He has seen the Briles family’s influence on Lebby, with whom he worked in various roles at Baylor with from 2008-16. And he has seen the source of his friend’s extroverted personality from Mike, who’s Lebby's football role model.

“It was as close of a relationship as you could ever find,” Dunn said of Lebby’s relationship with his dad. “They were tight. They were two peas in a pod. The way they acted when they’d get together was a lot of fun. And now that Jeff has two younger kids, it’s funny because when we were in college, Mike treated us like little kids.

“So, you see it now with Jeff and his style with his kids. It’s uncanny and it’s exact. But when it was time to talk football, it was like something flipped. They’d go from joking and playing around, but when it was time to talk business, they would get real serious.”

During Lebby’s senior year, Mike moved jobs to Granbury High — just outside of Fort Worth —  to be closer to Norman. Mike’s relocation also stationed him closer to his other son, Kyle, who died in 2020 and was living in College Station at the time. 

Even when Dunn graduated in 2007, his first job was as an assistant for Mike at Saginaw High outside Fort Worth. 

“Friday night lights are (in Lebby’s) blood,” former Oklahoma defensive lineman Dan Cody said. “That’s who he is and where he came from. He and his dad were cut from the same cloth. Big, happy guys, loved football. They have a healthy obsession with it.”

Though Mike died in July 2019, Lebby manages to keep a happy-go-lucky persona that has assisted him through some of his relationships today. Lebby’s gig at Oklahoma would have been even more special if Mike was still present to make that short drive to Norman and watch his son choreograph the Sooners’ offense. 

“Jeff has never felt sorry for himself in any situation,” Dunn said. “Not with losing his dad or his brother. … He’s a glass-half-full guy. He’s an optimist. And I guess Jeff does that because he puts others on his shoulders. I think he’s the type to want people to see him happy and wants to make people feel like they’re the guy in the room.

“He wants (people) to feel like they’re at their best before he worries about himself. I think that’s kind of how he sees life.”

'The realest moment I’ve had in my life'

Whenever the trio of Cody, Dunn and Lebby had time, they used to travel to Cody's ranch in Centrahoma to fish, hunt or go off-roading. That’s still one of Cody’s favorite memories from college.

“We had so many great times,” Lebby said. “And now it has restarted for us. We’re at a completely different point in our life but it’s just as special.”

Cody, a two-time All-Big 12 selection who became a second-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2005, established a strong bond with Lebby despite the two-year age difference as teammates.

Last April, Cody traveled from Ada to Norman and caught up with his old friend Lebby and old coach Venables at the Sooners’ facilities.

Cody and Lebby reminisced about hanging out at Lebby’s “beat down” rent house near the stadium, which has since been torn down when new-Oklahoma athletic dorms Headington Hall debuted in 2013.

Lebby’s house on Jenkins Avenue became his teammates’ go-to spot whenever they needed a place to park or just hangout in between classes. It also had an “open-door” policy.

“If they only knew back then. I just can’t believe they gave this guy the keys to this place,” Cody said with a laugh. “Twenty years ago we were there cutting class, waiting for practice or letting the electricity run out, and now here he is in the suites over there.”

Lebby was there for Cody when Cody came to grips with knowing he had played his final collegiate game after the Sooners were defeated 55-19 in the 2005 national championship against Southern California.

Huddled on the sideline after the devastating loss, Cody recalled receiving a hug from Lebby that he'll remember forever, one that helped him in a moment of uncertainty. 

“After the USC game, I just remember it being one of the realest moments of my life,” said Cody, recalling a massive bear hug from his friend. “I had that sensation of not wanting things to be over. But just the genuineness of our embrace and what it meant, It was the culmination of a few years there of our friendship. … It wasn’t particularly sad, it wasn’t particularly emotional, but just the intensity of it. That’s my favorite moment. The realest moment I’ve had in my life.”

The moment then speaks to Lebby’s coaching now. In February, he stated he and the coaching staff like to bring “genuine juice” to motivate their players. That sentiment is encapsulated with his continued relationship with Cody, who still holds OU close to his heart.

Lebby, despite still being in college, was one of the lone teammates at Cody's NFL draft watch party at a hotel in Dallas. He was there for Cody during a pivotal moment in his life, just like he was with their embrace.

17 years later, Cody returned a favor of his own by sharing his story and speaking to OU's program during his spring visit. 

“You don’t really see that guy ever get stirred up,” Cody said. “Or at least I never have. And it doesn’t mean he’s not ultracompetitive. But I think that’s part of what makes him so good. I think the guy’s pretty cool and calm. He’s kind of like Buddha. He kind of just sits there and does his thing.”

'Jeff is going to be completely honest'

Lebby was on top of the world as a young offensive assistant learning under some of the greatest minds in the sport at a young age.

Until he wasn’t.

In 2017, Lebby started working at Southeastern University, a small NAIA school in Lakeland, Florida, after Baylor had multiple athletes convicted or accused of sexual assault from 2012-16. His name was mentioned in a lawsuit against the university by a student in 2016 for failing to report one of his running backs who allegedly assaulted her, according to Title IX court documents provided to ESPN.

The student also reportedly shared text messages with Lebby about the incident, and Lebby said he would talk to the player. Lebby later punished the player with extra work after practice.

It’s unclear whether the player, who disputed the claims, was ever the topic of a Title IX investigation, according to ESPN. However, the lawsuit states the student informed Baylor officials about the incident.

Later, as Lebby remained on the Bears staff in 2016 after Art Briles had already been fired, Lebby defended his father-in-law by wearing T-shirts that read “#CAB,” or “Coach Art Briles,” despite being directly involved in one of college football’s biggest black eyes.

But when Lebby was hired by Oklahoma Athletic Director Joe Castiglione in December, he went through a vetting process, like he did at UCF and Mississippi, and passed.

“Like with all potential coaching staff, we vetted him from every angle, on and off the field," Castiglione said. "We understand why additional questions have been raised around his candidacy, which is why we did our due diligence, completed a thorough review and background check, and spoke to his previous employers throughout the process.”

Castiglione later added that there were consistent reports from Lebby’s previous employers that spoke highly of his character. Those closest to Lebby concurred.

“He has told his truth,” Dunn said. “He has talked about what happened when he was there. And, at the end of the day, when you have that many people that have vetted that, it shows to me that there was nothing there, really.”

Keith Barefield Jr., whose father, Keith Barefield Sr., hired Lebby at Southeastern, says players gravitated toward Lebby during the 2017 season in Lakeland, Florida.

“I don’t think he gets a second chance the way he does if people don’t know him to be a genuine, good person the way he is,” Barefield Jr. said. “If there was something sketchy about him, he’d have stayed in the outskirts of the business for a lot longer, at minimum, if not still.

“It wasn’t the coaching world that knew him that wouldn’t hire him, it was the higher ups that didn’t want to take a risk at the time. And you can’t blame them for it.”

Venables has known Lebby, since he was defensive coordinator during Lebby’s tenure, as a student assistant with the Sooners. The first-year head coach also felt good about Lebby’s hiring process, stating the program was getting “somebody of high integrity.”

Since being hired in December, Lebby has mentioned being aligned with the culture Venables has created, which is based around holistically developing the program’s student athletes. To him, one of those sentiments he associates with Venables' program-building ideas is his "genuine juice."

“To me, it’s people who don’t have to fake it to make it,” Lebby said of “genuine juice.” “... There’s genuine energy in our building every day. And I truly believe it’s because of great alignment with with the great culture that’s been set in place with Coach V.

“... It’s not forced. It’s when you walk in the door being humble and being grateful just for being in the building.”

After his single season at Southeastern, Lebby received a coaching lifeline from former Oklahoma All-American quarterback Josh Heupel, who hired him as quarterbacks coach at UCF and later made him offensive coordinator.

The move put Lebby back in high-level Division I football, where he then established himself as one of the brightest minds in the sport.

However, according to those closest, Lebby still doesn’t shy away from his tenure in Waco, despite earning an eventual opportunity.

“Jeff is going to be completely honest 100 percent about what happened with all that stuff,” Dunn said. “At the end of the day, he’s not going to shy away from being Art Briles’ son-in-law. He’s not going to shy away from being married to Art Briles’ daughter. He’s not even going to shy away from the time he spent there at Baylor.

“The reason why he’s been able to get through that stuff is because at the end of the day, Jeff Lebby has been the same person since I met him in 2001.”

'A method to the madness'

Since arriving at Oklahoma, Lebby has conditioned his offense to prepare for working fast like his prior units did. Last season, Mississippi ranked fourth nationally in average plays per game at 80.5.

Barefield Jr., Southeastern’s offensive coordinator in 2016, had the chance to learn some of Lebby’s magic after Lebby replaced him in 2017. He has applied some of those lessons to his own playcalling.

“The biggest thing I took from him was not running tempo just for the sake of tempo,” Barefield Jr. said. “He had a rhyme and a reason for it. There was a method to the madness. … I kind of became known as a tempo guy because of what I picked up from him.”

The up-tempo ideology became a staple of the high-powered offenses Briles deployed during his tenure with the Bears. Some of the spread concepts Briles developed were so revolutionary at the time that everyone wanted a piece of that puzzle, including coaches approaching Barefield Jr.

“I was in Florida last year,” said Barefield Jr., who was the head coach at Lake Gibson High in 2021, “and there were FBS schools in that region that were reaching out because they recruited some of my players. And they’d come by the office and sit down and try to nail down (some information) from me.”

Barefield Jr. has experienced Lebby’s offensive expertise since he was a player at Victoria High in 2007, where Lebby spent one season as an offensive assistant. Barefield Jr., a quarterback, fullback and tight end, remembered watching Lebby, then 23, draw up a play just days before a game that allowed Barefield Jr. to be wide open for a 50-yard touchdown.

“I remember how football knowledgeable he was as far as X's and O's go,” Barefield Jr. said. “Looking back, you could see he had the signs of making a great coach early on because the players loved him, the coaches loved him and he knew what he was doing without a doubt.”

Barefield Jr. remembers clearly how the players at Victoria gravitated toward Lebby despite the offensive assistant being there for just one season. He remembers the same from watching Lebby’s only season at Southeastern, too.

It was a testament to Lebby’s relatability as a coach.

“To me, Jeff is the most genuine, authentic, good person,” Barefield Jr. said. “He’s one of the good people in this coaching business that you can sit down with and talk to him and know you’re not being sold a used car.

“That’s honestly what I appreciate about him. I can tell you, I’ve seen him in places where he’s been just one year and the impact he’s had on players’ lives in just that one year, and I’m not talking just football-wise either, just personally how close they felt to him. I think that’s what makes him so successful. … His offense is his offense, but because his players love him and believe in him, they’d run through a wall for him, and I can see why.”

Former UCF quarterback Brandon Wimbush was recruited by Lebby for his final season of eligibility after spending four seasons at Notre Dame. He joined the Golden Knights in 2019 despite receiving calls from Ohio State’s Ryan Day and UCLA’s Chip Kelly, because of how quickly he gained trust in Lebby.

“He was the most personable guy I could relate to as I was going through the process,” Wimbush said. “A guy like Lebby is a guy you want to go play for. And I was able to see that all within a couple of months of being on campus.”

Even though Wimbush was named the starter for the Golden Knights’ week one matchup due to McKenzie Milton and Darriel Mack Jr suffering injuries, he was still battling for the job.

The following week, freshman Dillon Gabriel received a chance and didn’t look back, starting the next 12 games.

Wimbush watched from the sidelines as Gabriel and Lebby fortified a trust that has them working together again at Oklahoma now. Despite being benched for his final year of college football, Wimbush maintains a strong relationship with Lebby, who says Wimbush’s maturity aided his conversations about the decision.

“He’s as cool as the other side of the pillow,” Wimbush said. “I came to him and we had a good conversation about (me taking a backseat), and he understood. But he was more worried about my mental health and made sure I was in a good place mentally before anything. I think that’s him being personable and being a player’s coach that guys can come to at any point.”

Wimbush, who’s now the chief athletic officer at MOGL, a name, image and likeness company, passed for 2,606 yards and rushed for 1,155 while totaling 36 touchdowns in 20 appearances with the Fighting Irish from 2015-18.

And for him, it makes sense that former UCF standouts such as Gabriel and running back Bentavious Thompson would follow Lebby to Norman. As one of Lebby’s many pupils, he said he’s excited to watch Lebby and Gabriel hit the gridiron in Norman this season.

“You put up historical numbers together at one school, you’re gonna try to do the same thing at another if you can, if you have the opportunity to do that,” Wimbush said. “I think those guys were always connected. … They had a good relationship.”

'He’s at the place he wants to be'

After Heupel was hired as Tennessee’s head coach before the 2021 season, the UCF opening came down to former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and Lebby, according to Dunn.

Although UCF eventually went with the former, Lebby’s name has emerged as a head coaching candidate, though he’s only in his fourth season as a Power Five coordinator.

However, Dunn says Lebby has found his home for the foreseeable future in Norman.

“I remember one of the first things we talked about when this opportunity came along was at this point he doesn’t have to chase a job,” Dunn said. “He doesn’t feel like he needs to do that. He’s at the point in his career where he can be patient, because he’s at the place he wants to be at.

“He’s at a place that he can be at forever if he was never a head coach, and I think he’d still be happy.”

In 2022, Lebby hopes to keep Oklahoma’s dynamic offense rolling after Riley commanded it to record-breaking numbers before leaving for USC. With Gabriel as quarterback, and weapons like wide receiver Marvin Mims and running back Eric Gray, OU should remain one of the top-scoring teams in the Big 12 in 2022.

Almost 20 years since his career-ending injury, Lebby has made it back to the place where his college career started. It’s where he always wanted to be, and where he hopes he stays for a “long, long time.”

“When Jeff was in the mix for the job, we’re crossing our fingers, and we kept talking about things coming full circle,” Dunn said. “It came there from when we were kids in the dorms to where we’re both at now. … This was always a dream job for me. OU was always a dream job for Jeff.

"It just worked out.”