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Jeff Lebby adds highly-regarded Kevin Johns to 2026 coaching staff

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby: Paul Jones12/28/25PaulJonesOn3

Mississippi State left Sunday for Charlotte, N.C., to begin on-site preparations for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Head coach Jeff Lebby, however, is still building his staff for the 2026 season and added another member on Sunday, as officially announced by the university.

Lebby announced the hiring of veteran offensive coach Kevin Johns on Sunday and was announced as an assistant coach. Johns owns 28 years of coaching experience and has been able to improve offenses throughout his coaching tenure. He has also served as a FBS offensive coordinator in 14 of those seasons, which includes seven Top 25 national finishes in passing offense and five Top 25 finishes in total offense.

Johns spent this past season as the quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma State and was also the co-offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 2024.

Johns was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Duke for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Before his move to Duke, Johns spent three seasons at Memphis and consistently had the Tigers among the top offenses in the AAC.

“Kevin Johns is a big-time addition for our program,” head coach Jeff Lebby said in a school release. “His résumé speaks for itself — he’s been an elite offensive mind for a long time, coordinating explosive, productive offenses and consistently developing talent and generating production. Kevin understands how to evaluate, teach and adapt, and he knows how to turn those traits into results. His experience and offensive acumen will be a major asset for us moving forward.”

Johns has also served as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech and Western Kentucky, and spent six years at Indiana where his offenses set a total of 54 schools records.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to join Coach Lebby’s staff,” Johns said in a school release. “I’ve long had a great deal of respect for the Mississippi State program. I’m looking forward to working with the players, investing in their development and contributing to an offense that plays fast, physical and aggressive.”

Johns began his FBS coaching career at Northwestern where he spent seven seasons. During his time at Northwestern, he serve as passing game coordinator, receivers coach, recruiting coordinator and running backs coach.

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