STARKVILLE – Mississippi State football is on a five-game losing streak, the second longest in coach Jeff Lebby's three seasons.

Lebby said on Nov. 9 with three games left in the regular season he is not considering making changes to his coaching staff.

"At the end of the year, just like after Year 1 and after Year 2, we will look at everything to make sure we're continuing to move this program forward the right way and continue to build it the right way around (Kamario Taylor)," Lebby said. "That's always going to be the case. Right now, it is learning from what's gone on and fighting like heck every single day to change the outcome on Saturday morning."

The 25-23 loss to Vanderbilt dropped Lebby to 11-23 in his three seasons and 3-20 in SEC games. The Bulldogs (4-5, 2-5 SEC) are hosting Auburn (5-4, 3-4) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 14 (11 a.m., ESPN2).

Lebby, who's under contract through the 2028 season, has never made a change to his coaching staff in-season.

He's typically opted for continuity instead of overhaul. After the 2024 season, when MSU went 2-10, the only assistant who got fired was offensive line coach Cody Kennedy. That included retaining defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler after allowing an SEC-worst 34.1 points per game.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-8 last season but had just one SEC win, prompting Lebby to make several coaching changes. Zach Arnett was hired as the defensive coordinator to replace the fired Hutzler. The coaching staff was expanded, and four other assistant coaches were not retained.

This season's losing streak has coincided with star quarterback Kamario Taylor's injury that led to season-ending foot surgery on Oct. 28. Mississippi State's offense has scored 6.3 points per game in the three games Taylor didn't play.

Which Mississippi State assistant coaches have expiring contracts

Assistant football coaches typically have short-term contracts and change teams frequently. Three Mississippi State assistants are in the last year of their contracts, according to contracts obtained in the preseason.

Offensive line coach Phil Loadholt's deal ends after this season. He's the highest-paid offensive assistant coach on the staff at $700,000 for 2026. Arnett is the only MSU assistant coach who makes more than Loadholt at $1.15 million in 2026.

The other two coaches with expiring contracts are running backs coach Anthony Tucker and special teams coordinator Cliff Odom.