Texas Tech Football: Top 5 Candidates to replace Kliff Kingsbury
Texas Tech football has reportedly decided to part ways with head coach Kliff Kingsbury after losing to Baylor to cap a 5-7 2018 season.
Kliff Kingsbury was the perfect fit to take over for Texas Tech in 2013. After Tommy Tuberville decided to bolt Lubbock for Cincinnati, the Red Raiders decided to turn to a native son, who just so happened to have made a name for himself in the coaching profession at rival Texas A&M, piloting the Aggies offense during Johnny Manziel‘s Heisman campaign.
After feeling slighted by Tuberville’s lateral (at best) move to the Queen City, Texas Tech hoped to find a long term coach who wouldn’t be looking for the next opportunity on the horizon. They found that in Kingsbury, who would have stayed at Lubbock as long as they would have him.
He just couldn’t win enough to make it happen.
In six seasons at the helm of The Matadors, Kingsbury compiled a 35-40 record, and finished with a winning record in only two of those seasons, none of which have come since 2015.
In Patrick Mahomes, Kingsbury wasted the most talented player in school history by fielding abhorrent defenses. He fixed his defense in time for his offenses to fall apart the last couple of seasons.
Sure, there were some extenuating circumstances that affected this season, namely the injuries to talented freshman QB Alan Bowman, who had the offense humming when he was taking the snaps – a lab made air-raid quarterback who makes this job even more appealing for whomever succeeds Kingsbury.
The problem is the same old discipline issues reared their ugly head in all the wrong moments. Inopportune penalties and turnovers in key moments swung close games against Iowa State and Texas. The deflating loss to the Longhorns seemingly carried over to the final two weeks as the Red Raiders fell flat on their face in losses at Kansas State and against Baylor; a five game losing streak sending them from optimistic Big 12 Championship hopes to being ineligible for postseason play altogether.
Injuries hurt, being 122nd in the country in penalty yardage hurt worse, and undisciplined play always falls in the lap of the head coach.
The bar for Kingsbury was never high; he could have been the king of Lubbock as long as the team was consistently making bowl games. He didn’t have to emulate the eccentric Mike Leach, he just needed to win more than he lost.
Kingsbury is still a respected offensive mind, and will have no shortage of suitors this offseason, in college and the NFL, that will be interested in his services as an offensive coordinator.
He’s also a well-liked guy, always considered as a players coach who energized an angry fanbase in West Texas when he took the job six years ago. He and Texas Tech were a match made in heaven, but fairy tale endings are are in college football.
With Kingsbury out, Tech AD Kirby Hocutt will be looking to strike the perfect balance once again of an up-and-coming and innovative young coach, with someone who isn’t going to use Lubbock as just a stepping stone for a bigger gig.
Who might he target to take over as the 16th head coach in Texas Tech history?