Texas Tech Football: Top 5 Candidates to replace Kliff Kingsbury

5. David Gibbs (DC/Texas Tech)

David Gibbs is a well respected defensive mind, and Texas Tech’s improvement defensively coincided with his arrival in Lubbock.

A former Colorado player, Gibbs is a longtime assistant coach who has yet to have the opportunity to run his own program, save for a one-game interim stint at Houston for the 2015 Armed Forces Bowl.

I’m guessing this one isn’t all that likely, but he’s a name that will get at least some consideration, and he would have been the guy to take over in an interim capacity if the Red Raiders garnered bowl eligibility and still decided to part with Kingsbury.

Gibbs will have the internal support among the players, but it feels more likely that Hocutt will want to make a move outside the current staff with how things have gone in recent seasons. The undisciplined play falls on the head coach, but a lot of the rough penalties were of the defensive variety, which also falls on the defensive coordinator.

Gibbs will likely interview for the job, and whoever takes over as head coach could do a lot worse than retaining his services as defensive coordinator, but his chances of a promotion seem slim at the moment, unless other candidates don’t pan out.