There is a lot of excitement at Texas Tech after the Red
Raiders hired former quarterback Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach shortly
after former head football coach Tommy Tuberville left three recruits and
several assistants in the middle of dinner at Lubbock’s popular “50 Yard Line”
and bolted for Cincinnati back in December.(1) Kingsbury was the general of
Mike Leach’s first “air raid” offense from 1999 to 2002 and amassed 1,231 completions
on 1,883 attempts for 12,429 yards with 95 touchdowns and 40 interceptions in 48
games. He started one of those games his freshman season in 1998 and helped the
Red Raiders upset Oklahoma and give Spike Dykes a win in his final game as the
Texas Tech head coach. Kingsbury was
only the third quarterback to pass for 10,000
yards when he finished his college career with a 55-10 victory over
Clemson in the Tangerine Bowl. Kingsbury won the Sammy Baugh Trophy his senior
year given to the nation’s best passer each year.(2) Kingsbury didn’t have a
very productive professional career which lasted from 2003-2007 but he did
manage to pick up a Super Bowl ring with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New
England Patriots. In 2008 Kingsbury took a quality control position under head
coach Kevin Sumlin at The University of Houston. When offensive coordinator Dana
Holgorsen left for Oklahoma State, Sumlin promoted Kingsbury to Co-offensive
coordinator and quarterback’s coach. By 2011 Kingsbury was calling all the
offensive plays and Houston lead the nation in most offensive statistical
category. Kingsbury followed Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M as offensive
coordinator and coached Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manzeil and one of the top
offenses in the country. Former Aggie Linebacker Brian Gamble was quoted as
saying “There’s a joke in the coaching business that Kliff got the biggest
promotion in college football history. He went from (the entry-level position
of offensive) quality control assistant to offensive coordinator in two years.
Who does that? Obviously, he proved a lot to Coach (Kevin) Sumlin in a very
short time. Now, look at him. He’s the OC of an SEC school. At 32.” According to
“12th Man magazine’s” (3) Rusty Burson. Guess what
Brian, he was promoted again. This time to head football coach of his alma
mater Texas Tech. From quality control coach in 2008 to head football coach of
a division 1 program in 2013. Gamble was
right. Who does that? Kliff Kingsbury is who. Credit athletic director Kirby
Hocutt for wasting no time after Tuberville’s exit in naming the hottest young
coach in division 1 football and Texas Tech alumni Kingsbury as Texas Tech’s
next head coach. Hocutt immediately healed the fractured relationship between
the athletic department and their student body and alumni. Tuberville never
jelled in Lubbock. Kingsbury was the best hire for Texas Tech. The student body
and alumni will be more patient with the former Red Raider who kicked off the
Leach era with one of Tech’s eleven consecutive bowl appearances opposed to
Tuberville who had ended the streak in 2011. There was an immediate euphoria
among the Red Raider fan base who remember Kliff’s heroics while playing at
Texas Tech and the fact Kingsbury’s offenses have been among the tops in the
country his three years as an offensive coordinator. I have heard coaches
question if he has the experience to manage a big time program. Remember Kliff
was not just standing around twiddling his thumbs from 2003-2007. He played in
the NFL for 4 teams. I’m not including
his two week layover in Denver in September of 2005. He saw how successful organizations like the
Patriots did things while learning the even more complex offensive systems of
the NFL and the Patriots in general. Success in 2013 might have more to do with
how healthy the defense can stay. A defense that is thin at many positions. The
Red Raider defense has been banged up the past three seasons. There may not be
a team in the Big 12 that’s had as many injuries as the Red Raiders the past
three seasons. Combine that with the Carousel of Defensive coordinators which
will be three in past three seasons and it usually will not compute to big
defensive numbers. The Red Raiders have to have more big plays and namely turn
overs in 2013 to be successful. The Red Raiders have been dead last in the Big
12 the past two seasons and that has to improve if they are going to be able to
return to the upper echelon of the Big 12 conference which has not been the
case since the end of the Leach era. (4)Turn overs will translate to offensive
production in Kingsbury’s version of the “Air Raid” offense. Play makers like Raider Back Terrance Bullitt
who was a preseason 2nd team All Big 12 linebacker in 2012 have got
to stay healthy. Terrance reinjured his surgically repaired shoulder last
season after a very promising 2011. Unless some young players emerge on defense
there is not enough depth on defense to absorb many losses like Bullitt. Young emerging talent may be harder to find in
Lubbock this season since Kingsbury’s recruiting started late due to his late
hiring, and Tuberville’s abrupt exit in December. This was not one of Tech’s
better recruiting classes who had been in the top twenty-five in many
publications over the past five years. They were picked last of the Big 12
recruiting classes in many polls after
national signing day. Recruiting rankings have not always mattered in Lubbock. One
thing is for sure. If the Red Raiders are to be successful in 2013 they have to
create more turn overs and avoid the injury bug of the past three seasons.
Regardless, the fans in Lubbock Texas
are once again excited for Red Raider football not seen since the pirate left
town.
References
11.
Bill Connelly: SB Nation
22.
Wikipedia
33.
Rusty Burson: 12th Man Magazine
44.
Wikipedia
