Kingsbury's Staff Chalked full of Former Tech Players
By: Blayne Beal- Texas Tech University
Updated: January 18, 2013
LUBBOCK, TEXAS -
Texas Tech Head Football Coach Kliff Kingsbury has put the final
touches on his first coaching staff, which he formally unveiled today
at a news conference in the Spike Dykes Room at the Football Training
Facility.
Kingsbury, who was named the 15th head coach in school history back on Dec. 16, now has a complete coaching staff in place and
the group has hit the ground running in advance of National Signing Day on Feb. 6.
The coaching staff, including Kingsbury, features six men who all have degrees from Texas Tech.
Texas
Tech grads Sonny Cumbie and Eric Morris will serve as co-offensive
coordinators while Cumbie will coach the outside receivers and Morris
the inside receivers.
Both Cumbie and Morris had successful playing careers in the spread
offense while student-athletes at Texas Tech. Completing the offensive
coaching staff will be offensive line coach Lee Hays and running backs
coach Mike Jinks.
Defensively,
the Red Raiders will be led by defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt,
who comes to Texas Tech from Texas A&M. Teaming up with Wallerstedt
will
be Tech graduate and co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers
coach Mike Smith. Smith comes to Texas Tech from the New York Jets and
was teammates at Tech with Cumbie and newly named safeties coach Trey
Haverty. Kevin Curtis, a 2002 Texas Tech graduate,
will coach the cornerbacks while John Scott Jr. will lead the defensive
line.
Chad
Dennis will coordinate the strength program for Red Raider Football as
he has been named the head strength and conditioning coach.
Texas Tech Football Coaching Staff Biographies
Sonny Cumbie, Co-Offensive Coordinator, Outside Receivers
Once the quarterback in one of Texas Tech's biggest bowl wins, Sonny Cumbie begins his fourth season
as an assistant coach at his alma mater and his first as co-offensive coordinator.
Cumbie
gave Red Raider Nation a taste of his play calling ability as he
stepped into the role as interim
offensive coordinator for the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Red
Raiders amassed 429 yards of total offense en route to a 34-31 win over
Minnesota.
In
2012, Cumbie coached a pair of 1,000-yard receivers in Darrin Moore and
Eric Ward. The pair of 1,000
yard receivers was the first for Tech since the 2007 season that
featured a pair of current NFL receivers Michael Crabtree and Danny
Amendola.
The
2011 Red Raiders featured the seventh best passing offense in nation as
Texas Tech rang up 4,145
yards passing. A total of 13 different receivers totaled 10 or more
catches over the course of the season and were led by Eric Ward's 84
catches for 800 yards.
In
Cumbie's first season in 2010, the Red Raiders piled up 4,146 receiving
yards along with 39 touchdowns.
Tech's 39 receiving touchdowns was one better than the Red Raiders
totaled in 2009. Inside receiver Detron Lewis led the squad with 87
catches on the season and finished second with 852 receiving yards.
During
his years as a football player at Texas Tech, Cumbie worked diligently
and waited patiently for
his chance to serve as starting quarterback in the prolific Tech
offense--and in 2004, he earned the spot and led the Red Raiders to an
8-4 season. During that season, Cumbie twice led the Red Raiders to 70+
point games and capped off the season with a 520
yard MVP performance in the 2004 Holiday Bowl victory over (then) No. 4
California. Cumbie still holds the Holiday Bowl record for most passing
yards. He finished the season with 4,472 yards passing--fifth-best in
school history, and 7th best in NCAA History.
He was an Honorable Mention performer on the field and All-Big 12
Performer in the classroom.
Following
a successful career at Texas Tech, Cumbie went on to play for the Los
Angeles Avengers of the
Arena Football League (AFL). As a rookie in 2006, Cumbie started 12
games and set a franchise record for most passes attempted without an
interception: 252. He was named the AFL All-Rookie Team Quarterback and
was a finalist for Rookie of the Year. Upon completion
of the 2006 season, Cumbie was signed by the Baltimore Ravens. In 2007
Cumbie was back in the AFL, leading the Avengers to their first playoff
victory in franchise history, throwing for 83 touchdowns.
From
2005-2009, during the AFL's off seasons, Cumbie served on the Texas
Tech Sports Network as an analyst.
He was able to stay closely involved with Tech football while
broadcasting their games and offering the insights of a former player.
After
the Arena Football League suddenly ceased operations before the start
of the 2009 season, Cumbie
became the Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel for the San
Angelo Stampede of the Indoor Football League. Four games into the
season, Cumbie also added starting quarterback to his list of
responsibilities. Once again, as he had with the Avengers, Cumbie
lead a franchise to the playoffs and its first playoff win in the team's
history.
Cumbie and his wife, Tamra, are both natives of Snyder, Texas, and graduates of Texas Tech. Cumbie graduated
from Texas Tech with a Bachelor's Degree in History while his wife has a Master's Degree in Technical Communication.
Eric Morris, Co-Offensive Coordinator, Inside Receivers
Eric Morris, a 2008 graduate of Texas Tech, returns to his alma mater where he will coach inside receivers
and serve as co-offensive coordinator.
Morris
spent the 2012 season as the inside receivers coach on former Texas
Tech Head Coach Mike Leach's
staff at Washington State. Prior to heading to Pullman, Morris spent
two years on Kevin Sumlin's staff at the University of Houston, as an
offensive graduate assistant and as the offensive quality control
assistant in 2010.
The receiving corp at Washington State hauled in 3,965 yards in the first year of the Air Raid offense
in 2012. Cougar receivers hauled in 23 of the team's 29 total touchdowns scored.
In 2011, Houston's offense led the nation in passing (443.8 ypg), total offense (599.0 ypg) and scoring
(50.8 ppg), en route to a 12-1 record including a win over Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl.
Prior to Houston, Morris played in the Canadian Football League. He joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders
out of training camp in 2009 and dressed for four games while battling a knee injury.
Morris
lettered at Texas Tech from 2005-2008. As a senior wide receiver, he
recorded 10 receptions for
89 yards against Mississippi during his final collegiate game in the
Cotton Bowl. A versatile, all-around player, Morris was named to the
All-Big 12 Second Team as a punt returner by the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram and was a 2007 Academic All-Big 12 Team member.
He is one of only four players in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision history to be a part of multiple
receiving trios with each player recording at least 60 receptions in a season.
Morris received his bachelor's degree in communications studies from Texas Tech in 2008.
A
native of Shallowater, Texas, and a product of Shallowater High, Morris
was named the All-South Plains
Super Team Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2003. That
season, he finished with 926 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns while
throwing for another 1,926 yards and 22 touchdowns.
Morris and his wife, Maggie, reside in Lubbock.
Matt Wallerstedt, Defensive Coordinator
Matt Wallerstedt joins the Red Raiders as defensive coordinator after a one-year stop at Texas A&M.
A
defensive coordinator in three previous coaching stints, former Kansas
State All-American Matt Wallerstedt spent the 2012 season as the
linebackers coach at Texas
A&M. While at A&M, Wallerstedt worked along side offensive
coordinator and now Texas Tech Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury.
In
his first season at A&M, Wallerstedt helped the Aggies to an 11-2
season and a win over Oklahoma in the AT&T Cotton Bowl.
Wallerstedt
moved to Texas A&M from the U.S. Air Force Academy where he served
under Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun for four seasons. He coordinated
the Falcons' defense
and was the associate head coach the past two seasons after coaching the
inside linebackers and serving as assistant head coach in 2008-09. Air
Force faced Sumlin's Houston Cougars twice in bowl games during
Wallerstedt's time in Colorado Springs.
Prior
to his time at Air Force, Wallerstedt coached the linebackers at his
alma mater for two seasons (2006-07), while also serving the special
teams coordinator and
recruiting coordinator for the Wildcats.
He
began his coaching career in 1988 as a student assistant at Kansas
State and served two years as a graduate assistant at Arizona State
before taking a break from
coaching and entering private business. His first full-time coaching
position came at Fort Hays State for two years as a defensive line
coach. From Fort Hays State he went to Emporia State for one year as a
defensive backs coach and then landed at the University
of Wyoming for six seasons working with the defensive line and inside
linebackers. He was promoted to the Cowboys' defensive coordinator for
the 2000-02 seasons. Wallerstedt spent one year at North Alabama as the
defensive coordinator and two years at Akron
as associate head coach/special teams/inside linebackers coach.
A
1984 high school graduate from Manhattan High School in Kansas,
Wallerstedt was a four-year letterman at Kansas State leading the
Wildcats in tackles as a junior and
senior and earning honorable mention All-America honors as a linebacker
for KSU in 1987.
Wallerstedt
earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Kansas State
in 1988, and a master's degree in athletic administration from Fort Hays
State in 1995.
Wallerstedt is married to the former Josie Lewis of Lawrence, Kansas,
and the couple has a son named Cal.
Mike Smith, Co-Defensive Coordinator, Outside Linebackers
Mike
Smith, a 2004 graduate of Texas Tech, joins his alma mater from the
NFL's New York Jets and will coach outside linebackers and serve as
co-defensive coordinator.
Smith
returns to his alma mater after spending one season as the outside
linebackers coach and two years as a coaching intern with the Jets.
In
2012, Smith's linebackers recorded nine of the team's 30 sacks while
Calvin Pace finished seventh on the team with 55 total tackles.
Under
his guidance in 2011, free agent acquisition Aaron Maybin led the team
with six sacks and four forced fumbles in only 13 games of action.
Prior to his time with the Jets, Smith was the linebackers coach for the University of Hawaii for one season.
Smith,
a product of Lubbock Coronado High School, enjoyed a stellar career at
Texas Tech in which he made 45 career starts and played in 50 games.
Smith's career culminated
with an upset victory over then No. 4 California in the Holiday Bowl in
his senior season. As a senior, he led the Red Raiders with 83 total
tackles and earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades.
He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens and played two seasons (2005-2006) before his career was cut short
by injuries.
Kevin Curtis, Cornerbacks
Kevin Curtis, a 2002 graduate of Texas Tech, begins his first season as the cornerbacks coach at his alma mater.
Curtis joins the Texas Tech staff after spending three seasons as the cornerbacks coach under Sonny Dykes at Louisiana Tech.
In
2012, Curtis was part of one of the best teams ever fielded at
Louisiana Tech as the Bulldogs compiled a 9-3 overall record and earned
its highest-ever national ranking
at No. 22.
His
cornerbacks had anything but a "sophomore slump" in their second year
under his direction (2011) as Louisiana Tech's defense ranked third in
the nation in both interceptions
and pick-sixes. The highlight of those interceptions - and the
kick-start to winning at Utah State - was Terry Carter's 22-yard
interception return for a touchdown.
In his first season, the Bulldogs tallied 12 interceptions as Ryan Williams led the Tech cornerbacks with two.
Curtis joined the LA Tech staff in 2010 after serving two years at Navarro Junior College where he coached the secondary.
While
at Navarro, Curtis' teams went 21-2, won two conference championships
and were the 2009 C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl champions. Curtis'
teams were ranked first
in the country in interceptions and had five all-conference honorees
while he recruited the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and West Texas areas.
Curtis
was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Big 12 safety at Texas
Tech, playing for the Red Raiders when Dykes was on the Texas Tech
staff. After a successful
collegiate career, Curtis was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL
Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent three seasons. After
one year with the Houston Texans, Curtis played two years as the team
captain for the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe
before returning to the United States to coach.
Trey Haverty, Safeties
Trey Haverty, a 2004 graduate of Texas Tech, returns to his alma mater where he was an All-American receiver
and will coach safeties and serve as the special teams coordinator.
Haverty recently completed his fifth year overall at TCU and his first as the wide receivers coach.
He was the safeties coach in 2011.
In
his first season as receivers coach, Haverty played a lead role in
guiding the Horned Frogs through
their inaugural season as members of the Big 12 Conference. He tutored
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection Josh Boyce, who led the Horned
Frogs with 891 yards and seven touchdowns.
Haverty served as a Horned Frogs' graduate assistant from 2007-09. He spent one season as the defensive
coordinator at Millsaps College in 2010.
As
safeties coach in 2011, Haverty mentored Tekerrein Cuba into a
second-team All-Mountain West selection,
while redshirt freshman Jonathan Anderson had 17 tackles against BYU for
the most stops by a Horned Frog player in a game since 2004.
During
Haverty's time as a defensive graduate assistant at TCU, the Horned
Frogs led the nation in total
defense twice (2008-09). TCU was 23-3 in Haverty's final two seasons as a
graduate assistant. The 2009 campaign saw the Horned Frogs make their
first BCS appearance with a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
Haverty first arrived at TCU after serving as wide receivers coach at Cisco Junior College in 2006. His
first coaching position was at Midlothian High School in 2005.
During
his playing days, Haverty was an All-America wide receiver at Texas
Tech. As a senior for the
Red Raiders in 2004, Haverty led the Big 12 in receptions (77) while
placing second in receiving yards (1,019). He was a second-team
All-American by Sports Illustrated and a third-team Associated Press
pick. In his final collegiate game, he had eight receptions
for 147 yards in a 45-31 Holiday Bowl victory over California. Haverty
had 110 receptions for 1,326 yards and seven touchdowns in his Texas
Tech career (2001-04).
Haverty and his wife, Christy, were married in the summer of 2011.
Lee Hays, Offensive Line
Lee Hays begins his second coaching stint alongside Kliff Kingsbury and his first as offensive line coach at Texas Tech.
Hays
returns to the familiarity of West Texas where he spent three seasons
running the spread offense at West Texas A&M University. He comes
to Lubbock from Houston
where he just completed his second stint at the University of Houston in
2012.
The
Del Rio, Texas, native served as the assistant offensive line coach for
the Cougars in 2010 and enjoyed successful offensive coordinator stints
at Tarleton State
(2011), Baylor (2006-07) and West Texas A&M (2003-05). At each of
those stops his programs annually produced some of college football's
top offensive outputs, running the highly-successful "Air Raid", which
is currently run by the Houston Cougars.
It
was that work with UH's young offensive linemen in 2010 that helped
three first-year starters, Kevin Forsch (Honorable Mention All-C-USA),
Ty Cloud and Rowdy Harper
(Conference USA All-Freshman Team) make the transition to starters in
2011.
Widely
respected for his work along the offensive line, Hays has coached five
All-Americans, 26 First-Team All-Conference players, three conference
offensive Linemen
of the Year award winners, one Dave Rimington Award winner and two NFL
Draft picks. His coaching tenure has also helped produce five conference
championship teams and six NCAA Division II playoff entrants.
Hays'
background includes a near-decade stint with the United States Marine
Corps' 4th Reconnaissance Battalion (1987-96). He rose to the rank of
staff sergeant and
completed the Marine Corps' Sniper School. He served as a staff
noncommissioned officer and as a recon marine during his military
career.
Before
he entered the Marines, Hays played defensive end and linebacker at
Cisco Junior College for two years, then spent one year at Abilene
Christian. He then returned
to football and earned his bachelor's degree from Texas
A&M-Kingsville in 1996 and his master's degree from West Texas
A&M University in 2004.
From
2003-05, Hays was the architect of West Texas A&M's high-octane
spread offenses utilizing the Air Raid attack. West Texas A&M
enjoyed its most successful season
in 55 years in 2005, largely due to the success of Hays' offensive
creativity. The Buffaloes went 10-2 to record their first winning season
since 1998 (the program had won a combined seven games in the previous
four years) and post the school's first 10-win
campaign since 1950. Along the way, WTAMU won the Lone Star Conference
title with an 8-1 record, its first league championship since 1986, and
advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs for the first time in school
history where it lost in the quarterfinals.
The
2005 Buffalo offense led the NCAA Division II ranks in passing offense
at 363.8 yards per game, while ranking No. 7 in scoring offense (40.3
ppg) and No. 9 in total
offense (477.3 ypg). His 2005 offense set school records for completion
percentage (.669) and total yards per attempt (6.9 ypa).
He
then spent two years at Baylor, with BU averaging 23.6 points per game,
the team's best mark since 1996. The spread attack also allowed Baylor
to break almost every
school single-game and season passing record. The Bears were third in
the Big 12 and No. 11 nationally in passing yards per game (275.0).
Hays
most recently spent one season at Tarleton State, where the club
averaged 32.1 points and nearly 400 yards of offense per game (391.9).
Tarleton was one of the
most improved teams in NCAA Division II this year, doubling its win
total from 3-8 in 2010 to 6-5 in 2011. The offensive output was also a
huge benefactor of Hays' experience. Tarleton averaged just 21.5 points
per game the year before his arrival.
Hays and his wife, Roxanne, have a daughter, Shanlee, and a son, Cade.
Mike Jinks, Running Backs
Mike Jinks begins his first season at Texas Tech where he will be in charge of a talented crop of running backs.
One
of the top high school coaches in the state of Texas, Mike Jinks makes
his first move to the collegiate ranks under first year head coach Kliff
Kingsbury.
Jinks
joins the Texas Tech program after a highly successful tenure at Steele
High School in Cibolo, a suburb of San Antonio. Jinks was the first
head coach at Steele
when the school opened its doors back in 2005 and it didn't take long
for him to mold the program into a state powerhouse.
While
at Steele, he compiled a 76-18 overall record and an impressive 43-4
mark in his final three seasons. He led the Knights to the 2010 Class
5A Division II State
Championship and to the state finals again in 2011.
His
highly successful career (79-25 record) in Cibolo led to him to
receiving the honor of coaching the West Team in the U.S. Army
All-American Bowl in January 2013.
After
serving as a high school assistant coach and offensive coordinator at
five different schools, Jinks earned his first head coaching job at
Burbank High School in
2005.
Jinks was a two-year starting quarterback at Angelo State University where he earned his degree in Kinesiology.
John Scott Jr., Defensive Line
John
Scott Jr. begins his first season at Texas Tech where he will coach the
defensive line under defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt.
He
joins the Red Raiders after spending the last three seasons as special
teams coordinator and defensive line coach at Georgia Southern.
During
his time in Statesboro, Scott Jr., was part of three Georgia Southern
teams that advanced to the semifinals of the FCS (Football Championship
Subdivision) Playoffs
and mentored two All-Americans. Brent Russell, the career sack leader
at Georgia Southern, was named an All-American each of his three seasons
under Scott Jr.'s guidance.
In
2011, Russell anchored a defensive line, which also featured
All-American Roderick Tinsley and All-SoCon selection John Douglas.
Those two players combined for 158
tackles, 35 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.
In
2010 Russell, who was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award for the
nation's top defensive player at the Championship Subdivision level,
earned All-America accolades
from numerous entities as well as first-team All-SoCon defensive honors.
Scott
Jr. was named defensive line coach on the Eagles staff in January 2010
after four seasons coaching outside linebackers at Missouri State and
three years on the
football staff at Western Carolina. A 2000 graduate of Western Carolina
and four-year Catamount letterman, Scott returned to coach at his alma
mater in 2006. Scott was the defensive ends and outside linebackers
coach for two seasons (2006-07) and defensive
line coach for one (2008).
The
second-team All-Southern Conference pick at defensive end in 1998,
Scott Jr. registered 17 tackles for loss and in 1997, he had 59 tackles,
tops among defensive
linemen, in addition to 11 tackles for loss. His total of 31 tackles for
a loss ranks 10th all time in Western Carolina history.
After
earning his bachelor's degree in communications from Western Carolina,
Scott Jr. played three years of professional football, including two
years with the Greensboro
(N.C.) Prowlers of the Arena Football League 2. He was selected the
team's Defensive Player of the Year in 2000. While in North Carolina in
2001, Scott Jr. gained coaching experience at the high school level as
defensive line coach at Lexington, N.C.'s West
Davidson High School.
Scott
Jr. then went to Louisiana-Lafayette as a graduate assistant for two
years, serving as a defensive line graduate assistant. As defensive line
coach at Norfolk
State for the 2005 season, Scott Jr. helped the Spartans achieve a No.
12 national ranking in passing defense. That season, Norfolk State
allowed just over 158 yards per game.
The Greer, S.C., native attended the NCAA's Minority Coaches Academy in 2008 after being selected from a pool of 400 applicants.
Scott
Jr. completed his master's degree in education at Louisiana-Lafayette
in 2006. He and his wife, Stephanie, also a graduate of WCU, are the
parents of a son, John
III, and daughter, Juliette.
Chad Dennis, Head Football Strength & Conditioning Coach
Chad Dennis begins his first season at Texas Tech as the head strength and conditioning coach for Red
Raider Football.
Dennis
joins the Red Raiders after one year at Texas A&M where he served
as an assistant strength and
conditioning coach under Larry Jackson. While with the Aggies in 2012,
he played a key role in A&M's 11-2 season and win in the AT&T
Cotton Bowl.
Dennis returned to Aggieland in 2012 after spending the seven previous seasons as the Assistant Director
of Sports Performance at the University of Houston and the 2005-06 campaign at the University of Connecticut.
In his first stint in College Station, from 2002-05, Dennis worked with the Aggies' football and men's
and women's basketball teams while also overseeing the three-time national champion A&M equestrian team.
Before
arriving in College Station, Dennis worked at Westfield High School in
Spring, Texas, from 2000-02,
where he served as an assistant football coach and directed the team's
strength and conditioning program. Dennis spent the six years prior to
that appointment working as a physical therapy technician at several
occupational health care facilities.
A
native of Baytown, Texas, Dennis graduated from the University of Texas
in 1993, with a bachelor's
degree in kinesiology. He earned a master's degree in kinesiology from
Texas A&M in 2005. Dennis is certified by both the National Strength
and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and College Strength and
Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). While an undergraduate
at UT, Dennis was a member of the football team. He played tight end for
his first two seasons but, hampered by injuries, spent his final two
seasons in Austin working as a student assistant strength and
conditioning coach.
Dennis and his wife, Melynda, have a son, Coleman.
