Its hard to mention Texas Tech without thinking of the wide open, devil may care type of offense made famous by Mike Leach and his original trigger man, Kliff Kingsbury.
Kliff has returned to West Texas as the head coach, but in his heart, he never really left.
Matt: "Whats the thing you missed the most?"
Kliff: "I think just the people in general. Ive said it a bunch of times, theyre just so Kind and caring and make you feel wanted. Ive lived a bunch of different places and never really felt that, anywhere but here in west Texas."
With all of the turmoil and turnover in the Head Coaches Office, Texas Tech has the guy, who has his dream job.
Matt: "The First Time you were contacted by Texas Tech, what was that feeling like?"
Kliff: "Excited, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to come back here, this early in my career, and really take control of this program. I knew that if they were going to be kind enough to offer me the job, I would be all over it."
Kliff's only knock, coming in is his age, just 33 years old, but what Kliff lacks in Coaching experience, he makes up for with the top flight schooling he has received from some of the best coaches and players to ever play the game...
Matt: "You practiced with a guy like Tom Brady, and played under Coach Belichick. What was it like playing with those guys, and playing under those guys?"
Kliff: "Yeah incredible, Coach Belichick, Ive never seen a more thorough person/ coach in my life. Every stone was unturned every week. Any situation youd see on Sundays youd seen eight times during the week, hes an incredible coach. And then Tom Bradys work ethic, I thought I worked hard until I got there, and the way he works each and every day, and gives to the game, its incredible. Both of those guys had a huge impact early, to show me, ok this is how - if you want to be great, this is the steps you have to take."
One of his first tasks as head coach, is to get a group of players he didnt recruit, to buy into his system, which is something he can easily relate to
Matt: "You switched over from Spike, to Mike Leach, what can you offer these players, since you went through something similar when you were here?"
Kliff: "I think its just about loving your university, and coaches are going to come and go but you came here for a reason and its the university, and not that particular coach. So, keep striving to be your best, and do your best and the rest will take care of itself."
But Kingsbury is also taking over a team with a fractured fan base, with a bad taste in their mouth from the last 3 seasons...
Matt: "Watching this from afar, with Tuberville, and you, as an alum, as a person who helped build this; what was it like watching that from afar?"
Kliff: "You know, I think we just wanted everyone back on the same page. I think that this place is so special, and all the Red Raiders throughout the state, and throughout the country, have a special bond. Were kind of out here, were a little bit farther away than most cities and most universities are and I think people take pride in that. To see that division, it just kind of went away from the Red Raider spirit, and to have everybody back pulling in the same direction will be huge for this University."
His only problem now, having to go up against the high scoring offenses he and his coaches originated.
Matt: "You see these offenses, I mean, a lot of them, youre going to have to go up against next year. But a lot these offenses are putting up crazy types of numbers and you guys were really at the forefront of that. How cool is it to see that manifest itself in college football these days?"
Kliff: "Yeah, its pretty wild. You know, coach Briles was the running backs coach for three years when I was here and they led the country in offense. And then youve got Oklahoma State who, Dana took our offense there and then in West Virginia, Danas running this offense so the ties are pretty wild in this conference and everybody is scoring a bunch of points, and throwing for a bunch of yards. To kind of, be at the beginning of that and changing the game was an awesome experience."
Well, his only problem on the field that is.
Matt: "Does it get old for you? Trying to go to the Grocery store or something and youre running into a million fans who want your picture?"
Kliff: "No, cause it beats the alternative. So I always look at that side of it. Like I said, Im thrilled to death with all of the energy in the city, and the vibe thats here about Texas Tech, so just very thankful to be apart of it."
And that should make for some more exciting West Texas Saturday Nights.
Kliff has returned to West Texas as the head coach, but in his heart, he never really left.
Matt: "Whats the thing you missed the most?"
Kliff: "I think just the people in general. Ive said it a bunch of times, theyre just so Kind and caring and make you feel wanted. Ive lived a bunch of different places and never really felt that, anywhere but here in west Texas."
With all of the turmoil and turnover in the Head Coaches Office, Texas Tech has the guy, who has his dream job.
Matt: "The First Time you were contacted by Texas Tech, what was that feeling like?"
Kliff: "Excited, I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to come back here, this early in my career, and really take control of this program. I knew that if they were going to be kind enough to offer me the job, I would be all over it."
Kliff's only knock, coming in is his age, just 33 years old, but what Kliff lacks in Coaching experience, he makes up for with the top flight schooling he has received from some of the best coaches and players to ever play the game...
Matt: "You practiced with a guy like Tom Brady, and played under Coach Belichick. What was it like playing with those guys, and playing under those guys?"
Kliff: "Yeah incredible, Coach Belichick, Ive never seen a more thorough person/ coach in my life. Every stone was unturned every week. Any situation youd see on Sundays youd seen eight times during the week, hes an incredible coach. And then Tom Bradys work ethic, I thought I worked hard until I got there, and the way he works each and every day, and gives to the game, its incredible. Both of those guys had a huge impact early, to show me, ok this is how - if you want to be great, this is the steps you have to take."
One of his first tasks as head coach, is to get a group of players he didnt recruit, to buy into his system, which is something he can easily relate to
Matt: "You switched over from Spike, to Mike Leach, what can you offer these players, since you went through something similar when you were here?"
Kliff: "I think its just about loving your university, and coaches are going to come and go but you came here for a reason and its the university, and not that particular coach. So, keep striving to be your best, and do your best and the rest will take care of itself."
But Kingsbury is also taking over a team with a fractured fan base, with a bad taste in their mouth from the last 3 seasons...
Matt: "Watching this from afar, with Tuberville, and you, as an alum, as a person who helped build this; what was it like watching that from afar?"
Kliff: "You know, I think we just wanted everyone back on the same page. I think that this place is so special, and all the Red Raiders throughout the state, and throughout the country, have a special bond. Were kind of out here, were a little bit farther away than most cities and most universities are and I think people take pride in that. To see that division, it just kind of went away from the Red Raider spirit, and to have everybody back pulling in the same direction will be huge for this University."
His only problem now, having to go up against the high scoring offenses he and his coaches originated.
Matt: "You see these offenses, I mean, a lot of them, youre going to have to go up against next year. But a lot these offenses are putting up crazy types of numbers and you guys were really at the forefront of that. How cool is it to see that manifest itself in college football these days?"
Kliff: "Yeah, its pretty wild. You know, coach Briles was the running backs coach for three years when I was here and they led the country in offense. And then youve got Oklahoma State who, Dana took our offense there and then in West Virginia, Danas running this offense so the ties are pretty wild in this conference and everybody is scoring a bunch of points, and throwing for a bunch of yards. To kind of, be at the beginning of that and changing the game was an awesome experience."
Well, his only problem on the field that is.
Matt: "Does it get old for you? Trying to go to the Grocery store or something and youre running into a million fans who want your picture?"
Kliff: "No, cause it beats the alternative. So I always look at that side of it. Like I said, Im thrilled to death with all of the energy in the city, and the vibe thats here about Texas Tech, so just very thankful to be apart of it."
And that should make for some more exciting West Texas Saturday Nights.
