How Much Can Kliff Kingsbury Help The Texas Tech Defense?

After failing to find an assistant coach able to revive the Texas Tech defense, head coach Kliff Kingsbury is making it a point to get more involved with the other side of the ball but will that make a tangible difference?

My grandfather often said that “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Now, in year five of his tenure at Texas Tech, it appears Kliff Kingsbury is going to put that adage to use when it comes to fixing the putrid Texas Tech defense.

The former quarterback and offensive coordinator mas made his name as the architect of some of the most prolific offenses in college football. However, as a head coach he has failed to pay as much attention to the defense even though defensive ineptitude is what has been his team’s most fatal flaw and could ultimately cost him his job.

But in Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt’s press conference after the 2016 season finale, he emphatically said that he expected Kingsbury to be more involved with all facets of the team moving forward, especially the defense. So far this spring, the team is noticing the difference.

"“He’s in our meetings every day. We watch film every day” defensive coordinator David Gibbs told the “Lubbock Avalanche-Journal” “Lubbock Avalanche-Journal”."

Additionally, during last Saturday’s spring game broadcast, Texas Tech football radio color analyst John Harris said that Kingsbury has been alternating practice sessions between coaching the offense and the defense.

While this idea seems to be positive, one must wonder why it took the head coach so long to make the defense a priority. After all, he played for one of the greatest defensive-minded head coaches in NFL history, Bill Belichick in 2003.

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Indeed, his college coach, Mike Leach was notorious for treating the defense as an afterthought and most of the people Kingsbury credits as mentors (chiefly Dana Holgerson, Kevin Sumlin and Art Briles) are offensive-minded coaches. Still, he had to have seen how coaches like Belichick and Sean Peyton (for whom he played in 2004 as a member of the New Orleans Saints practice squad) treated every aspect of the team like priorities.

It is hard to fathom why Kingsbury has stood by and watched his defense continually cause his team to suffer while staying out of the defensive meeting rooms. Now, fans must wonder if the cows are too far out of the barn.

Has four years of defensive futility created a culture in the Texas Tech locker room that cannot be fixed in time to help Kingsbury reverse his fortunes? For now, some of the defensive players are happy with the change.

"“I know a lot of guys have been talking about it,” safety Jah’Shawn Johnson told the “Avalanche-Journal” . “They’ve been liking it, actually were surprised when he first came out there and came to the defensive side. They were like, ‘What is he doing?’ But he’s been a big help to us.”"

What Kingsbury is most likely to bring to the defense is not necessarily a strategic advantage. Gibbs knows more than enough about designing successful college defenses.

Rather, the most debonair coach in college football should be able to instill some confidence and swagger in a downtrodden group that has known nothing but failure. Kingsbury was hired in large part because it was thought his panache would become the overriding trademark of the program.

Starting quarterback Nick Shimonek (who is not short on confidence in his own right) sees a benefit in Kingsbury’s renewed focus on the defense.

"“It’s a confidence thing. If you’ve got the head man in your corner, you’re going to be more willing to play harder, play faster with more sense of urgency if you’ve got him to impress. Obviously, you’ve got the defensive coaches, but you’ve got the main boss to impress, if you will” he told the “A-J”."

However, confidence may not be enough. At some point, the defense needs to add more talent to the roster.

No matter how hard one tries, a donkey cannot be turned into a thoroughbred. Likewise, the Red Raider defense is not soon to join the ranks to the game’s elite units until Kingsbury and staff bring better players to Lubbock. This year’s unit will face a talent deficit in comparison to most Big 12 opponents.

All the swagger and chest pumping are great during spring practices and the offseason but when the defense is punched in the mouth this fall, will it finally have the players capable of responding? This unit is frightfully young and unproven, especially on the defensive line and Kingsbury’s designer shades and custom suits can’t change that.

Thus, any progress made is likely to be incremental. But at least Kliff Kingsbury now seems to understand the importance of making the defense a priority. Furthermore, he humbly admits that he’s failed the defense over the past four years.

"“I just try to own it, because at the end of the day, any decision made ultimately falls on me,” he said to ESPN.com . “I understand that. There were decisions made — whether it be the hiring process or recruiting or numbers-wise — that I screwed up. We paid the cost for that a couple times over the past few years.“I can still call plays and we can still score points, but a lot of that stuff, I made mistake after mistake and it cost us the past couple years in some areas on defense”"

Next: Observations From The Texas Tech Spring Game

Kliff Kingsbury seems to finally have learned how important it is to be a true head coach rather than just an offensive guru occupying the big office. Let’s just hope this revelation did not come too late to help him turn this program around.

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