Counting Down The Best Wins Of The Kliff Kingsbury Era

Looking back at the best wins of Kliff Kingsbury’s time as Texas Tech head coach including the time he threw shade at an opposing coach, ended a two-decade drought and pulled off one of the biggest bowl upsets in program history.

The Kliff Kingsbury Era is about to enter its sixth season.  It is safe to say that Kingsbury’s 30-33 record is disappointing to most Texas Tech football fans as the first-time head coach has endured a number of growing pains since 2013.

Those growing pains should come as no surprise because when Kingsbury was handed the job at Texas Tech (one of the most difficult coaching jobs in the country), he had been the coaching game just five years.  And perhaps that is why athletic director Kirby Hocutt has been especially patient with the former Red Raider quarterback.

But the fan base in general lacks Hocutt’s patience and many Red Raider fans are skeptical about whether Lubbock’s favorite son can get the program turned around in 2018.  But, the Kingsbury era has not been devoid of positives.

In fact, Kingsbury made history in his first season (2013) by taking his team into the top-25 after just three games, the fastest for any first-year head coach.  That season, his Red Raiders reached No. 10 in the polls as he became the first Big 12 head coach to begin his career 7-0.

Kingsbury has taken Texas Tech to three bowl games, making him just the sixth of 15 head coaches in Texas Tech football history to do so.  He has also coached eight NFL Draft picks in his first five seasons, three more than Texas Tech produced in the previous five seasons.

So the Kingsbury hiring has not been the unmitigated disaster that many fans and the national media often make it out to be.  Kingsbury has had some nice wins and big moments.  Here’s a countdown of the best.