Texas Tech football fans were already losing patience with head coach Kliff Kingsbury but after his complaints about fans leaving this week’s loss to Texas early, it appears that the rift between coach and fan base is only widening.
Six years ago, when Kliff Kingsbury was hired as Texas Tech football head coach, fans were so excited that hundreds gathered at Memorial Circle to celebrate the news as the victory bells rang from atop the administration building. But now, that relationship has soured to the point that Kingsbury is openly complaining about the fans in the media.
Following the Red Raiders’ 41-34 loss to Texas Saturday night in Lubbock, Kingsbury was asked his opinion about fans leaving early, especially once the Longhorns took a 34-17 lead in the 14 quarter. His response was uncharacteristically biting and sarcastic.
"“That’s kind of par for the course right now with our fans,” Kingsbury said. “We’ve got to win, and they’ve got to stick around.”"
It wasn’t the first time this year that Jones Stadium has been more than half-empty after halftime as crowds departed en masse in the second half of every home game this year. Some fans complain about the weather (whether it be the heat in September or the wind chill in the 30’s Saturday night), others point to Tech’s horrible home record under Kingsbury while still others say that they do not stay because they can’t buy beer in Jones Stadium.
But regardless of why the fans are leaving, Kingsbury seems to be fed up with seeing home games played in front of sparse second-half crowds. While his feelings are understandable and somewhat warranted, taking a public shot at the fans is not a wise move for a coach squarely on the hot seat.
Kingsbury’s team has had three opportunities (West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas) to win back the home fans by scoring a win over a ranked Big 12 rival this year and on all three occasions, Tech has come up short. In fact, the last time fans at Jones stadium saw a win over a Big 12 team not named Kansas was in November of 2015.
Therefore, it is easy to see why those in attendance have such little staying power, especially when the Red Raiders fall behind by multiple scores as they did against West Virginia and Texas. But after the most recent fan exodus, Kingsbury put more of the blame on the crowd than he has after other games when he has simply said that his team has to give fans a reason to stay in their seats.
While he did echo that sentiment again this week, he let his frustrations with the fan base come to the surface for the first time in his tenure. That is not a wise move for a coach trying to hold on to the most tenuous of grasps on a job at his alma mater.
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Perhaps Kingsbury would be wise to take page from Texas Tech head basketball coach Chris Beard who has had to deal with the issue of paltry attendance at United Supermarkets Arena since his arrival in 2015. To connect with fans, Beard has gone out of his way to thank the fans, especially the students, after each home game regardless of how many or how few came through the doors.
What’s more, he has made repeated attempts to connect with the Red Raider faithful including an offer to help fans that can’t afford tickets and offering a gift to season ticket holders who use their tickets for at least 90% of this season’s games.
Certainly, Kingsbury can’t take those measures with a 60,000 seat football stadium but he should take a crash course in public relations from the most charismatic and beloved coach on campus. Already reclusive and enigmatic, Kingsbury has not been as much of the fiber of the community as Beard.
Whereas Beard has become a William Wallace type figure to the Red Raider fan base, Kingsbury has become the West Texas Phantom of the Opera whose appearances in the community (outside of Jones Stadium) are so fleeting and rare that they have become the Lubbock version of a Bigfoot sighting.
And perhaps the biggest lesson Kingsbury should learn from his colleague is that winning cures all ills, especially attendance. When Beard arrived, he was lucky to fill the lower bowl of the arena for even the biggest conference games. But after an Elite 8 run last season, Texas Tech basketball is selling season tickets in the upper levels of the U.S.A. in a town where basketball is traditionally an afterthought.
By contrast, after six years with a losing overall record, Kingsbury has still had back to back crowds of over 58,000 fans come to see his team play. But rather than thanking the fans for coming, Kingsbury has decided to complain about the fact that they did not fight through blustery conditions to watch another moral victory. I hate to say it but that sounds like something we would have expected from Kingsbury’s predecessor, not from Lubbock’s one-time favorite son.
As I exited the stadium for the final time in 2018 Saturday night, I heard multiple pockets of fans chanting “Fire Kliff” and “Kingsbury Sucks”, which was something I had not heard before (and I’ve been to every Kingsbury home game). What’s more, this season, the boo-birds have increased as the season has progressed and fans continue to grow more and more bitter about this program’s lack of progress under the current staff.
Certainly, Kingsbury is aware of the public’s devolving opinion of him. That’s why any negative comments about the fans are going to only make the problem worse and why his comments were so surprising.
The Texas Tech football team and its head coach will not return to Jones Stadium for 292 days and I would still put my money on Kliff Kingsbury being the head coach the next time they follow the Masked Rider onto the field. But if Kingsbury continues to alienate the fan base, one must wonder just how many fans will be there to see it, much less how many will stick around for an entire game.