As we continue to look back at the history of Texas Tech athletics during the Big 12 era, let’s look at the worst coaches to lead the Red Raiders since 1996.
Recently, we took time to look back at the 10 best Texas Tech coaches of the Big 12 era as the conference celebrates its 25th anniversary. But as the old saying goes, there are two sides to every coin.
While there have been some legendary head coaches and memorable characters to lead the Red Raiders in since 1925, there have also been some truly abysmal head coaches. Before we look at those from the last quarter-century, let’s look at some of the all-time worst.
In football, the worst Texas Tech head coach who was at the helm for more than one season was Jerry Moore. From 1981-85, the man who played his college football at Baylor put up just a .309 winning percentage. In his five years at Tech, he went a dismal 16-37-1 and the best he ever managed was a 4-7 record, which he produced three times.
The worst winning percentage by a Red Raider basketball coach who was in place for multiple seasons belongs to the first coach in program history, Grady Higginbotham. From 1925-27, he mustered just a 14-18 record (.438).
Interestingly, Higginbotham also has the worst winning percentage of any Texas Tech baseball head coach. From 1928-29, his program went just 10-17 (.370).
Fortunately for Mr. Higginbotham, his reputation is not going to be all that sullied by his team’s struggles as he was one of the pioneers of Tech athletics. But the same can’t be said of the men and women on this list. So let’s go inside the countdown of the worst Texas Tech coaches of the Big 12 era starting with the seventh-worst, who also happens to be one of the school’s greatest alums.