Kliff Kingsbury spent the first part of Friday morning meeting his new team before making the trek over to the United Spirit Arena to be officially introduced as the Red Raiders new head football coach.

He was probably more comfortable in the football team meeting room where he could talk candidly.

"I can't say exactly what I said because it would not be appropriate," Kingsbury said. "But I was just letting them know how proud and humbled I was to be back at the university that I love. This is, like I said to you all, this is a personal deal for me. This is a huge opportunity. But even more so to get back to this place and try to make this place great, which is what it deserves. It means the world."

The timing of Friday's conference came into play, and considering the audience, being appropriate was the key.

Friday marked the first day of winter graduation ceremonies at the university so the arena was already decked out in the school's red and black banners and had a stage placed at the north end of it to give the event a more academic feel than would have been the norm. Additionally, the university's winter Board of Regents meetings have been on campus so they were in attendance.

That didn't mean the 33-year-old couldn't have some fun with a crowd ecstatic to have a Tech graduate coaching the team but also somewhat insulted former head coach Tommy Tuberville bolted for what they perceive a lower profile job at the University of Cincinnati six days ago.

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