Looking Back: How first-year Texas Tech coaches have fared

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Matt Wells has been introduced as Texas Tech's 16th full-time head football coach. Much like every first-year head coach, in Lubbock or elsewhere, he inherits a roster with talent and flaws and will be expected to put an improved product on the field.

How have his Red Raider predecessors done? We look back at how each full-time Texas Tech coach fared in their first season.

Freeland, who had coached football teams at TCU, Millsaps and SMU, was the first head football coach (and baseball coach) in program history. He led the Matadors, as they were known back then, in the university's very first football game, a 0-0 tie against the McMurray Indians. A Texas Tech field goal made at the very end of the game was taken off the board after the officials ruled time had stopped just before the ball was snapped. Freeland ended the 1925 season with a record of 6-1-2 with wins over Wayland (120-0) and West Texas State (13-12) and a tie with Austin College, 3-3. He is also credited with designing Texas Tech's Double T logo.

Higgonbotham's first (and only) season as head coach did not go well. The Matadors' lone win of the season came in the opener against Wayland Baptist, but that was as good as it got in 1929. Texas Tech tied with Sul Ross State (7-7) and McMurry (0-0) and dropped the rest of their games. The Matadors' offense scored just 10 points over the last nine games of the season - seven against Sul Ross State and three against Abilene Christian.

Cawthon's tenure on the South Plains lasted a decade, but his first campaign with the Matadors was not a dramatic improvement from Higginbotham's season. Texas Tech finished the 1930 season with a 3-6 record, with wins over New Mexico State (14-0), McMurry (10-0) and Abilene Christian (53-6). The Matadors' offense still struggled at times, as they were shutout in losses to Wayland Baptist, Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy (now known as UTEP), TCU and West Texas State.

Morgan's nine-win debut season remains the best of any first-year Texas Tech coach. The Red Raiders won their first five games by a combined score of 124-6 before suffering their only loss of the regular season, a 6-0 road setback to Miami (Fla.). Morgan led the program to a Border Conference championship and its third bowl berth ever. He remains the standard by which all first-year Texas Tech coaches are judged.

While Weaver's first season on the South Plains didn't match the success of Morgan's, it was still a promising debut. The Red Raiders finished the 1951 season with a 7-4 record and the program's first-ever bowl victory, a 25-14 decision over Pacific in the Sun Bowl. Morgan led Texas Tech to notable wins over Arizona (41-0) and TCU (33-19), with losses to Houston (6-0), No. 10 Baylor (40-20), No. 6 Texas A&M (20-7) and Tulsa (21-14).

King’s first season as head coach, the program's second as a member of the Southwest Conference, was the first time in 30 years that a Texas Tech coach had debuted with a losing campaign. While King's first year was a disappointment, he did collect notable wins over TCU (10-0), Boston College (14-6) and Baylor (19-17). The Red Raiders opened the season with three-straight losses to Mississippi State, No. 6 Texas and Texas A&M, and also lost to SMU, Rice and No. 9 Arkansas. Doug Cannon led the 1961 Red Raiders in passing (37-of-77 for 442 yards, 1 TD, 6 INT), while Coolidge Hunt led the team on the ground with 486 yards and four touchdowns.

Carlen's first season came during a competitive, if somewhat unremarkable, stretch for the program. The Red Raiders entered the 1970 season having suffered through just one losing season in their last seven, but just one of those campaigns featured more than six wins. Carlen led Texas Tech to an eight-win season that included wins over Texas A&M - continuing a winning streak against the Aggies that would last six seasons - and TCU. The Red Raiders finished the season third in the Southwest Conference, behind Texas and Arkansas, and earned a berth in the Sun Bowl. Charles Napper led the 1970 Red Raiders in passing (86-of-155 for 979 yards, 9 TD and 11 INT) while Doug McCutchen led the way on the ground with 1,068 yards and three scores.

Following Carlen's departure for South Carolina following the 1974 season, Texas Tech hired Sloan away from Vanderbilt. Sloan is one of three coaches in program history, along with David McWilliams and Mike Leach, to never have a losing season as head coach of the Red Raiders. He started off with a 6-5 mark in 1975 that featured a six wins over unranked opponents, including Florida State, and five losses to ranked teams. Tommy Duniven led the team in passing in 1975 with 1,038 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions, while Larry Isaac led the way on the ground with 751 yards and five scores.

Dockery was elevated from offensive coordinator to head coach after Sloan left the South Plains after the 1977 season for Ole Miss. While the Red Raiders were outscored on the season by a combined total of 268-246, the team still posted a 7-4 record and finished fourth in the Southwest Conference. Texas Tech notched back-to-back wins over ranked opponents that November, beating No. 18 SMU 19-16 and No. 5 Houston 22-21. Dockery was named the Southwest Conference Coach of the Year that season. Ron Reeves threw for 1,195 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions in 1978, while Southwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year James Hadnot logged 1,369 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Moore's tenure as Texas Tech's head coach is widely considered to be the lowest point in the program's history, and his debut season is a great example of why. The Red Raiders' lone win in 1981 was against New Mexico, and even that was a one-possession fight. Four of Texas Tech's nine losses were by eight points or less, including a one-point loss to Texas A&M. The Red Raiders' highest-scoring game was its lone tie, 39-39, with TCU. Reeves threw for 1,376 yards, seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions that season, while Anthony Hutchison led the way on the ground with 545 yards and six touchdowns.

McWilliams' first season on the South Plains was also his last, as he left to coach the Texas Longhorns at the end of the regular season. Texas Tech opened up 1986 with a win over Kansas State in Lubbock but dropped three of its next four games - all to ranked teams - to fall to 2-3 in mid-October. McWilliams' Red Raiders won five of their final six games, including a 17-7 road win over No. 8 Arkansas, to finish 7-4 and earn an Independence Bowl berth. Billy Joe Tolliver threw for 1,602 yards, four touchdowns and 13 interceptions as a sophomore that season, while James Gray led the team in rushing with 613 yards and four scores as a freshman.

Dykes, who was McWilliams' defensive coordinator and coached the Red Raiders in the 1986 Independence Bowl, took over the program on a full-time basis for the 1987 season.Texas Tech opened the season with a 40-16 loss to No. 8 Florida State in Tallahassee, but bounced back with five wins in seven games. Dykes' most notable win in his debut campaign was a 27-21 victory over No. 15 Texas A&M - his first of six victories over the Aggies - in front of 42,625 fans at Jones Stadium. Tolliver threw for 1,422 yards, seven touchdowns and 13 interceptions as a junior, while Gray churned out 1,006 yards and 12 scores on the ground.

Following Dykes' retirement at the end of the 1999 season, Texas Tech hired Leach after Clemson offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez pulled his name out of consideration. Leach's first season on the South Plains was also his worst, as the Red Raiders' six losses were the most since 1994 and the team's fourth-place Big 12 South finish was its lowest ever up to that point. Texas Tech won four of its first five games that season but closed out the season with five losses in its last seven, including a 40-27 loss to East Carolina in the GalleryFurniture.com Bowl. Kliff Kingsbury, in his first full season as the starter, threw for 3,418 yards, 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.

Tuberville, the former long-time Auburn coach, was tabbed as the program's head football coach after the dismissal of Leach in 2009. The Red Raiders collected notable wins over No. 14 Missouri, Baylor and Houston but weren't very competitive in their losses and finished fifth in the Big 12 South for the first time ever. Taylor Potts led the way at quarterback with for 3,726 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Baron Batch ran for 816 yards and five touchdowns, while Lyle Leong had 926 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.

Kingsbury, who had just wrapped up his first season as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator, was hired to replace Tuberville in December 2012. His first season as Texas Tech's head coach turned out to be his most successful, as the team won its first seven games - including victories over No. 24 TCU and West Virginia - and climbed as high as No. 10 in the AP Top 25. The wheels came off for the Red Raiders late in the year and they closed out the regular season with five-straight losses. Texas Tech rebounded in the Holiday Bowl, upsetting No. 16 Arizona State. Davis Webb and Baker Mayfield each started multiple games at quarterback, with Webb throwing for 2,718 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions while Mayfield added 2,315 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Tight end Jace Amaro earned unanimous All-American honors after catching 106 passes for 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns.