'What-ifs' will define Kliff Kingsbury's tenure at Texas Tech
It’s over.
The Grand Experiment failed.
Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury era began as an unconventional swing for the fences with a beloved figure from the program’s past. It ended with a thud six years later, with Kingsbury’s deep reservoir of goodwill depleted after three-straight middling seasons and minimal tangible progress.
Kingsbury’s time as head coach featured highs – a 7-0 start to the 2013 season, virtuoso performances from Patrick Mahomes, a cathartic rout of Oklahoma State in 2018 – and many lows, but to me the last six seasons will largely be defined by the what-ifs.
The could-have-gone-either-way, what-if moments that mostly, but not always, went Texas Tech’s way under Mike Leach – John Pierson’s two missed PATs in the 2002 Texas A&M game, coming back from three-score deficits in back-to-back weeks in 2004, the Le’Kevin Smith fumble in the 2005 Nebraska game, Blake Gideon’s dropped interception in the 2008 Texas game, nine-straight seasons without a single missed quarterback start – usually, but not always, broke the other way under Kingsbury.
What if Michael Brewer didn’t injure his back in the summer leading up to the 2013 season? What if Baker Mayfield hadn’t sustained a knee injury against Kansas in 2013? What if Patrick Mahomes hadn’t been knocked out of the game against Texas in 2014? What if Texas Tech’s two-point try was successful against Baylor in 2014? What if Aaron Green didn’t catch the tipped pass at the end of the 2015 TCU game? What if the Red Raiders converted the PAT against Oklahoma State in 2016? What if Texas Tech connected on a 23-yard FG to close the first half in the 2017 West Virginia game? What if the Red Raiders converted a 31-yard FG attempt against Kansas State in 2017? What if Alan Bowman didn’t sustain a partially collapsed lung against West Virginia this season?
I don’t know how you quantify that. There’s no simple, clean explanation. It would be a lot easier to break down the last six seasons if there was. Maybe it’s coaching or talent or pure dumb luck. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. Maybe it’s just sports.
We will never know what Kingsbury’s tenure could have been, only what it was. And in the end, all we know is that it wasn’t good enough.
