TDs “Very athletic receiver with good hands”

Kingsbury needs raiders to excel

Coaches in college football need a little bit of time to recruit their type of guys when they first take over a program.

That is no different in Lubbock, where Texas Tech enters its third season under young Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury—he turns 36 on Aug. 9—who once dazzled with his arm as the quarterback of the Red Raiders from 1998 to 2002.

Kingsbury set 59 overall records during his four years in Lubbock—39 school records, 13 Big 12 Conference records and seven FBS records—as he completed 65 percent of his passes for 12,423 yards with 95 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.

But Kingsbury is not in control in the huddle anymore, as he has traded in the helmet for a headset.

Kingsbury began his coaching career in Houston in 2008, where he served as offensive quality control coach through the 2009 season. He was named co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Cougars after then-offensive coordinator

Branden Jackson

Defensive Lineman

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Dana Holgorsen was hired to serve the same role at Oklahoma State prior to the 2010 season.

Kingsbury remained in that role for two years before moving on to Texas A&M, where he was hired as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2012. After that one year calling plays for the Aggies, Kingsbury returned home to Lubbock in 2013 as head coach at TTU after Tommy Tuberville resigned and accepted the head-coaching position at Cincinnati.

The beginning of Kingsbury’s head-coaching career could not have gone any better. Tech went 7-0 in their first seven games of 2013, but they lost their final five games of the regular season, and they ended up 4-5 in conference play.

However, the Red Raiders ended the year on a good note, defeating Arizona State, 37-23, in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Calif.

However, 2014 was a nightmare for everyone involved, as the Red and Black struggled to a 4-8 record and a 2-7 conference record. Multiple injuries derailed the squad and, plain and simple, Texas Tech was ineffective all around, especially defensively.

The Red Raiders surrendered an unacceptable 41.2 points per game last year, and they gave up 513.4 yards per game, including 260.2 yards on average on the ground.

If TTU is to rebound from an atrocious 2014, the defense is going to have to improve—a lot. If they can even manage to be a middle-of-the-pack unit,