Kliff Kingsbury
Kliff Kingsbury went 35–40 as a head coach, 2013–2018, at Texas Tech. Share
- Record
- 35–40 career
- Seasons
- 6
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Aug 9, 1979
- Alma mater
- Texas Tech 2001
- Best season
- 2013 8–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Texas Tech | 8–5 | 6th | Holiday Bowl W | ||
| 2014 | Texas Tech | 4–8 | 8th | |||
| 2015 | Texas Tech | 7–6 | T–5th | Texas Bowl L | ||
| 2016 | Texas Tech | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 2017 | Texas Tech | 6–7 | 8th | Birmingham Bowl L | ||
| 2018 | Texas Tech | 5–7 | T–7th |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
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Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 25 | 3–22 | 12% |
| Against top-10 teams | 7 | 0–7 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 22 | 9–13 | 41% |
| Conference games | 54 | 19–35 | 35% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 25 | 10–15 | 40% |
| At home | 36 | 18–18 | 50% |
| On the road | 29 | 14–15 | 48% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 3–7 | 30% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 31 | 22–9 | 71% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 44 | 13–31 | 30% |
His own 75 games on file, 2013–2018, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Patterson 2013–2018 | 3–3 | TCU | 6 | |
| Bill Snyder 2013–2018 | 1–5 | Kansas State | 6 | |
| Dana Holgorsen 2013–2018 | 1–5 | West Virginia | 6 | |
| Mike Gundy 2013–2018 | 1–5 | Oklahoma State | 6 | |
| David Beaty 2015–2018 | 4–0 | Kansas | 4 | |
| Charlie Strong 2014–2017 | 1–3 | Texas, South Florida | 4 | |
| Bob Stoops 2013–2016 | 0–4 | Oklahoma | 4 | |
| Paul Rhoads 2013–2015 | 3–0 | Iowa State | 3 | |
| Todd Graham 2013–2017 | 2–1 | Arizona State | 3 | |
| Art Briles 2013–2015 | 0–3 | Baylor | 3 |
Kliff Kingsbury’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Kansasseries | 6 | 6–0 |
| Iowa Stateseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| TCUseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Baylorseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Texasseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Oklahoma Stateseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| West Virginiaseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Kansas Stateseries | 6 | 1–5 |
Also a player: Kliff Kingsbury’s playing career.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Texas A&M | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2013–18 | Texas Tech | Head coach | |
| 2019–22 | Arizona Cardinals NFL | Head coach | |
| 2023 | USC | Senior offensive analyst | |
| 2024–25 | Washington Commanders NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2026–present | Los Angeles Rams NFL | Assistant head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Kevin SumlinHouston, Texas A&M
- Tony LevineHouston
- Lincoln RileyUSC
- Dan QuinnWashington Commanders
Assistants who became head coaches
- Eric MorrisNorth Texas, Oklahoma State, Incarnate Word
- Lee HaysSul Ross
- Mike JinksBowling Green
- Scott ParrNavarro, Texas A&M–Kingsville
- Sonny CumbieTexas Tech, Louisiana Tech
- Zach KittleyFlorida Atlantic
- Darrin ChiaveriniChaffey, Northeastern State
- David GibbsHouston
- Deshaun FosterUCLA
- Kevin PatrickSouth Florida
- Sean KuglerUTEP
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Sumlin | Houston | 2010–11 | Co-offensive coordinator | |
| Tony Levine | Houston | 2011 | Co-offensive coordinator | |
| Kevin Sumlin | Texas A&M | 2012 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lincoln Riley | USC | 2023 | Senior offensive analyst | |
| Dan Quinn | Washington Commanders NFL | 2024–25 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (11)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Morris | Texas Tech, 2013: co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach; 2014: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; 2015–17: offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach | North Texas, Oklahoma State, Incarnate Word | |
| Lee Hays | Texas Tech, 2013–17: offensive line coach | Sul Ross | |
| Mike Jinks | Texas Tech, 2013–14: running backs coach; 2015: assistant head coach and running backs coach | Bowling Green | |
| Scott Parr | Texas Tech, 2013: offensive quality control coach | Navarro, Texas A&M–Kingsville | |
| Sonny Cumbie | Texas Tech, 2013: co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | Texas Tech, Louisiana Tech | |
| Zach Kittley | Texas Tech, 2013–14: student assistant; 2015–17: graduate assistant | Florida Atlantic | |
| Darrin Chiaverini | Texas Tech, 2014: special teams coordinator; 2015: special teams coordinator and outside wide receivers coach | Chaffey, Northeastern State | |
| David Gibbs | Texas Tech, 2015–18: defensive coordinator | Houston | |
| Deshaun Foster | Texas Tech, 2016: running backs coach | UCLA | |
| Kevin Patrick | Texas Tech, 2016: defensive line coach | South Florida | |
| Sean Kugler | Arizona Cardinals, 2019–20: offensive line coach; 2021–22: running game coordinator and offensive line coach | UTEP |
Other assistants under him (15)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| David Raih | Texas Tech, 2013: assistant quarterbacks coach and outside receivers coach; Arizona Cardinals, 2019–20: wide receivers coach | |
| John Scott Jr. | Texas Tech, 2013–14: defensive line coach | |
| Matt Brock | Texas Tech, 2013: defensive quality control coach; 2014–15: inside linebackers coach | |
| Matt Wallerstedt | Texas Tech, 2013–14: defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Smith | Texas Tech, 2013: co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach; 2014: interim defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach; 2015: co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | |
| Trey Haverty | Texas Tech, 2013–14: safeties coach; 2015: outside linebackers coach | |
| Jordan Davis | Texas Tech, 2016–17: graduate assistant | |
| Karl Scott | Texas Tech, 2016–17: defensive backs coach | |
| Skyler Cassity | Texas Tech, 2017–18: graduate assistant | |
| Terrance Jamison | Texas Tech, 2017–18: defensive line coach | |
| Clay McGuire | Texas Tech, 2018: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Kevin Johns | Texas Tech, 2018: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| Zac Spavital | Texas Tech, 2018: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Brian Natkin | Arizona Cardinals, 2019–22: assistant offensive line coach | |
| Chris Wilson | Arizona Cardinals, 2019: defensive assistant |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $1,500,000; $90,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $6,993,750 | $3,503,975 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $1,500,000; $50,000 in bonuses paid | $3,306,575 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $1,500,000; $70,000 in bonuses paid | $3,147,500 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $1,500,000 | $2,605,300 USA Today | |
| 2013 | Texas Tech | head coachbonuses up to $600,000 | $1,855,300 USA Today via Leeds |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Kingsbury’s teams went for it on 23% of fourth downs and on 42% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 61% of plays and took 20.5 seconds a play, 2013–2018.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 13 g | 18 of 109 17% | 34% | 65% | 18.3 | +0.07 | |
| 2014 12 g | 23 of 89 26% | 38% | 63% | 20.2 | +0.11 | |
| 2015 13 g | 23 of 90 26% | 49% | 60% | 19.7 | +0.20 | |
| 2016 12 g | 24 of 84 29% | 53% | 66% | 20.7 | +0.23 | |
| 2017 13 g | 21 of 104 20% | 42% | 57% | 22.6 | +0.07 | |
| 2018 12 g | 18 of 88 20% | 38% | 58% | 21.3 | +0.11 | |
| All 75 g | 127 of 564 23% | 42% | 61% | 20.5 | +0.13 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.