Kliff Kingsbury Is Being Compared to Anna Kournikova, Media Narrative Swing Imminent

Kliff Kingsbury is an anomaly among college football coaches. Namely, he’s under 40, better coiffed than Terry Bowden and his tailor is not employed by a Mens Warehouse outlet. His Texas Tech team just lost, in unimpressive fashion, to Arkansas. In true “2014” fashion, the media backlash has already been gone. Kingsbury already has columnists comparing him to Anna Kournikova. That cry may grow louder, following road trips to Oklahoma State and Kansas State. That’s a bit unfair, after 16 games.

One could say Kingsbury’s tenure started hot, then derailed. That’s a simplistic picture. A better summation of his career thus far is that it has gone predictably. He won his first seven games against a soft schedule, lost the last five against the five best teams in the Big 12. His Holiday Bowl win over Arizona State raised expectations (classic bowl over-reaction). His 2014 team was ill-equipped to meet them, because of their defense.

Texas Tech was a Top 20 unit against the pass in 2013. They lost their entire starting secondary and three of the top five performers, from an underwhelming pass rush. They were left with a core up front that wasn’t and isn’t good against the run. Bret Bielema’s Arkansas was a bad matchup for them. The jury remains out for Kingsbury, as it should be for anyone after 16 games. (Brady Hoke, for instance, was 13-3 at that stage and fresh off a BCS Bowl win in 2012.)

Thus far, Kingsbury had a decent first season, considering the quarterback situation. This year may be a down year. We’ll see where the Red Raiders are in 2015.

If Kingsbury succeeds, it will be because of his offense. The Red Raiders took a step back last season, replacing efficiency with volume and falling from 14th to 50th in yards/play. Such a decline tends to happen when you replace a solid senior with a true freshman, then have that true freshman get injured and replace him with another. This year, despite losing star TE Jace Amaro, Texas Tech is back up to 19th.

If Kingsbury fails, it will happen, as it has for Muschamp, Rodriguez and others, on the other side of the ball. Texas Tech needs to get more impactful up front on defense to compete in the top tier of the Big 12. That will take recruiting and sage assistant hiring.

The only thing clear is his career path won’t be impaired by his image or social media exploits. We enjoy him on this site. But, handsome, well dressed men can still be full-bodied and functional, however unfair it may seem. It’s easier to get kids to consider Lubbock when you have some wicked dance moves. Washboard abs are seldom a bad thing.

Hiring an untested Kingsbury was a risk for Texas Tech, the exact sort of risk they had to take to win. We’ll see where the Red Raiders are, after at least a couple more narrative swings, in 2014.