The Texas Tech Red Raiders are coming off of a disappointing 7-5 regular season that ended with the departure of coach Tommy Tuberville after three years.
The team took a step towards the future on Wednesday by looking towards the past, hiring former quarterback Kliff Kingsbury as the new head coach of the football program.
The 33-year-old was Texas A&M's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this season and worked with freshman Johnny Manziel, who went on to win the Heisman trophy.
Kingsbury was offered the job on Wednesday afternoon and accepted it soon after. School athletic director Kirby Holcutt announced the news on social media, posting a video on Twitter.
"Wreck 'em Tech," Kingsbury said in the video, giving the school's "Guns Up" sign when the camera panned to him, according to ESPN.com.
"It's just been a whirlwind, but I couldn't be happier, beyond ecstatic to be back. It feels like home," Kingsbury said after landing in Lubbock on Wednesday night, according to ESPN.com. "This is where I wanted to be; it's where I've wanted to be."
Kingsbury agreed to a four-year deal with the school and will be introduced by Holcutt in a press conference on Friday.
"He's prepared his whole life for this," said Hocutt, who was the same age as Kingsbury when he got his first athletic director job at Ohio University. "He's ready and I had no hesitation."
Kingsbury has been working as a coach in college football since 2008, after he finished his professional career in the Canadian Football League. He played from 1998 to 2002 at Texas Tech before serving as a backup in the NFL after being drafted by the New England Patriots. He also played for the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets, appearing in one game.
While playing for the Red Raiders, Kingsbury was quarterback for head coach Mike Leach and threw for 12,429 yards and 95 touchdowns in four seasons.
Kingsbury began his coaching career as an assistant at Houston, where became co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Case Keenum, who set numerous FBS Division passing records in 2011, throwing for 5,631 yards and 48 touchdowns.
This season Kingsbury served as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and led Manziel to a record breaking season. He passed for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns with just eight interceptions and completed over 68 percent of his passes.
Maziel spoke about Kingsbury on Twitter on Wednesday.
"Bittersweet..happy for him though couldn't of happened to a better guy and a great coach," Manziel wrote on Twitter. "To all the people worried about Coach K leaving..Coach Sumlin will always bring in the best and do anything to make sure we're successful ... Have faith in Coach Sumlin...It's got us this far, why stop now?"
Kingsbury spoke highly of his former quarterback and his former school.
"He understands," Kingsbury said of Manziel. "He knows how I feel about him. He's as good a player as I've ever seen and probably the fiercest competitor I've ever been around, so it was definitely hard with that. But this is where I belong."
Texas A&M was ranked third in the nation in scoring and averaged over 500 total yards of offense per game under Kingsbury. The team was ranked 13th in the nation in passing with 317 yards per game and ranked 13th in rushing. The Aggies finished the season with six straight wins and will next play against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
Kingsbury takes over for former coach Tommy Tuberville, who left the school for Cincinnati without any warning to the team. According to some reports, he left a group of recruits in the middle of a dinner and never returned.
Tuberville never seemed to embrace the fans and the culture of the school. The team went only 4-5 in the Big 12 and lost four of the last five games to end the season. Texas Tech will next play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 28 against Minnesota.
Kingsbury will be one of the youngest head coaches in football and takes over a team that ranked second in the nation in passing with 361 yards per game. The Red Raiders averaged 37 points per game, but ranked 88th in rushing yards and 93rd in defensive scoring, allowing 31 points per game.
Quarterback Seth Doege has passed for 3,934 yards and 38 touchdowns this season, but is a senior and will be leaving the school.
According to ESPN.com, sophomore quarterback Michael Brewer will be the main quarterback heading into next season. The Red Raiders were led by Doege, who is a senior. Brewer worked as backup this past year and previously played for high school football under Chad Morris, who also interviewed for the Texas Tech job.
"I just got through coaching one of those up that was pretty decent, so hopefully we can get him going," Kinsbury said of Brewer.
Kingsbury will implement the offense he learned under offensive minds like Dana Holgorsen and Kevin Sumlin, who is head coach at Texas A&M.
