Kliff needs to go and here’s who should replace him

Kliff Kingsbury has proven that he can’t bring a consistently winning product to Lubbock, Texas. After nearly 6 years as a coach, Texas Tech needs new leadership and here is a list of prospective coaches to be his successor:

Brent Venables – Let’s be honest, this likely won’t happen, but Kirby Hocutt better try. Venables is currently the DC at Clemson and is near the top of every coaching search. Most believe Venables is holding out for the Kansas State job, but with Bill Snyder’s adamance about his son taking over when he retires this could be Venables next best option. Kirby Hocutt and Brent Venables were teammates at Kansas State and roommates. Maybe Hocutt can charm him to coming to Lubbock, but I don’t see it happening (we can only dream).

Seth Littrell – The current head coach at North Texas has turned a Mean Green team that has never been relevant, to a team that won its division last season in C-USA. Littrell was the Running Backs coach at Texas Tech from 2005-08 and could be a nice fit in Lubbock.

Graham Harrell – Here’s a name that many will recognize. Harrell was a fantastic Red Raider back in the Mike Leach era and he is currently the offensive coordinator at North Texas under Seth Littrell. This sounds a little bit too familiar though. If Tech brought in Harrell as the head coach, I’m afraid we would have a Kliff 2.0 so we should steer far away from this option.

Luke Fickell – This could be another dream scenario and I’m not 100% sure he would be a great fit. Fickell is the current head coach of the Cincinnati Bearcats and has led the team to a 9-1 record at the moment. He has proven to be a fantastic coach, but he has zero ties to Texas. Could he recruit well in the South Plains? I’m not sure, but he will be a hot candidate during this coaching carousel.

Art Briles – This is an iffy one. Briles is not only a Tech alumnus, but he brings a lot of controversy after everything that played out at Baylor. Briles could be more of a possibility than people realize. His ties to the Texas recruiting trail are solid and he has already proven that he can win in this conference. If Tech went this route, they would get a lot of backlash and might lose fan interest, but if he starts competing for Big 12 titles in a few years, will people be able to forgive his past? I’m not sure, but Briles might be someone that Kirby Hocutt reaches out to. [editor’s note: Viva the Matadors is not advocating for Art Briles to be a coach at Texas Tech University, this article acknowledges Briles’ visit to Lubbock last fall as grounds of possible consideration.]

Ultimately, I believe Seth Littrell is the most obvious choice. He played at OU, he’s a Leach disciple, and he’s shown success as a head coach in the state of Texas. Littrell brings a tough attitude and he would likely bring Graham Harrell to coach the offense and wouldn’t it be grand to see Harrell back on the sideline in Lubbock?

Let me know your thoughts. After a rough night for the Red Raiders it’s time for Kliff to go, but who do you think is the best replacement for him?