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Back in 2013, Kirby Hocutt hired a former Texas Tech legend to help repair a fanbase that was fractured and divided. With Kliff Kingsbury at the helm, we all assuredly backed our crowned prince 100% and once he started the season 7-0, we all thought he was going to be just as great a coach as he was a player. Unfortunately the following five years and change did not produce the same excitement. After today’s loss to Baylor, San Antinio’s KENS 5 put out the following tweet reporting the head ball coach’s firing.
Sources tell KENS 5 that Kliff Kingsbury is OUT as head coach of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech finished the season on a five-game losing skid. https://t.co/pQBOA5EzJN
— KENS 5 (@KENS5) November 24, 2018
After this tweet came out, there was an incredible outpouring of support from his current and former players. Many believing this tweet to indeed be true. This would all be a very bittersweet moment if it was at all true. Apparently no one local or from the university can confirm this report and it seems to something completely made up.
It would appear that reports of Kingsbury's demise are premature. One source close to the program who would absolutely know if a decision has been made tells me he has not heard anything regarding Kingsbury's future at #TexasTech. #GunsUp #WreckEm
— Zach Tanner (@ZTanner247) November 24, 2018
According to a report by @KENS5 Kliff Kingsbury is out at #TexasTech. My initial efforts to confirm have been unsuccessful as a #TTU spokesman told me "nothing is official". Story: https://t.co/uwNrLpiLcN #GunsUp #WreckEm
— Jarret Johnson (@JohnsonJarret) November 24, 2018
Don't doubt that it will end up this way, but Tech officials and another source close to the situation have told me in the past hour this is premature. https://t.co/cnsAHgZrMq
— Don Williams (@AJ_DonWilliams) November 24, 2018
What we have here is a case of a station wanting to get the story out first instead of being correct. This result could very well happen and they did get quite the amount of clicks, but it’s immoral and unprofessional to produce a story that’s not concrete. KSEN 5 cared more about the page views than accuracy and quality and that shines a bad light on their practices.
If the firing does eventually in fact happen, then Kingsbury will finish his time at Texas Tech with a 35-40 overall record and 19-35 record in conference. Tech suffered a losing season in three of the six years Kingsbury was here which hadn’t been done since the early 1980s. After a 5-2 start, Tech finished the season on a five-game losing streak, once again suffering a losing record. Despite multiple injuries to his starting and backup quarterbacks this year, the losses seen to be too much.
Kingsbury took over a program that was broken after the Tommy Tuberville fiasco and in turn brought a joy and willingness to make Texas Tech great that we hadn’t seen from our head coach. That is what should be remembered, not this disrespectful report or even the win-loss record. Once a Red Raider, always a Red Raider, and we don’t like when you make faceless claims about one of us KSEN 5.