List of Texas Tech Red Raiders head football coaches
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/EYFreeland.jpg/220px-EYFreeland.jpg)
The Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University in the Big 12 Conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The program has had 15 head coaches, and two interim head coach, since it began play during the 1925 season.
Texas Tech (then known as Texas Technological College) was known as the "Matadors" from 1925 to 1936, a name suggested by the wife of Ewing Y. Freeland, the first football coach, to reflect the influence of the Spanish Renaissance architecture on campus.[1] In 1932, Texas Tech joined the Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The school's short-lived Matadors moniker was replaced officially in 1937 with "Red Raiders", the nickname the team has had ever since.[1] The same year, Pete Cawthon, Texas Tech's third head coach, led the team to their first conference championship and bowl game berth, a 7–6 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Sun Bowl. Texas Tech suffered four more bowl losses, under two head coaches, before their first postseason win in the 1952 Sun Bowl, under first-year head coach DeWitt Weaver.[2] Before withdrawing from the Border Conference in 1956, the Red Raiders won nine conference championships, the most held by a Border Conference member. Weaver and his predecessor Dell Morgan each won four conference championships, a record for a Texas Tech head coach.
In 1960, Texas Tech was admitted to the Southwest Conference. The Red Raiders won two conference championships in 1976 and 1994, under head coaches Steve Sloan and Spike Dykes respectively. Texas Tech became a charter member in the South Division of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 when the Southwest Conference disbanded. During his ninth season as head coach, Mike Leach led Texas Tech to the program's first division championship in 2008. After Leach was fired at the end of the 2009 season, Ruffin McNeill was named interim head coach for the Alamo Bowl. Tommy Tuberville coached the Red Raiders from 2010 to 2012, resigning after the conclusion of the regular season. Kliff Kingsbury, a former standout quarterback at Texas Tech, coached the Red Raider from 2013 to 2018.[3]. The current coach, Matt Wells, was hired on November 29, 2018. He was previously the head coach of the Utah State Aggies before being hired on at Texas Tech.[4]
Key
General | Overall | Conference | Postseason[A 1] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Order of coaches[A 2] | GC | Games coached | CW | Conference wins | PW | Postseason wins |
DC | Division championships | OW | Overall wins | CL | Conference losses | PL | Postseason losses |
CC | Conference championships | OL | Overall losses | CT | Conference ties | PT | Postseason ties |
NC | National championships | OT | Overall ties[A 3] | C% | Conference winning percentage | ||
† | Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame | O% | Overall winning percentage[A 4] |
Coaches
No. | Name | Season(s) | GC | OW | OL | OT | O% | CW | CL | CT | C% | PW | PL | PT | CCs | DCs[A 6] | Notable awards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ewing Y. Freeland | 1925–1928 | 37 | 21 | 10 | 6 | .649 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2 | Grady Higginbotham | 1929 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | .200 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
3 | Pete Cawthon | 1930–1940 | 114 | 76 | 32 | 6 | .693 | 10 | 1 | 1 | .875 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | — |
4 | Dell Morgan | 1941–1950 | 107 | 55 | 49 | 3 | .528 | 23 | 3 | 1 | .870 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | — | Border Conference Coach of the Year (1949)[8] |
5 | DeWitt Weaver | 1951–1960 | 105 | 49 | 51 | 5 | .490 | 20 | 6 | 3 | .741 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | — | Border Conference Coach of the Year (1951, 1953)[9] |
6 | J. T. King | 1961–1969 | 92 | 44 | 45 | 3 | .495 | 27 | 35 | 1 | .437 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | SWC Coach of the Year (1965)[10] |
7 | Jim Carlen | 1970–1974 | 59 | 37 | 20 | 2 | .644 | 20 | 15 | 0 | .571 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | SWC Coach of the Year (1970, 1973)[11] |
8 | Steve Sloan | 1975–1977 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 0 | .657 | 15 | 8 | 0 | .652 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | SWC Coach of the Year (1976)[12] |
9 | Rex Dockery | 1977–1980 | 33 | 15 | 16 | 2 | .485 | 10 | 13 | 1 | .438 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | SWC Coach of the Year (1978)[13] |
10 | Jerry Moore†[14] | 1981–1985 | 55 | 16 | 37 | 2 | .309 | 9 | 29 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
11 | David McWilliams | 1986 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | SWC Coach of the Year (1986)[15] |
12 | Spike Dykes | 1986–1999 | 150 | 82 | 67 | 1 | .550 | 57 | 40 | 1 | .587 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | SWC Coach of the Year (1989, 1993, 1994)[16] Big 12 Coach of the Year (1996)[17] |
13 | Mike Leach | 2000–2009 | 127 | 84 | 43 | — | .661 | 47 | 33 | — | .588 | 5 | 4 | — | 0 | 1 | Big 12 Coach of the Year (2008) George Munger Award (2008) Woody Hayes Award (2008) |
Int | Ruffin McNeill | 2009 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
14 | Tommy Tuberville | 2010–2012 | 37 | 20 | 17 | — | .541 | 9 | 17 | — | .294 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — |
Int | Chris Thomsen | 2012 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — |
15 | Kliff Kingsbury | 2013–2018 | 75 | 35 | 40 | — | .466 | 19 | 35 | — | .351 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
16 | Matt Wells | 2019–present | 12 | 4 | 8 | — | .333 | 2 | 7 | — | .222 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Notes
- ^ Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.[5]
- ^ A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.[6]
- ^ When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.[7]
- ^ Statistics correct as of the end of the 2016 college football season.
- ^ Texas Tech participated as a member of the South Division in the Big 12 Conference from 1996 through 2010.
References
General
- Texas Tech University Athletics Communications (Summer 2015). "2015 Texas Tech Football Media Supplement". 2015 Texas Tech Football (Sixth ed.). Texas Tech University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- Staff (2014). "Texas Tech Coaching Records". Texas Tech History. College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
Specific
- ^ a b Clark, Kyle; Siegrist, Nikki (2003-03-13). "Making Matadors: Spanish style architecture inspires Tech's first mascot". The Daily Toreador. Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
- ^ "Texas Tech Bowl History". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2010-02-16. Retrieved 2010-01-30.
- ^ "Kliff Kingsbury coming home to Texas Tech to be Red Raiders head coach". Yahoo! Sports. 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2012-12-12.
- ^ https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/texas-tech-hires-utah-states-matt-wells-to-replace-kliff-kingsbury-as-its-coach/
- ^ National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
- ^ Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
- ^ Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
- ^ Rushing, Jane Gilmore; Kline A. Nall (1975). Evolution of a University: Texas Tech's first fifty years. Austin, Texas: Madrona Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-89052-017-8.
- ^ Andrews, Ruth Horn (1956). The First Thirty Years: a History of Texas Technological College. Lubbock, Texas: The Texas Tech Press. p. 307.
- ^ "Texas Tech 2010–11 Athletics Record Book". Texas Tech University. p. 10. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
- ^ Zuvanich, Adam (2008-07-09). "Hall to enter Hall: Former QB among seven Tech honorees". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Archived from the original on 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
- ^ Traughbe, Bill (2006-09-20). "Steve Sloan Talks About His Career" (PDF). Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
- ^ Gulick, Joe (2008-09-17). "Dirk West: Coach hit it big". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Archived from the original on 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ Staff (2016). "Member Biography: Jerry Moore". National Football Foundation. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
- ^ Freeman, Denne H. (1987-10-31). "'Horns Concern Tech Players Not Departure of McWilliams". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. p. 3B. Retrieved 2010-12-19.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Dallas - Texas Tech's bid for its first Cotton Bowl Victory". San Antonio Express-News. Hearst Corporation. Associated Press. 1994-12-04.
Texas Tech's bid for its first Cotton Bowl victory on Jan. 2 will be led by none other than The Associated Press Southwest Conference Coach of the Year. Spike Dykes, 56, received the award for the second consecutive year.
- ^ "Spike Dykes Endowment Kickoff Luncheon". Texas Tech University. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-02-03.