Lubbock, TX

Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech's second all-time leading passer, has accepted to return and become the 15th football coach of his alma mater.

At 33, Kingsbury is the youngest head coach in a BCS conference and the second youngest in the FBS behind Toledo's Matt Campbell. He will be formally introduced in a news conference Friday.

Kingsbury accepted the head coaching job after a one-year stint as offensive coordinator at Texas A&M where he played a huge role in leading freshman quarterback Johhny Manziel to the Heisman Trophy.

Under his tutelage, the Aggies offense finished third nationally in total offense by averaging 552.33 yards per game and 14th nationally in passing offense and 13th nationally in rushing offense.

For his outstanding job, Kingsbury was named the national offensive coordinator of the year for the second consecutive season.

In his stint with the Red Raiders, Kingsbury tallied 12,429 yards and 95 touchdowns. He also excelled in the classroom as he was one of 14 collegiate football players to receive a post-graduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame while receiving the Academic All-America Player of the Year honors in 2002.

In addition, Kingsbury set 39 school records, 16 Big 12 marks and 17 NCAA records during his career. As a senior, he was awarded the Sammy Baugh Trophy. He graduated from Texas Tech in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in management.

A sixth-round pick by the New England Patriots in the 2008 draft, Kingsbury played for five NFL teams and also saw action in the Canadian Football League and the All-American Football League.

After his playing career, he worked as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the University of Houston where he played a key role in the Cougars' record-setting 13-win season in 2011. The Cougars finished 2011 with a 13-1 record and posted the program's highest final BCS finish in school history (No. 19).

With Kingsbury calling the offensive plays, the Cougars averaged 599.1 total yards per game, including 450.1 through the air, while scoring over 49 points per game.

The Cougars scored over 70 points in two games in 2011, and finished the season with a 30-14 win over Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl.

 

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