Former Texas Tech quarterback and Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury released a statement on former football head coach Mike Leach's death over an hour after Alabama head coach Nick Saban made a statement of his own.
“There is no way I would be where I am today if not for Mike Leach and everything he taught me about the game,” Kingsbury wrote. “Truly one of the most innovative offensive minds in football, he was more than a coach. He was a mentor, a friend and one of the most special people I have ever met. My heart goes out to Sharon, the Leach family and everyone who had the privilege of knowing and loving him.
“Our sport was better because of Mike Leach and is far less interesting without him.”
The NFL head coach played in the dawning years of the “Air Raid” offensive philosophy. He played for two years at Texas Tech under now-TCU head coach Sonny Dykes and three under Mike Leach.
Kliff Kingsbury saw his role in the Texas Tech football offense drastically progress since he played in six games in 1999. He officially took the starting job over then-freshman quarterback B.J. Symons the very next year. Kingsbury completed 61.9% of his 585 pass attempts, leading his Red Raiders to a 7-6 record and a Gallery Furniture Bowl appearance despite throwing 17 interceptions.
The four-year quarterback's success under Leach led to an eventual selection in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He backed up a 26-year-old Tom Brady as the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots went 14-2 in the regular season under then-nine year NFL head coach Bill Belichick.
He first took up coaching when he joined the Houston Cougars as a quality control coach in 2008, quickly rising up the ranks in two different universities before eventually earning a head coaching job at his alma mater after now-United States Senator Tommy Tuberville left for the University of Cincinnati. He compiled a 35-40 record with the Red Raiders before accepting his current job with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
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