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Once dueling Patrick Mahomes, Mack Leftwich set to lead Texas Tech football offense
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- Once dueling Patrick Mahomes, Mack Leftwich set to lead Texas Tech football offense
Mack Leftwich's rise to the ranks of offensive coordinator of the Texas Tech football team has been quick.
Just how quick? Announced as the replacement for Zach Kittley less than a week ago, Leftwich still can't get into the new South End Zone Building at Jones AT&T Stadium on his own. On his way to meet the local press for the first time Thursday, Leftwich needed Kasen Long, who happened to be walking by to get him in the locked door.
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New guy problems.
Leftwich has some adjusting to do as the leader of the Red Raiders ' offense. Less than a week after Kittley was announced as the new head coach at Florida Atlantic , Joey McGuire tabbed Leftwich as the man to take up the mantle.
There are far more security clearances and buildings since the last time Leftwich was at Jones AT&T Stadium. Before having to medically retire due to a shoulder injury, Leftwich was the quarterback at UTEP when the Miners made the trip to Lubbock for a game during the 2015 season.
More: Joey McGuire lays out Liberty Bowl preparation plan for Texas Tech football staff
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"I try not to remember that game too much," Leftwich said. "It's a nice icebreaker. I tell people I started a game against Patrick Mahomes and we combined for 600 yards passing. Pat had 500 and I had 100, so that wasn't a great day for the Miners."
That 69-20 loss to future multi-time MVP and Super Bowl champion Mahomes was one of the final games Leftwich ever got to play. The shoulder injury was too much to overcome, he retired just before the 2016 season, graduated and set off to begin his coaching career.
Texas Tech football offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich speaks during his introductory press conference, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in the South End Zone Building at Jones AT&T Stadium.
"At the time it was pretty difficult to go through and have your career end early like that," Leftwich said, "But I think now looking back on it, I just got a little bit of a head start. I wouldn't go back and change anything. I think all those things happened for a reason and has led me to this point."
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What's followed has been a rapid rise: one year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Lehman High School, another as a graduate assistant at Incarnate Ward before being elevated to quarterbacks coach in 2018, where he eventually became offensive coordinator and later followed G.J. Kinne to Texas State to assume the same role.
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Leftwich, who turned 30 a month ago, had plenty of suitors looking to pluck the up-and-coming prodigy. The coach said it was a wild 72-hour stretch with teams trying to lure him away from Texas State before he ultimately decided on Texas Tech . He now has the keys to the Red Raider offense, even if he doesn't quite have the key to the facilities just yet.
"I think coming to a place like this that has a chance to compete for Big 12 championships and compete for a (College Football Playoff) spot," Leftwich said, "coming to a job like that and an opportunity to work with somebody like Coach McGuire was just something I couldn't pass up."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Rise of Mack Leftwich leads him to Texas Tech football offensive coordinator
