Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes isn’t just preparing to face the Arizona Cardinals this week, he’s preparing to face his former college head coach and mentor Kliff Kingsbury.
A year after Mahomes was drafted by the Chiefs, Kingsbury was hired as the head coach of the Cardinals. While the two faced off during the preseason last year, they’ve yet to play each other in a game that actually counts. That’ll all change in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season when the Chiefs travel to Arizona.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mahomes spoke on his relationship with Kingsbury and what he learned from him while they were together at Texas Tech.
“(Kliff Kingsbury) is someone who has taught me a ton. Not only about football, but about life. He got me coming out of high school where I was a baseball player trying to play football and basically trying to be on my own. You’re leaving the household and basically kind of being on your own and he helped me become who I am today.”
Not only did Kingsbury help shape Mahomes as a young man, but he also helped him become the talent that he is at the quarterback position. When Kingsbury went to recruit him, Mahomes was mostly playing baseball. At 6-2 and 180 pounds, when he did play football, he was playing defensive back.
“They were really the first-and-only,” Mahomes said of Texas Tech’s recruitment offer. “I really didn’t get recruited that much. I mean I got a couple of other offers from some smaller schools and stuff like that, but they were the only school. Credit to (Kliff) Kingsbury — he was the one that came down, saw me, talked to me and my family. And he believed in me and that’s the reason that I’m in this position, it’s because he gave me that chance.”
Mahomes explained that Kingsbury didn’t restrict him or try to mold him into a pocket passer when he got to Texas Tech. He structured his offense around Mahomes’ strengths, which he says are now amplified even further under Chiefs HC Andy Reid. That’s something that Kingsbury expected and told Chiefs Wire about in an exclusive interview back in 2017.
With the game fast approaching, Mahomes is ready to share in the special moment with Kingsbury. He’s also eager to get the win so that he can hold some bragging rights over his old head coach.
“It’ll be cool to get to play against him,” Mahomes said. “Hopefully, I get the win because you have those little bragging rights. I see him every once in a while in the offseason out in Lubbock and stuff like that. So, it’s definitely going to be an awesome moment that we have forever. Just hopefully, I get the win so I get those bragging rights for the rest of time.”
Mahomes confirmed what Kingsbury has said earlier this week — the two speak time-to-time — most recently about Texas Tech OC Zach Kittley who was with them during their time with the Red Raiders. This week, the group chat will be muted as they both bury their heads in their work in preparation for Sunday.
“There won’t be a lot of communication this week, I know that,” Mahomes said. “We’re going to go out there and he’s going to have his team ready to go. He has the track record where they start out fast and he does a lot of great things. We’re going to have to have our best effort if we’re going to go out there and win a football game.”
