From Texas Tech to the NFL: Mahomes and Kingsbury meet again
The Kansas City Chiefs face the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football this week, in a game that reunites Patrick Mahomes and his coach from TTU.
When Patrick Mahomes takes the field Monday night, he’ll see a familiar face on the opposite sideline - the coach who helped launch his football journey nearly a decade ago.
Full-circle moment: Mahomes reunites with Kingsbury
Mahomes will reunite with Kliff Kingsbury, now the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, in a matchup that brings the pair full circle from their Texas Tech days. Kingsbury recruited Mahomes out of Whitehouse High School in Texas and served as his only college head coach, shaping the strong-armed gunslinger into a first-round NFL prospect.
It’s not the first time the two have met at the professional level. Mahomes’ Chiefs defeated Kingsbury’s Arizona Cardinals 44–21 in the 2022 season opener, a game in which Mahomes threw for 360 yards and five touchdowns.
Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl MVP, has since become the standard example for modern quarterback play, while Kingsbury continues to leave his imprint on NFL offensive design, helping develop Washington’s young passers, notably last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, Jayden Daniels.
Kliff Kingsbury running Tornado Reverse to Jaylin Lane pic.twitter.com/90h4ETjPIX
— Dr. Ben Leong (@Coach_Chiro) October 14, 2025
When Mahomes was in high school, he wasn’t recruited by many other schools besides Texas Tech, and he acknowledged Kingsbury’s trust in him, allowing him the freedom to play with his own style.
“He’s just one of the first people I would say that truly believed in me, and playing the quarterback position,” said Mahomes. “He gave me a ton of advice of refining me and letting me still be just be me, and play to my strengths. And so, a great coach, a great person, that I stay in touch with...not as much this week, but throughout my career.”
Mahomes will play against his former head coach at Texas Tech, Kliff Kingsbury, on Monday night.
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) October 23, 2025
He takes us back to what the college recruiting process was like 👇 pic.twitter.com/ik5nAjmcCz
“He helped me get to where I’m at today, because he didn’t put me in a box and tell me I need to play quarterback this way,” he went on. “He let me just go out there and be myself and play the way that got me here. And I think that’s something that’s special about him as a coach.
Nearly a decade later, that freedom still defines Mahomes’ game. And as he prepares to face the man who first unleashed his creativity, Monday night’s matchup serves as a reminder of how far both men have come since their days in Lubbock.
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