Comeback SZN #5: College Partying, Coaching a Star and the Off-Season (Ft. Kliff Kingsbury)
On this week’s episode, the crew is joined by Texas Tech head coach and notorious bachelor Kliff Kingsbury to talk about his time coaching #2 during the wild Heisman year at Texas A&M, his own party days as a college QB that include being linked with Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson in their primes, his expectations for high profile QBs and much more.
We also talk off-season habits, how college football season just can’t come fast enough and check in during CFL bye week from the beaches of Turks and Caicos.
For those that remember the wild ride of Johnny Manziel, here is just some of what you can expect:
Kingsbury on Johnny almost never playing at A&M after getting arrested…
“I was on vacation when the infamous [mugshot] popped up on my phone with [Johnny] with his shirt off after getting in that fight at the bar. And I thought it was over… it really came close to ‘Johnny Football’ never happening at Texas A&M. I don’t think people realize just how close that was.
It was an awesome picture though, Johnny. I wanted to kill you. I remember you trying to call me on the beach and I wouldn’t answer because I was so pissed. I wanted you to sweat it out.”
On all the partying…
KK: “Johnny will tell you that he didn’t work as hard as he should’ve in college. But he competed his ass off when the game was on the line and when the lights came on. I’ve never seen anybody compete [on Saturdays] harder.”
JM: “Looking back [at all the partying], I had always been the way I had been, especially at A&M. I didn’t know any different. I didn’t really know until I had failures in my life and had things go the wrong way… I thought the going out and partying and drinking and doing all that is what part of what made me so good on Saturdays… because that whole [Heisman] season went so well. It never affected me.
I never went into a game and thought ‘damn I feel so hungover’ or ‘I’m not up to par’… I always felt ready to go. I always prepared the way that I thought I should’ve to not just to go out and play my best, but play for the team and whatever we needed to do to win.
I felt that way for a long, long time. Until I tasted failure and tasted defeat. I feel like that was the way that I was ingrained for [my entire life].”
Kingsbury on an example of Johnny’s balancing act…
“Johnny had some crazy excuse like his roommate pulled the plug on the alarm clock, but we already knew what he had been doing. So he misses the offensive meeting, trots out [late] to walk-through… goes through it probably, I think, still a little intoxicated. We do our thing, get on a plane to [Mississippi State] and he ends up playing the best game I’ve ever seen. At that point, I’m like ‘this kid is not human’.”
Smash that play button, you won’t be disappointed.