Texas Tech University Athletics
First-Year Quarterbacks Have History Of Success
June 21, 2011 | Football
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By: Jessika Bailey
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
A young boy's dream of becoming a college quarterback can come true as they are selected to start as a Division-I quarterback. Aside from the overwhelming pressure put on each of them, Kliff Kingsbury, Sonny Cumbie and Cody Hodges have all gone through the experiences and learned what it takes to be a successful Texas Tech University quarterback.
Former quarterback Kliff Kingsbury started his sophomore year and explains the opportunity as a dream come true.
"I always wanted to be a college quarterback," he said. For Cody Hodges, a fifth year senior when he started, he says it was an exciting start to a new chapter in his college football career. "It's kind of a sigh of relief knowing that I was finally getting the chance to start and play," Hodges said. "I was able to take a deep breath knowing that my hard work had finally paid off."
Although the excitement of receiving the starting quarterback position can be exhilarating, Sonny Cumbie says it can also be overwhelming at times.
"You're overwhelmed by the number of players and by the size of players that you're playing with and playing against."
The three former quarterbacks all agree that they learned a lot from the older players on the team. Kingsbury was an upperclassman that Cumbie and Hodges watched during their years before earning the starting position, but Kingsbury said he wasn't too keen on giving advice.
"I was never really big on trying to tell them `do this, do that', hopefully they learned from preparations and my actions more than anything," he said.
Cumbie saw the opportunity as a time to learn from the way the older quarterbacks handled situations with fans and the media.
"You're in the backseat and you can see guys handle success, guys getting criticized, guys maybe not living up to their billing and you see all this and you learn how to handle different situations," Cumbie said.
Fans sometimes express their opinions of the players, coaches or the way the game is going that can be heard from the stands. Hodges said the second string quarterback always seemed to catch the fans eyes.
"When Kliff was starting everyone wanted BJ in, and then Kliff graduates and BJ starts and everyone is yelling for Sonny to go in. Then Sonny gets the job and now everyone is cheering for me to go in. It's like the backup quarterback is everybody's favorite player," he said. "When you win, the quarterback gets all the credit and when you lose it all goes on the quarterback as well."
Hodges had experienced that during his senior year at the game against Texas A&M in Lubbock. He had thrown an interception just before halftime, and all the fans began to boo him and chanting for Graham Harrell to go in as he ran up the tunnel towards the locker room. Coming out at the second half, the team blew out the Aggies and now the same people who were just booing him were cheering him on. Hodges said he took it with a grain of salt because he knew why the fans were doing it.
Kingsbury said there is a lot of competition just to get onto the field, so he learned that he had to work harder and play harder than all the others. He also learned through his own experiences to never read what the media has to say about his performance.
"You're never as good or as bad as they say you are," he said. "Just handle your business."
Their years in the Texas Tech football program end after their senior year but the memories they acquire over the four or five years last forever. Kingsbury says his fondest memory of his time as starting quarterback was during his first start ever.
"It was Spike Dykes' last game against Oklahoma in Lubbock and we actually beat them," he said. Coach Dykes had originally recruited Kingsburg and he says he had a great relationship with him. Hodges had a different experience that he said he would always be in his memory, the win at Nebraska during their homecoming game in 2005. "We gave the lead away and I threw a touchdown pass to win the game with 30 seconds left," he said.
Cumbie's greatest memory was different from the other two former quarterbacks. He said it was when he got put on scholarship after the first year at Texas Tech. He was originally a walk on but was put on scholarship the next summer.
After having successful seasons between 2000 and 2005, the three former quarterbacks have a few words of advice for the 2011 starting quarterback and others that will follow.
"Be yourself and be confident and you just have to learn how to handle success - really handle adversity more than success," Cumbie said. "Use those first couple of years to learn and watch the guys in front of you. There's a reason they are playing," Hodges said. "They've earned it, worked hard and they know what they're doing."
Kingsbury's advice to the new quarterback is, "Don't leave the field thinking you could have done more."
Texas Tech has seen many quarterbacks go through the football program. They are perceived as the heart and soul of the team and must be the leaders. The athletes will graduate and go on to be something else besides a `Texas Tech Quarterback'. The number one thing the three former quarterbacks learned:
"At the end of the day, football is football. It can be what you do, but not who you are," Hodges said.
