Leftwich tabbed to lead Texas Tech’s offense
December 06, 2024 | Football
Texas Tech has named Mack Leftwich as its new offensive coordinator following two seasons at Texas State
LUBBOCK, Texas – Mack Leftwich, who has led one of the nation's top high-scoring offenses the past two seasons, has been tabbed Texas Tech's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, head coach Joey McGuire announced Friday.
Leftwich arrives at Texas Tech following two seasons at Texas State where he has developed one of the nation's top offenses as the Bobcats have led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked in the top 15 nationally for total offense and scoring each of the last two years. Texas State's success offensively has pushed the Bobcats to their first two bowl appearances in school history and 15 combined victories, a significant improvement for a program that had not won more than four games since 2014.
"It was important as we transitioned offensive coordinators to keep our identity as a tempo-based, balanced offense, which perfectly fits Coach Leftwich," McGuire said. "In a short period of time, he has quickly become one of the nation's top coordinators and has done so by staying balanced, which following the success of Tahj Brooks the past two seasons, was important as we continue to build this program. We couldn't be more excited to welcome Coach Leftwich and his family here to Texas Tech."
Leftwich inherited a Texas State offense that ranked 110th in the country for scoring average at only 21.1 points per game prior to his arrival in 2022. He quickly changed that narrative, however, as Texas State averaged 36.7 points per game in 2023 and has a 37.1 clip thus far this season, both of which have led the Sun Belt and ranked 11th in the FBS. Texas State's current 37.1 scoring average is on pace to be the highest in school history, breaking its FBS school record with 477 points scored in 2023.
The Bobcats are currently averaging 474.3 yards of total offense per game this season, which leads the Sun Belt and ranks sixth nationally. Texas State previously ranked 15th nationally in total offense in 2023, averaging 457.6 yards per game, up from the 325.1 yards a contest and the No. 112 national ranking the Bobcats posted the year prior to his arrival.
Leftwich's offense has featured a balanced approach as the Bobcats have ranked among the top-30 teams nationally in both rushing and passing yards per game each of his two seasons. Texas State is currently 16th in the FBS with 208.8 rushing yards per game and then 29th with 265.5 passing yards a contest. The Bobcats set the FBS school record for passing yards in 2023 and finished with the second-highest rushing total in program history.
Leftwich, a two-time Broyles Award nominee at only the age of 30, joined the Texas State staff following five seasons at Incarnate Word. Leftwich was the Cardinals' offensive coordinator during his final season in San Antonio as he helped lead UIW to a Southland Conference title and the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs as the No. 7 national seed. UIW averaged 51.5 points per game that season, which led both the FBS and FCS levels.
Leftwich previously began his tenure at UIW as a graduate assistant under former head coach Eric Morris in 2018 before he was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2019. He was part of the UIW coaching staff for three of its Southland Conference titles in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Like many others on McGuire's staff, Leftwich has experience at the high school level as he was the offensive coordinator at Lehman High School in Katy prior to his hire at UIW. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at UTEP in 2016 where he worked directly with the offensive coordinator, serving in a quality control role and as the main on-field communicator with the quarterbacks on gameday.
Leftwich joined the UTEP staff following the end of his own playing career as he was a quarterback for the Miners from 2013-15. He was selected to the team's leadership council and was a three-time C-USA Academic Honor Roll selection. Leftwich graduated from UTEP in 2017 with a bachelor's of multidisciplinary studies with a focus in mathematics and education.
Leftwich and his wife, Courtney, have a daughter, Lennie Marie. He is the son of longtime college football coach, Spencer Leftwich, who made stops at the likes of Arizona, Pittsburgh, UTEP and North Texas during his career. Leftwich's brother, Cutter, is also in the coaching profession as the offensive line coach at North Texas.
Leftwich replaces Zach Kittley, who departed Texas Tech earlier this week to become the head coach at Florida Atlantic. He will join the Texas Tech staff immediately but will not coach in its upcoming bowl game.
MACK LEFTWICH COACHING HISTORY
2023-24 – Texas State Offensive Coordinator
2022 – Incarnate Word Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
2019-21 – Incarnate Word Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2018 – Incarnate Word Graduate Assistant
2017 – Lehman High School (Texas) Offensive Coordinator
2016 – UTEP Student Assistant Coach
2016 – Kirkland High School Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
