Baker Mayfield and Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury have a fairly brief history together, but the time they spent with one another clearly left a lasting impression on the top overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Before he became a star at Oklahoma, Mayfield spent the 2013 season at Texas Tech. He enjoyed great success and led the Red Raiders to a 5-0 record before suffering a knee injury, and he was later named the Big 12 Conference Freshman Offensive Player of the Year. Despite that, Mayfield never got his job back. Kingsbury instead gave it to fellow true freshman Davis Webb, and Mayfield has held a grudge since.
In a recent interview FOX Sports for its docu-series, “All The Way Up,” Mayfield unloaded on Kingsbury for his lack of loyalty.
“It went from being ‘the guy’ for Coach Kingsbury to when I got hurt, it just changed a little bit … not a little bit, a lot,” Mayfield said, as transcribed by Brad Crawford of 247Sports.com. “All the sudden, it was as if I hadn’t played for him, hadn’t done anything for him. It was just different after I got hurt.”
Mayfield transferred to Oklahoma after the season, citing a “lack of communication” between him and the coaches at Texas Tech.
“I’ve invested a lot into this and now you’re telling me you don’t have a scholarship for a guy who won five games after choosing to come here?” Mayfield said of Kingsbury. “That was the final straw for me.”
When TMZ reached out to Kingsbury for his thoughts on Mayfield ripping him, the coach took the high road.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Baker and loved working with him,” Kingsbury said. “He had an incredible career at Oklahoma, and I wish him nothing but continued success as he begins his NFL career.”
Mayfield is one of those players who loves being doubted, and that’s the motivation behind all of his questionable interactions with opposing fans when he was at Oklahoma. Great players are often driven by those they feel wronged them, so Kingsbury will be among the people Browns fans should thank if Mayfield becomes a star in the NFL.
