Baker Mayfield and Kliff Kingsbury’s feud lowkey occurred by happenstance. A walk-on true freshman paired with a first-year head coach sounds like a recipe for disaster but Mayfield and Kingsbury shocked the nation as Texas Tech shot up the rankings early in the 2013 season. But when an injury sidelined Baker and the losses started to pour in, their relationship soured into a drama-fueled spectacle filled with an ugly transfer, some not-very-nice words from a spurned fan base, and a lot of beef.
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00:00Baker Mayfield and Cliff Kingsbury's feud
00:02low-key occurred by happenstance.
00:05A walk-on true freshman paired with a first-year head coach
00:08sounds like a recipe for disaster,
00:10but Mayfield and Kingsbury shocked the nation
00:13as Texas Tech shot up the rankings early in the 2013 season.
00:17But when an injury sidelined Baker
00:19and the losses started to pour in,
00:21their relationship soured into a drama-fueled spectacle
00:24filled with an ugly transfer,
00:26some not-very-nice words from a spurned fan base,
00:30and a lot of beef.
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00:54Baker Mayfield landing at Texas Tech
00:56was impressive in itself.
00:57Despite being a championship-winning quarterback
01:00in the football-obsessed Lone Star State,
01:02Baker was a three-star recruit without many major offers.
01:06Now, he still had opportunities and could've taken them,
01:09but with the support of his dad, James Mayfield,
01:12who played college ball at the University of Houston,
01:15Baker bet on himself and walked on at Texas Tech.
01:18Florida Atlantic for sure caught a stray,
01:21but Baker's roll of the dice hit at the right time.
01:24Anticipated Red Raiders starting QB,
01:26Michael Brewer got hurt before the season,
01:28opening the door for Mayfield to snatch the role.
01:31In week one, Baker made history
01:33as the first true freshman walk-on in FBS
01:36to start a season opener at quarterback.
01:39He dropped numbers in his debut
01:40and kept it rockin' over the next four games,
01:43leading Tech to an impressive 5-0 start.
01:46Journalists believe Tech was poised
01:47for a breakout season behind the walk-on.
01:49The problem with that, for Tech, Baker,
01:53and all the folks caught up in this web of beef,
01:55the trouble began when Baker injured his knee
01:58in that fifth win.
01:59In his absence, Tech won two games
02:02and came crashing down with a five-game losing streak.
02:05Baker, despite being healthy earlier,
02:08didn't return to action until the third of those losses.
02:11Purposely sitting your QB who won ya multiple games
02:14in a row certainly seems like a choice,
02:17but journalists believe head coach Cliff Kingsbury
02:20earned the decision to do so.
02:22He was the latest boy genius.
02:24As a former Tech signal caller himself,
02:26Kingsbury shattered school records
02:28during his time in Lubbock.
02:29After college, Kingsbury bounced around in the pros
02:32before deciding he was better fit for a headset
02:35and holding a play sheet.
02:37In just a few years of coaching,
02:39Kingsbury proved to be one of college football's
02:41top offensive minds, developing relatively unknown QBs
02:44into showstoppers, like University of Houston's Case Keenum
02:48and transforming Texas A&M's first-year starter,
02:51Johnny Manziel, into a Heisman Trophy winner.
02:54When the head coach gig opened up at Tech in 2013,
02:57Kingsbury got the call to return to his alma mater.
03:00Just 33 years old at the time of his signing,
03:03some media members believe Kingsbury lacked the experience
03:05to lead a program where former coaches he worked under
03:09praised his knowledge of the game.
03:10In his first year at the helm,
03:12he was immediately thrust into action
03:14with the decision to start a walk-on true freshman.
03:18As Baker lit up opposing defenses,
03:20journalists further praised Cliff's penchant
03:22for helping young quarterbacks thrive.
03:24Media members couldn't help but gush over the energy
03:27that Cliff brought to revitalize Tech.
03:29But once Baker went down, things got kinda weird.
03:34Kingsbury revealed the issue wasn't severe
03:36and the team would take things a day at a time.
03:39The head coach didn't allow freshmen
03:40to talk to media members,
03:42but Mayfield seemed to be taking the setback in stride.
03:45Two weeks later when Tech was set
03:47to face off against West Virginia,
03:48it seemed odd that Kingsbury wouldn't name a starter
03:51leading up to the game,
03:52but said all three of his QBs were available.
03:55Baker eventually returned to the starting slot,
03:57but after a week 11 loss,
03:59Kingsbury didn't necessarily give a glowing review
04:02of his quarterbacks room.
04:03It didn't help that his defense allowed opposing teams
04:07to drop an average of 44 plus points on their head
04:10over the final three games.
04:12But yeah, Baker started the last two matchups of the season
04:15with both losses,
04:17and when Kingsbury declared a three-way competition
04:19for their bowl game, the messaging was clear for Baker.
04:23He didn't feel welcomed.
04:25Baker remained tight-lipped,
04:26citing miscommunication issues as a reason for his transfer,
04:30but a month after his initial announcement,
04:32he let it all fly going right at his former coach
04:35and school.
04:36In an interview with ESPN,
04:39Baker felt his coach left him out to dry,
04:41not giving him a heads up
04:42when he was healthy enough to play.
04:45When he did get back to the field,
04:47Baker could feel the pressure from his coach
04:49thinking he could get benched at any moment.
04:52The lack of communication with Kingsbury
04:54led Baker to the door,
04:55but Tech refusing to offer him a scholarship
04:58pushed him over the threshold.
05:00Baker felt grateful for the opportunity Kingsbury gave him,
05:04but said his former coach was shocked
05:05to hear about him dipping.
05:07Baker didn't buy it.
05:08If Kingsbury truly believed in him,
05:11Baker thought Cliff could have expressed that sentiment
05:13during the season.
05:15The dude felt wronged
05:16and was well within his right to transfer,
05:19but Baker made things messy with his decision.
05:22He wanted to transfer to the University of Oklahoma,
05:25which presented unique problems.
05:28Firstly, the NCAA had a rule stating that any player
05:31who hadn't yet graduated but planned to transfer
05:34had to sit out a year before returning to game action.
05:37Baker would be in the same conference as his old school,
05:40and the Big 12 had its own set of bylaws.
05:43Not only would he have to sit an entire season,
05:46but Baker would lose an entire year of eligibility
05:49on top of that.
05:50That loss could be weighed by the player's former school,
05:53but Tech wasn't having it.
05:55Get this, Baker had zero talks
05:59with any of the coaches at Oklahoma.
06:01His father had connections with the Sooners,
06:03often taking Baker to games as a kid,
06:05so he wanted to suit up for his childhood squad.
06:08Later, when questioned about the whole ordeal
06:10at Big 12 media days,
06:12Kingsbury defended his program,
06:13saying he and Tech simply followed protocol.
06:16Kingsbury also denied Baker's scholarship accusation,
06:20saying he talked with Baker and his family,
06:22but he'd already jumped ship.
06:24It's a classic game of he said, he said,
06:28but Baker's dad inserted his two cents as well,
06:31saying Cliff, and only Cliff,
06:33was the reason the situation spiraled into what it did.
06:36But if you ask fellow Big 12 coach Gary Patterson,
06:40who tried to recruit Baker to TCU out of high school,
06:43Patterson believed Baker's dad
06:45was a gigantic pain in the ass,
06:47which Cliff maybe didn't want to air out himself.
06:50Tech eventually relented and waived the transfer protocol,
06:53allowing Oklahoma to open an extra scholarship slot
06:56for Baker, but it came after a long, drawn-out process.
07:00Still, per NCAA rules,
07:03Baker wasn't allowed to hit the field for the 2014 season,
07:06minimizing any chances of beef between the lines.
07:10But that didn't stop Tech fans from entering the equation.
07:13When Oklahoma visited Lubbock
07:15for their road matchup that season,
07:17Baker was booed and kicked out of a restaurant
07:19just trying to have a meal with his new squad.
07:22Tech supporters clearly wanted smoke with Baker,
07:25but he seemed to take it on the chin,
07:26understanding that's just a part of college football.
07:29At least, at that moment he did.
07:32The following season, Baker again did the unthinkable,
07:35earning the starting job for Oklahoma,
07:37meaning he finally got the chance
07:39to square off against Kingsbury.
07:41Leading up to the game,
07:42other than Baker happily recounting the exact moment
07:45he told Cliff he was outta there,
07:47the two dodged any questions regarding their beef.
07:50Come game time, that wasn't the case.
07:53Oklahoma dragged Tech,
07:55and every time Baker hit on a big play,
07:58he made sure to look Cliff's way in disgust
08:00as if to remind his former coach,
08:02you might've fucked up.
08:04It's that type of pettiness
08:06that makes beef so special.
08:08But by that moment,
08:09it was hard to expect anything less from Baker.
08:12He again defied the odds against him
08:14and played with a Texas-sized chip on his shoulder,
08:17thriving off hate,
08:18using any slight toward him as motivation.
08:21This was a dude who kept a handwritten list
08:24of some of his worst criticisms.
08:27That's just who Baker was,
08:28and Kingsbury played a huge influence
08:31putting a battery in his back early.
08:33Although, after that matchup,
08:36the two appeared to bury the hatchet.
08:38Headed into the 2016 season,
08:40Baker became the poster boy for walk-ons
08:42as the Big 12 reversed their previous ruling.
08:45Later that year, during conference media days,
08:47Kingsbury acknowledged his past run-ins with Baker,
08:50but had nothing but praise for his former QB,
08:52confirming that Tech voted in favor of the rule change.
08:56The two were even spotted shaking hands and cheesing
08:58during those same media days.
09:00As their yearly matchup approached in 2016,
09:04Baker seemed to be over the whole revenge narrative.
09:06He admitted to using that as fuel
09:08for last season's showdown,
09:10but other than expecting an erotic crowd
09:12in his return to Lubbock,
09:13Baker viewed it as just another Big 12 game.
09:16Except Tech fans were ready for war.
09:20The student section came out rockin'
09:22as they donned T-shirts that read Traitor on them.
09:25As the Sooners pulled away on a classic 66-59 shootout
09:28over Patrick Mahomes and the Red Raiders,
09:31fans showered Baker with a parade of pleasantries.
09:41After the game,
09:42man's had to have a security escort off the field
09:45because folks were launching full water bottles at him.
09:49Sure, Baker fed off their energy
09:51and tonneted the crowd during the game,
09:53but putting players at harm is super O.D.
09:57Kingsbury felt the same and took it to the fan base.
10:01The coach was all in favor of an amp atmosphere,
10:04but thought the university was represented poorly
10:06with all the antics.
10:08Baker and Cliff are now new paths
10:09in their careers and the pros.
10:11Cliff reflected on how he could've handled things differently
10:14but felt confident in the relationship
10:16he and Baker had formed since.
10:18Baker agreed, saying time and conversations
10:21between the two healed all,
10:24which appeared to be a new wrinkle
10:25for a dude famously known for holding grudges.
10:29But it's honestly not so surprising
10:31seeing how this beef fell in place from the jump.
10:34Cliff gave Baker his first opportunity in college
10:37and maybe none of this happens if Baker never got hurt.
10:41Once Baker transferred,
10:42maybe there was a little credibility
10:45to his pops meddling around like Patterson said.
10:48Things ultimately worked out for both dudes.
10:51Baker got what he wanted at Oklahoma
10:54and Cliff reloaded perfectly fine at QB.
10:57They had no need to be at each other's throats any longer.
11:00But when this feud got set in motion,
11:02it had already taken a life of its own among fans.
11:06Kingsbury may have put down his sword,
11:08but the people of Lubbock were ready
11:09to pick up the fight in its place.
11:11And Baker, being Baker, was ready to answer the call.
11:15Once you squeeze beef out the tube,
11:18then there ain't no putting it back.
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