Super Bowl 59: Patrick Mahomes corrects Tommy Tuberville's claims of recruiting QB to Texas Tech
Super Bowl 59: Patrick Mahomes corrects Tommy Tuberville's claims of recruiting QB to Texas Tech
Super Bowl 59: Patrick Mahomes corrects Tommy Tubervilleâs claims of recruiting QB to Texas Tech
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Patrick Mahomes would prefer that credit for his success not be given when itâs not due.
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Thatâs compelled the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback to clarify the history of his college career after a recent attempted revision of it leading up to Super Bowl LIX, in light of remarks made by President Donald Trump and Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
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Trump gave Tuberville credit for coaching Mahomes in college during a speech Wednesday.
âTommy Tuberville, a great coach. You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes,â Trump said. âHe was a great college coach. And I said, âHow good was he?â He said, âYou donât want to know how good. He made me into a great coach.â Heâs a pretty good quarterback, right?â
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Tuberville did indeed coach at Texas Tech, Mahomesâ alma mater, from 2010-12. But the quarterback played in Lubbock from 2014-16 under head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Tuberville didnât correct Trump while he was speaking at a podium. But in a subsequent interview with Megyn Kelly on Thursday, he clarified that he didnât coach Mahomes.
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However, Tuberville claimed that he recruited the three-time Super Bowl champion. He would have been Cincinnatiâs head coach at the time, though his recruitment could have gone back to his Texas Tech tenure.
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âI never coached him. What happened is I recruited him and then I left and went to another school,â Tuberville said. âBut I got to be very good friends with him. Heâs not just a good athlete, heâs a very good example for a lot of our young youth across this country.âAsked about Tubervilleâs remarks in New Orleans on Thursday, Mahomes said that he wasnât recruited by Tuberville and doesnât recall even meeting the coach.
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âHe did not recruit me at the time,â Mahomes told the Philadelphia Inquirerâs Gabriela Carroll. âI donât remember if I ever got to meet him or not.â
Tuberville infamously took the Cincinnati job while at dinner with recruits he was attempting to lure to Texas Tech. During his 21-year career before entering politics, he also coached at Ole Miss and Auburn.
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Meanwhile, Mahomes wasnât recruited by the Red Raiders until a year after Tuberville left. He received his first offer from Texas Tech he was a junior in high school, while also being recruited by TCU and SMU.
Mahomesâ correction likely wonât reach as many as the remarks from Trump and Tuberville. But heâs on the record regarding who recruited and coached him in college prior to an NFL career that will surely lead to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.