Patrick Mahomes on Kliff Kingsbury After Hire as Commanders OC: He 'Taught Me a Ton'

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had high praise for Kliff Kingsbury after his former college head coach was hired as the new offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Super Bowl, Mahomes called Kingsbury a coach who "taught me a ton" as a player.

The two-time NFL MVP opened up about what Kingsbury did that helped him:

"Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, you see, with a lot of young quarterbacks is whenever they get to a coach, they kind of try to restrict them and kind of make them be this model of how the quarterback position is supposed to be played. And I think he was early in the game of just saying, 'Hey, let's maximize your strengths.' He would teach me here and there how to be more mechanical and get in the pocket and the fundamentals of the game, but he never restricted who I was. It was something where I could have went somewhere, and they could have tried to make me this pocket quarterback, but he let me be who I was kind of on and off the field and it helped me become the player that I am."

Kingsbury was the head coach at Texas Tech from 2013 to '18. He had Mahomes on his team for three seasons from 2014 to '16, including the final two years as the starter.

Mahomes was putting up video-game numbers for the Red Raiders before he got to the NFL. He threw for 9,705 yards, 77 touchdowns, ran for 741 yards and 22 touchdowns in 25 games over his two seasons as the full-time starting quarterback.

The Chiefs have scaled back Mahomes' running, particularly after he suffered a dislocated patella against the Denver Broncos during the 2019 season that kept him out for two games.

But as Mahomes has gained more experience in the NFL, he's been able to marry the off-platform stuff that he utilized often at Texas Tech with elite pocket presence to make on-schedule throws.

The results have made the Chiefs virtually unstoppable for the past six years. They are playing in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the past five seasons. They can become the first team since the 2003-04 New England Patriots to win back-to-back titles.