Rumors began to swirl on Monday afternoon that TCU co-Offensive Coordinator and QB coach Sonny Cumbie was heading to Texas Tech, and now the smoke seems to have a fire.
Don Williams, who covers Texas Tech for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, confirmed the rumor with Texas Tech officials.
Confirmed by a Texas Tech spokesman that Tech is hiring Sonny Cumbie from TCU as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He'll replace David Yost, who was let go last week.
— Don Williams (@AJ_DonWilliams) December 22, 2020
And thus, it seems that Sonny Cumbie’s tumultuous tenure at TCU has come to an end.
Hired in 2014, Cumbie joined Doug Meacham in sparking a TCU offense that had been lackluster since the departure of now-Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente. From 2014-16 the Frogs’ offense was one of the most potent in the country, thanks in large part to the law firm of Boykin and Doctson, with Cumbie serving as TCU’s co-offensive coordinator and QB coach.
When Doug Meacham left to take the offensive coordinator job at Kansas after the 2016 season Cumbie assumed control of the playbook and play calling. Kenny Hill’s second season at the helm of TCU’s offense in 2017 helped lead the Frogs to an 11-3 record and a win over Stanford in the Alamo Bowl, but with Hill’s departure TCU’s offense entered another dark period.
The Frogs couldn’t find a consistent presence at quarterback in 2018 or the beginning of 2019 until Max Duggan’s emergence helped lead TCU to a win over Texas a quarter of the way through last season.
One of the biggest criticisms levied against Cumbie was his playcalling, which has been questioned almost since the day he took the helm as play caller. He lost that job in 2020 with the return of Doug Meacham and the addition of Jerry Kill.
However, his abilities as a recruiter are well documented, and from all accounts he is a fantastic human being. Cumbie managed to land some of TCU’s highest rated quarterback recruits of all time, including the Frogs’ current starter.
Overall, TCU benefitted greatly from Cumbie joining the staff. He coached up Trevone Boykin into one of the best to ever do it at TCU, turned Kenny Hill’s career around and is now mentoring him as a coach, and has developed Duggan in his two years on campus (even if he wasn’t quite able to call the offense to Duggan’s strengths in 2019).
Now, the Frogs turn their attention to hiring a new offensive staffer. Assuming all other roles stay the same, it would make sense for the Frogs to hire a QB coach and hand the sole OC reigns to Meacham.
My guess? Hello QB coach Kenny Hill.