Texas Tech fires head coach Matt Wells after 13-17 record, names Sonny Cumbie interim coach

Deuce Vaughn's third touchdown, his first through air, puts Kansas State above Texas Tech. (0:33).
After more than two seasons as Texas Tech's football coach, Matt Wells was fired.

Monday's announcement by the school was that Wells will be relieved of his duties immediately. The replacement is Sonny Cumbie. Cumbie played as the interim head coach at Texas Tech and was Mike Leach's quarterback between 2000 and 2004. Between 2009 and 2013, Cumbie was an assistant at Tech, before moving to TCU. This season, he was back as the offensive coordinator.

After replacing Kliff Kingsbury in Lubbock, Wells was 13-17. Although the Red Raiders finished 5-3, Wells was only 7-16 in Big 12 games. Only two of those wins were against teams with winning records (in 2019 against an Oklahoma State 8-5 team and 2020 against West Virginia 6-4).

After last year's disappointing 4-6 result, Wells felt under pressure in Lubbock. After last year's 4-6 finish, Wells fired David Yost, the offensive coordinator who had been with him from Utah State. He replaced Cumbie with his new offensive coordinator.

Tech lost a 14 point lead at the end of the second half to Kansas State in a 25-24 defeat. This was Tech's sixth consecutive win over the Red Raiders.