The life of a football coach, any coach at the college or professional level, is nomadic. In Tulsa for a time, then a cup of coffee in Columbus, then jetting to Jacksonville. All the while leading young men to winning games.
Mack Leftwich is no stranger to this life. He’s currently calling Lubbock, Texas, home. The Red Raiders have a bye week in the college football playoff as the No. 4 seed via their 34-7 Big 12 championship win over BYU last Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
Leftwich is the team’s offensive coordinator and a very good one at that. The Red Raiders pile up numbers, including the second-most total yards, the third-highest-scoring offense in the nation (42.5 points per game) and fifth-most yards per game (480.3).
Part of Leftwich’s journey included a stop in Wexford as a high school junior. His father, a football coach at the high school and college levels, took a job on the Pitt staff in 2012. North Allegheny was Mack’s third high school in three seasons, not to mention the many other towns he and his family moved to and from while his dad worked his way around the country, first in Texas, then Arizona and others.
“My dad coached at North Texas two different times,” Leftwich said during a call. “We’re from the north Texas area. I was born in Denton, and that’s where we spent most of our time growing up before coming to Pittsburgh when dad took a job as the offensive line coach on Todd Graham’s staff. At that time, we were in Tulsa, so North Allegheny became my third high school.”
Graham went 6-6 in 2012 then dashed in the dark of night to Tempe, Ariz., to coach Arizona State. Mack’s dad went with him. When faced with the notion of moving the family a fourth straight year, Mack’s mother stepped in.
“I was in such a good situation at NA, my mom and dad decided it was best not to move me to a fourth high school in four years,” Leftwich said. “We had a great team coming back, and I loved playing under coach Walker, so I came back for my senior season.”
It turned out to be a good decision,: Leftwich held the reins as the team’s starting quarterback, leading the Tigers to WPIAL and PIAA titles in the process in 2013. He threw for more than 3,000 yards in his senior season, finishing his Tigers tenure with a combined 91 touchdowns. After graduation, Mack attended UTEP, where injuries eventually ended his playing days but he found his next path in life.
“Growing up with my dad coaching, I always knew that was the route I was going down,” Leftwich said. “I never dreamed of being a firefighter or airplane pilot. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve known I want to be a football coach. I unfortunately had those injuries at UTEP, and it got me into coaching a few years sooner than expected, but it’s very cool to be living out your lifelong dream.”
Leftwich’s coaching start began at a high school in Texas in 2017, putting his math and education degree to work. That led to a job at Incarnate Word, where he grew as an offensive play designer over three seasons. He then took work as the offensive coordinator at UIW in 2022. That one season was good enough for him to return to his Texas roots as the OC at Texas State, which lit up Sun Belt teams with high-octane play.
The progression of success led him to Lubbock, and Leftwich was quick to praise others who helped him along the way.
“I’ve been fortunate to be around good coaches my whole life,” Leftwich said. “From coach (Art) Walker at North Allegheny to others. Other mentors like Eric Morris who just got the Oklahoma State job, he’s considered to be one of the best offensive coaches, I learned a great deal from him while at Incarnate Word. At Texas State I was under G.J Kinne, who has a great offensive mind. I’ve been around coaches who know what good offensive football looks like and create systems that work. I credit them for showing me what that looks like and how to score points.”
Texas Tech scooped up Leftwich last December, and the move has paid off. The Red Raiders boast the third-largest NIL payroll among the Power Four teams, having shelled out $31 million to players. As for the new way business is conducted in college football, Leftwich has seen things go from “bag men” to the current system.
“The transfer portal wasn’t a thing. In a short period of time, everything has shifted, but I don’t think the kids are as different now than, say, five years ago,” Leftwich said. “Not in the way we coach them, or in the way they want to be coached. In a short period of time, I’ve been a part of it. Our head coach (Joey McGuire), he does a good job of building a winning culture and putting a premium on relationships.”
Texas Tech will await the winner of the James Madison-Oregon quarterfinal game Friday. The Ducks are three-touchdown favorites, and if they win it will set up a meeting against Leftwich’s younger brother Cutter, who is the offensive line coach for Oregon.
Texas Tech’s game is at noon Jan. 1 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.