Special Poll
Patrick Mahomes isn’t one to let history be rewritten—especially when it comes to his own career.
As hype builds for Super Bowl LIX, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback stepped in to correct a misleading claim made by President Donald Trump and Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville regarding his college football days at Texas Tech.
During a speech on Wednesday, Trump mistakenly credited Tuberville with coaching Mahomes. “Tommy Tuberville, a great coach. You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes,” Trump said. “He was a great college coach. And I said, ‘How good was he?’ He said, ‘You don’t want to know how good. He made me into a great coach.’ He’s a pretty good quarterback, right?”
While Tuberville was indeed Texas Tech’s head coach from 2010 to 2012, Mahomes didn’t arrive at the school until 2014, playing under head coach Kliff Kingsbury from 2014 to 2016. Despite the mix-up, Tuberville did not correct Trump at the time.
In a later interview with Megyn Kelly, Tuberville admitted he never actually coached Mahomes but claimed he was responsible for recruiting him.
“I never coached him. What happened is I recruited him and then I left and went to another school,” Tuberville said. “But I got to be very good friends with him. He’s not just a good athlete, he’s a very good example for a lot of our young youth across this country.”
However, Mahomes quickly set the record straight. Speaking to reporters in New Orleans on Thursday, he firmly denied Tuberville’s claim.
“He did not recruit me at the time,” Mahomes said. “I don’t remember if I ever got to meet him or not.”
The reality is that Mahomes was not recruited by Texas Tech until a year after Tuberville left, receiving his first offer as a high school junior. He was also recruited by TCU and SMU before ultimately committing to Texas Tech.
Tuberville’s past coaching career, which included stints at Ole Miss, Auburn, and Cincinnati, ended in controversy when he abruptly left Texas Tech—walking out on a dinner with recruits to take the Cincinnati job. His claim about Mahomes appears to be another case of embellishment.
While Mahomes’ correction may not reach as wide an audience as Trump and Tuberville’s statements, his response ensures that the record is clear. And as he prepares for yet another Super Bowl, his on-field success speaks for itself—no revisionist history required.