It feels shocking to look back on this now, but Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t have a lot of guys who believed in him at the beginning of his career. The consensus around the NFL when Mahomes was drafted was that he had the arm strength and athleticism to make off-platform plays, but his mechanics were considered subpar by some. 

But Mahomes’ college coach wasn’t one of them. Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury coached the quarterback back at Texas Tech, and Kingsbury definitely believed in his quarterback’s occasionally unconventional approach to playing the position. 

“He’s one of the first people that truly believed in me playing the quarterback position,” Mahomes said in an article written by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “He gave me a ton of advice of refining me, but letting me still just be me and play to my strengths. 

“A great coach, a great person that I still stay in touch with. Not as much this week, but throughout my career, and he helped me get to where I’m at today because he didn’t put me in a box and tell me how to play quarterback this way. He let me just go out there and be myself and play the way that got me there. I think that’s something that is special about him as a coach.”

Mahomes’ record at Texas Tech was another reason for the initial NFL skepticism. The Red Raiders were just 7-6 and 4-7 during Mahomes’ time leading the team, but Kingsbury still gave the future Chiefs quarterback free rein during his college career. 

“Coach Kingsbury never ever forced me to be just a pocket passer or hold the ball a certain way,” Mahomes added. “He would obviously help with my footwork and stuff like that and going through progressions, but he would just let me play when it came to playing. 

“He was like, once you get to the game, you got to just go out there and play your game. Same with coach [Andy] Reid and ‘Nags’ [offensive coordinator Matt Nagy] when I got here, it was — they wanted to keep refining and refining but at the same time, they wanted me to go out there and play the game the way it got me here.”

Mahomes has since turned winning into both a staple and an art form, and he’s thankful for Kingsbury’s early tutelage. 

“I’ve been blessed because you can go to some situations, and I’ve seen quarterbacks in other situations that their game gets kind of boxed in and they don’t get to be the best version of themselves.”