Matt_Wells(101213)1

Wells to leave Utah State for head coaching position at Texas Tech

According to an official release put out Thursday night by Texas Tech football, Utah State football head coach Matt Wells has reached an agreement to leave his current position to become the head coach of the Red Raiders.

This agreement was first reported by Football Scoop, and subsequently verified by several other sources on Twitter before the official Texas Tech football Twitter account made the news of the hiring official at 7:22 p.m. MST.

It was also announced that along with Wells, Texas Tech will be hiring on current USU offensive coordinator David Yost, a semifinalist for the Broyles Award (for the nation’s top assistant coach), and defensive coordinator Keith Patterson.

Texas Tech recently relieved Kliff Kingsbury of his duties as head coach, after the Red Raiders lost five consecutive games to close out the 2018 season, failing to qualify for a bowl game for the second time in the past three seasons. In six seasons as the head coach of Texas Tech, Kingsbury led the team to an overall record of 35-40.

Wells, who has spent eight total years coaching at Utah State in various positions including quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator, recently completed his sixth regular season as head coach of the Aggies.

During his time at the helm of the USU program, the Aggies had a combined record of 44-34, 30-18 in Mountain West play. He also coached the Aggies to four bowl games, with a fifth soon to be announced. He is the second-winningest head coach in program history.

In 2018, Wells coached the Aggies to a 10-2 regular season record, including a 7-1 record in conference play. Utah State climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25 Poll, and as high as No. 21 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.

Wells was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year earlier this week for the second time in his career, becoming the first Aggie head coach to ever earn the honor twice. The previous honor came in 2013 during his first year leading the USU program.

Texas Tech will hold a press conference to formally introduce Wells as the head coach at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

While an immediate search will now begin for the USU Athletics Department to find Wells’ replacement, Utah State awaits an invitation to what will be its seventh bowl game in the past eight years.

jadencrockettjohnson@gmail.com

Twitter: @jadenjohnson00

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