Darcel McBath - Football Coach - Texas Tech Red Raiders

Darcel McBath

Title:
Cornerbacks Coach

Darcel McBath, one of the top defensive backs in school history, enters his second season on the Texas Tech football staff and his first as the Red Raiders’ cornerbacks coach.

McBath was promoted to a full-time position coach after serving as an analyst with the Red Raiders during the 2024 season. McBath oversaw Texas Tech’s advanced scouting, providing weekly analysis of opponents on both sides of the ball while assisting with the defensive backs room. McBath was Texas Tech’s defensive backs coach late in the season for its appearance in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

A longtime assistant under the late Mike Leach, McBath returned to his alma mater following four seasons as the cornerbacks coach at Mississippi State (2020-23) and two additional years in a similar capacity at Washington State (2018-19). He began his coaching career as a quality control assistant at North Texas in 2016 before moving to Washington State in the same role the following season.

Mississippi State boasted three of its top cornerbacks in school history under McBath as he mentored Martin Emerson, a third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, Emmanuel Forbes, the No. 16 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft and Decamerion Richardson, who heard his name called in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Forbes, a consensus All-America selection as a senior in 2022, ranked third in the country that season with six interceptions and set the NCAA FBS record after returning his sixth interception for a touchdown.

Mississippi State made three bowl appearances during his four seasons in Starkville as the Bulldogs defeated Tulsa in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl and topped Illinois in the ReliaQuest Bowl to end the 2022 campaign. The win over Illinois capped a 9-4 record for the Bulldogs, only their 10th season in school history with nine or more wins. Mississippi State’s lone loss during his tenure came in 2021 when the Red Raiders topped the Bulldogs in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Over his career, McBath has coached in eight bowl games and has failed to reach the postseason only once, which came during his final season at Mississippi State in 2023. McBath began his coaching career as a quality control assistant at North Texas before rejoining his former college coach in Leach in the same role at Washington State.

McBath was promoted to cornerbacks coach prior to his second year in Pullman in what would become a historic 2018 season for the Cougars. Washington State set the school record with 11 wins that season, ending the year ranked as high as No. 10 in the Associated Press poll following a victory over No. 25 Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl. The successful season followed a 9-4 campaign in McBath’s first season on the Palouse.

McBath was promoted to interim co-defensive coordinator during his final season at Washington State, taking over the role following a loss at No. 19 Utah in only the fifth game of the season. The Cougars went on to finish that season ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with 19 takeaways and tied for second overall with nine fumble recoveries.

Prior to joining the coaching profession, McBath played five seasons in the NFL after being selected in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. McBath spent two seasons with the Broncos before moving on for one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars and two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers where he was a member of the Super Bowl XLVII roster.

A native of Gainesville, Texas, McBath was a four-year letterman at defensive back for the Red Raiders from 2004-08. McBath earned All-Big 12 first team honors as a senior in 2008 after leading the nation with seven interceptions as part of one of the top Texas Tech teams in program history. The Red Raiders finished 11-2 that season, rising to as high as No. 2 in the polls following 10-consecutive wins to start the season, including to top-ranked Texas.

McBath earned his degree in general studies from Texas Tech in 2008. He and his wife, Malorie, were married in 2013 and are parents to two children, Ansleigh and Duke.

COACHING HISTORY
2025-present – Texas Tech Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks)
2024 – Texas Tech Analyst
2020-23 – Mississippi State Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks)
2019 – Washington State Co-Defensive Coordinator (Cornerbacks)
2018 – Washington State Assistant Coach (Cornerbacks)
2017 – Washington State Quality Control Assistant
2016 – North Texas Quality Control Assistant

BOWL GAMES AS A COACH (8): 2024 AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Texas Tech); 2022 ReliaQuest Bowl (Mississippi State); 2021 AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Mississippi State); 2020 Armed Forces Bowl (Mississippi State); 2019 Cheez-It Bowl (Washington State); 2018 Valero Alamo Bowl (Washington State); 2017 Holiday Bowl (Washington State); 2016 Heart of Dallas Bowl (North Texas).