Football
Leftwich, Mack
Mack Leftwich
- Title:
- Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
Mack Leftwich, one of the top offensive coordinators in the country, enters his first season as Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Leftwich arrived at Texas Tech following two seasons at Texas State where he developed one of the nation's top offenses as the Bobcats led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked in the top 15 nationally for total offense and scoring during the 2023-24 campaigns. Texas State's success offensively has pushed the Bobcats to their first two bowl appearances in school history and 16 combined victories, a significant improvement for a program that had not won more than four games since 2014.
Leftwich inherited a Texas State offense that ranked 110th in the country for scoring at only 21.1 points per game prior to his arrival in 2022. He quickly changed that narrative, however, as Texas State used a balanced attack to average 36.7 points per game in 2023 and then 36.5 points in 2024, easily its highest two single-season averages since the Bobcats joined the FBS level in 2012. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt for scoring average in each of his two seasons, while finishing seventh in the FBS in 2023 and then 11th in 2024.
The son of an offensive line coach, Leftwich’s offenses burned opponents both through the air and on the ground as Texas State ranked in the top 30 of the FBS rankings for both passing and rushing yards per game both seasons. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt in total offense per game each season, ranking as high as fifth in the FBS in 2024 after Texas State averaged 476.9 yards per game en route to setting the school record with 6,200 yards of total offense. Texas State previously ranked 15th nationally in total offense in 2023, averaging 457.6 yards per game, up from the 325.1 yards a contest and the No. 112 national ranking the Bobcats posted the year prior to his arrival.
Texas State also set the school records for passing yards (3,522) and completion percentage (66.9) in 2023 behind quarterback TJ Finley, who became the Bobcats’ all-time single-season leader for completion percentage (67.4), passing yards (3,449) and completions (279). The Bobcats snapped the school record again a year later with a 69.7 completion percentage thanks to Jordan McCloud, who ranked seventh in the FBS for completion percentage (70.2) as well as eighth in passing touchdowns (30), ninth in passing efficiency (158.6) and 19th for total passing yards (3,227). He also broke Finley’s previous school record for completion percentage after converting 70.0 of his passes for 3,227 yards and a school record 30 touchdowns.
It wasn’t only the quarterbacks who excelled under Leftwich as running back Ismail Mahdi led the FBS with 2,169 all-purpose yards in 2023. Mahdi, who also excelled in the passing game and as a kick returner, rushed for 1,331 yards and 10 touchdowns that season, which marked the most rushing yards in a season by a Bobcat since Claude Mathis in 1997. His 2,169 all-purpose yards ranked third all-time in Texas State history and were the most by any Bobcat since joining the FBS level in 2012.
Behind Mahdi, Texas State finished with its second-highest rushing total as an FBS program at the time with 2,427 yards on the ground as a team. Mahdi followed with 991 rushing yards in 2024 as Texas State improved its rushing totals, finishing with 2,707 yards on the ground to rank 15th in the FBS and second in the Sun Belt.
Leftwich, a two-time Broyles Award nominee at only the age of 30, joined the Texas State staff following five seasons at Incarnate Word. Leftwich was the Cardinals' offensive coordinator during his final season in San Antonio as he helped lead UIW to a Southland Conference title and the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs as the No. 7 national seed. It marked the furthest the Cardinals had advanced in the FCS playoffs in program history.
IUW led both the FBS and FCS levels with 51.1 points per game that season, which marked the second-highest average in NCAA FCS history. The Cardinal offense scored 50 or more points in seven different games in 2022 en route to also setting the Southland Conference record for total points in a season. It was quite the debut as a play-caller for Leftwich, whose offenses averaged 41.8 points per game between his time at both UIW and Texas State.
Leftwich previously began his tenure at UIW as a graduate assistant under former head coach Eric Morris in 2018 before he was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2019. He was part of the UIW coaching staff for three of its Southland Conference titles in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Leftwich coached the quarterback position in each of his five seasons, helping identify three of the best signal callers in program history in Jon Copeland (2018-19), Cameron Ward (2020-21) and Lindsey Scott Jr. (2022). The trio all sit atop the UIW single-season records for both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Ward, who is expected to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after finishing his career at Miami, combined for 6,908 passing yards and 71 touchdowns during his two seasons, which remain the most in school history. He was tabbed a Freshman All-American by HERO Sports following the COVID-shortened 2020 season and then a second team FCS All-American by STATS in 2021. Ward also earned the Jerry Rice Award for the spring 2021 season, which is presented annually to the top FCS freshman in the country.
Ward set the UIW single-season records with 4,648 passing yards and 47 touchdowns in 2021 en route to leading the Cardinals to their first 10-win season in program history. Both marks were snapped a year later by Scott Jr., who threw for 4,657 yards and 60 touchdowns while also totaling more than 5,300 yards of total offense in his only season with the Cardinals. Scott also had the highest passing efficiency (197.4) in program history and completion percentage (70.9) as he threw 60 touchdown passes to only eight interceptions.
Scott Jr., who also rushed for 712 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, was honored following the season with the prestigious Walter Payton Award, which recognizes the Offensive Player of the Year at the FCS level. He was also tabbed the Southland Conference Player of the Year, becoming the first player in school history to earn the honor.
Like many others on McGuire's staff, Leftwich has experience at the high school level as he was the offensive coordinator at Lehman High School in Katy prior to his hire at UIW. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at UTEP in 2016 where he worked directly with the offensive coordinator, serving in a quality control role and as the main on-field communicator with the quarterbacks on gameday.
Leftwich joined the UTEP staff following the end of his own playing career as a quarterback for the Miners from 2013-15. He was selected to the team's leadership council and was a three-time C-USA Academic Honor Roll selection. Leftwich graduated from UTEP in 2017 with a bachelor's of multidisciplinary studies with a focus in mathematics and education.
Leftwich and his wife, Courtney, are parents to a daughter, Lennie Marie, and a son, Hays. He is the son of longtime college football coach, Spencer Leftwich, who made stops at the likes of Arizona, Pittsburgh, UTEP and North Texas during his career. Leftwich's brother, Cutter, is also in the coaching profession as the assistant offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Oregon.
MACK LEFTWICH COACHING HISTORY
2023-24 – Texas State Offensive Coordinator
2022 – Incarnate Word Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
2019-21 – Incarnate Word Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2018 – Incarnate Word Graduate Assistant
2017 – Lehman High School (Texas) Offensive Coordinator
2016 – UTEP Student Assistant Coach
2016 – Kirkland High School Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
Leftwich arrived at Texas Tech following two seasons at Texas State where he developed one of the nation's top offenses as the Bobcats led the Sun Belt Conference and ranked in the top 15 nationally for total offense and scoring during the 2023-24 campaigns. Texas State's success offensively has pushed the Bobcats to their first two bowl appearances in school history and 16 combined victories, a significant improvement for a program that had not won more than four games since 2014.
Leftwich inherited a Texas State offense that ranked 110th in the country for scoring at only 21.1 points per game prior to his arrival in 2022. He quickly changed that narrative, however, as Texas State used a balanced attack to average 36.7 points per game in 2023 and then 36.5 points in 2024, easily its highest two single-season averages since the Bobcats joined the FBS level in 2012. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt for scoring average in each of his two seasons, while finishing seventh in the FBS in 2023 and then 11th in 2024.
The son of an offensive line coach, Leftwich’s offenses burned opponents both through the air and on the ground as Texas State ranked in the top 30 of the FBS rankings for both passing and rushing yards per game both seasons. The Bobcats led the Sun Belt in total offense per game each season, ranking as high as fifth in the FBS in 2024 after Texas State averaged 476.9 yards per game en route to setting the school record with 6,200 yards of total offense. Texas State previously ranked 15th nationally in total offense in 2023, averaging 457.6 yards per game, up from the 325.1 yards a contest and the No. 112 national ranking the Bobcats posted the year prior to his arrival.
Texas State also set the school records for passing yards (3,522) and completion percentage (66.9) in 2023 behind quarterback TJ Finley, who became the Bobcats’ all-time single-season leader for completion percentage (67.4), passing yards (3,449) and completions (279). The Bobcats snapped the school record again a year later with a 69.7 completion percentage thanks to Jordan McCloud, who ranked seventh in the FBS for completion percentage (70.2) as well as eighth in passing touchdowns (30), ninth in passing efficiency (158.6) and 19th for total passing yards (3,227). He also broke Finley’s previous school record for completion percentage after converting 70.0 of his passes for 3,227 yards and a school record 30 touchdowns.
It wasn’t only the quarterbacks who excelled under Leftwich as running back Ismail Mahdi led the FBS with 2,169 all-purpose yards in 2023. Mahdi, who also excelled in the passing game and as a kick returner, rushed for 1,331 yards and 10 touchdowns that season, which marked the most rushing yards in a season by a Bobcat since Claude Mathis in 1997. His 2,169 all-purpose yards ranked third all-time in Texas State history and were the most by any Bobcat since joining the FBS level in 2012.
Behind Mahdi, Texas State finished with its second-highest rushing total as an FBS program at the time with 2,427 yards on the ground as a team. Mahdi followed with 991 rushing yards in 2024 as Texas State improved its rushing totals, finishing with 2,707 yards on the ground to rank 15th in the FBS and second in the Sun Belt.
Leftwich, a two-time Broyles Award nominee at only the age of 30, joined the Texas State staff following five seasons at Incarnate Word. Leftwich was the Cardinals' offensive coordinator during his final season in San Antonio as he helped lead UIW to a Southland Conference title and the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs as the No. 7 national seed. It marked the furthest the Cardinals had advanced in the FCS playoffs in program history.
IUW led both the FBS and FCS levels with 51.1 points per game that season, which marked the second-highest average in NCAA FCS history. The Cardinal offense scored 50 or more points in seven different games in 2022 en route to also setting the Southland Conference record for total points in a season. It was quite the debut as a play-caller for Leftwich, whose offenses averaged 41.8 points per game between his time at both UIW and Texas State.
Leftwich previously began his tenure at UIW as a graduate assistant under former head coach Eric Morris in 2018 before he was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2019. He was part of the UIW coaching staff for three of its Southland Conference titles in 2018, 2021 and 2022.
Leftwich coached the quarterback position in each of his five seasons, helping identify three of the best signal callers in program history in Jon Copeland (2018-19), Cameron Ward (2020-21) and Lindsey Scott Jr. (2022). The trio all sit atop the UIW single-season records for both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Ward, who is expected to be a top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft after finishing his career at Miami, combined for 6,908 passing yards and 71 touchdowns during his two seasons, which remain the most in school history. He was tabbed a Freshman All-American by HERO Sports following the COVID-shortened 2020 season and then a second team FCS All-American by STATS in 2021. Ward also earned the Jerry Rice Award for the spring 2021 season, which is presented annually to the top FCS freshman in the country.
Ward set the UIW single-season records with 4,648 passing yards and 47 touchdowns in 2021 en route to leading the Cardinals to their first 10-win season in program history. Both marks were snapped a year later by Scott Jr., who threw for 4,657 yards and 60 touchdowns while also totaling more than 5,300 yards of total offense in his only season with the Cardinals. Scott also had the highest passing efficiency (197.4) in program history and completion percentage (70.9) as he threw 60 touchdown passes to only eight interceptions.
Scott Jr., who also rushed for 712 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, was honored following the season with the prestigious Walter Payton Award, which recognizes the Offensive Player of the Year at the FCS level. He was also tabbed the Southland Conference Player of the Year, becoming the first player in school history to earn the honor.
Like many others on McGuire's staff, Leftwich has experience at the high school level as he was the offensive coordinator at Lehman High School in Katy prior to his hire at UIW. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at UTEP in 2016 where he worked directly with the offensive coordinator, serving in a quality control role and as the main on-field communicator with the quarterbacks on gameday.
Leftwich joined the UTEP staff following the end of his own playing career as a quarterback for the Miners from 2013-15. He was selected to the team's leadership council and was a three-time C-USA Academic Honor Roll selection. Leftwich graduated from UTEP in 2017 with a bachelor's of multidisciplinary studies with a focus in mathematics and education.
Leftwich and his wife, Courtney, are parents to a daughter, Lennie Marie, and a son, Hays. He is the son of longtime college football coach, Spencer Leftwich, who made stops at the likes of Arizona, Pittsburgh, UTEP and North Texas during his career. Leftwich's brother, Cutter, is also in the coaching profession as the assistant offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Oregon.
MACK LEFTWICH COACHING HISTORY
2023-24 – Texas State Offensive Coordinator
2022 – Incarnate Word Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
2019-21 – Incarnate Word Assistant Coach (Quarterbacks)
2018 – Incarnate Word Graduate Assistant
2017 – Lehman High School (Texas) Offensive Coordinator
2016 – UTEP Student Assistant Coach
2016 – Kirkland High School Offensive Coordinator (Quarterbacks)
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