Patrick Mahomes Corrects Republican Senator Who Took Credit for Recruiting Him: ‘He Did Not’

Adrian Kraus/AP/C-SPAN

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes corrected the record after Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and President Donald Trump made false claims about the three-time Super Bowl champion.

Mahomes will aim for a fourth title on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.

At an executive order signing ceremony on Wednesday, Trump claimed that Tuberville – a former college football coach – coached Mahomes at Texas Tech.

“You know, his quarterback was named Mahomes,” the president said. “He was a great college coach. And I said, ‘How good was he?’ He said, ‘You don’t wanna know how good. He made me into a great coach. He’s a pretty good quarterback, right?’ Yeah, he was very good. He’s a good guy too.”

However, Mahomes’ arrival came after Tuberville left the Red Raiders.

Tuberville later appeared on The Megyn Kelly Show where he briefly set the record straight before taking credit for bringing Mahomes to Texas Tech.

“I never even coached him,” the senator said. “What happened was, I recruited him and then I left and went to another school. But I’ve got[ten] 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.”

Tuberville’s tale doesn’t square with the facts. In 2022, ESPN ran a lengthy account on how it was Kliff Kingsbury who worked to bring Mahomes to Lubbock.

“We went after him hard,” said Kingsbury, who is now the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders.

Moreover, on Thursday, Gabriela Carroll of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that not only does Mahomes deny being recruited by Tuberville, but he isn’t even sure he’s met the senator.

“He did not recruit me at the time,” she quoted the quarterback as saying. “I don’t remember if I ever got to meet him or not.”