Texas Tech renames campus drive in honor of track coach Wes Kittley

Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-JournalFri, May 8, 2026 at 1:36 AM UTC

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Wes Kittley's grandfather took him to the high-school track when he was 6 years old, and it was the start of a lifetime love. The little Wes Kittley saw the big kids putting on their track shoes and thought it was the coolest thing. Even better when they invited to jog with them.

That was six decades ago in the little town of Rule, and Kittley still marvels at watching the kids put on their spikes and run. As the director of track & field and cross country, he's led Texas Tech to two national championships and 16 Big 12 championships. His Texas Tech athletes, 24 of whom have competed in the Olympics, have accounted individually for 37 NCAA championships and 227 Big 12 titles.

On Thursday, May 7, Tech officials renamed Drive of Champions on campus to the Wes Kittley Drive of Champions. The Tech University System Board of Regents approved the naming, and Kittley was honored later in the day with a reception.

"You are indeed a West Texas treasure, you're a Texas Tech treasure," Tech President Lawrence Shovanec said, "and this street and this signage will tell that to the world forever. We're so proud that your name will be here for all Red Raiders to know of in the future."

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Then athletics-director Gerald Myers hired Kittley away from Abilene Christian, where his teams had won 29 NCAA championships. That was in August 1999. Kittley, now in his 27th year, is the longest-tenured coach in Tech athletics history.

"The thing I love about Texas Tech — and it started with Gerald and it's ended with you guys, Kirby — you have always made me feel special being at Texas Tech," Kittley said. "I would get three years into a contract and I had a five(-year contract). They would walk in and say, 'Let's move it on back to five again.' This happened, I believe, eight or nine times in 27 years."

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Kittley is 67 and on Thursday reiterated what he said in 2023, that he'd like to coach past age 70, assuming good health. At this season's end, he will have four years left on a seven-year deal that will expire when he's 71.

That'll extend his lifetime love for the sport.

"I got hooked when my grandad took me to the track as a 6-year-old," he said, "and I saw those guys wearing spikes. I was like, 'That's the coolest thing in the world.' I know it's dumb, but I just fell in love with it right then. I wanted to get me a pair of those spikes and run with them. I always wanted to be a track coach."

Texas Tech track and field and cross country head coach Wes Kittley gives the Òguns upÓ sign during the Red Raider Club kickoff luncheon, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center.

And Kittley said he long wanted to coach at Tech. Before he was hired, Tech had had quite a few individual successes, but a lack of funding for the program made winning team titles tough.

"I knew it was a gold mine," he said. "We just needed to get the right guy in here that wanted to work it and wanted to be here, and I wanted to be here. I never wanted to go anywhere else, so any opportunities I had, I never really looked at them."

The Tech women are currently ranked No. 8 and the men No. 14. The Big 12 championships are May 14-16 in Tucson, Arizona.

Texas Tech's head track and field and cross country coach Wes Kittley attends football practice, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, at the Sports Performance Center.

Kittley went to the Tech Regents meeting on Thursday to be part of recognitions for Tech's Big 12 champion track and field and football teams. He'd not been privy to plans to rename a campus street for him.

Asked what he'd say to the athletes he's coached, Kittley said, "This was something that they're a part of, and I want them to be proud when they see my name that it's what they accomplished. It's all the people. It takes a village to do this. My staff, administration, everybody. .... They've always made me feel like I'm wanted, and I'll die for you when I know that."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech renames drive street in honor of track coach Wes Kittley

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