Sonny Jack Cumbie (born August 8, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Cumbie previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech University and was the interim head coach after the departure of Matt Wells in 2021. He also served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Christian University (TCU). Cumbie played college football at Texas Tech and was the team's starting quarterback during the 2004 season, when he led the nation in passing and total offense and a guided the Red Raiders to win in the 2004 Holiday Bowl, earning MVP honors for the game. Cumbie played professionally in the Arena Football League (AFL), the Indoor Football League (IFL), and briefly in the National Football League (NFL).
High school career
Cumbie attended Snyder High School in Snyder, Texas, and was a three-sport letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, as a senior, he won first team All-District honors, Honorable Mention All-South Plains honors, and was named the District MVP He was coached by David Baugh, the son of quarterback Sammy Baugh. In basketball, he won All-District honors and All-Big Country honors. In baseball, he was named the District MVP as a senior. Cumbie graduated from Snyder High School in 2000. He received scholarship offers from Tarleton State University and West Texas A&M University. Cumbie declined them both and enrolled at Texas Tech University, about 80 miles from Snyder, and decided to accept an invitation to walk on to the football team from head coach Mike Leach.
College career
2000–2003
Cumbie walked on at Texas Tech, where he had enrolled as a student. Cumbie was on the scout team during the 2000 season, and earned a scholarship to be on the team prior to the 2001 season. He served as third-string quarterback behind Kliff Kingsbury and B. J. Symons during the 2001 season. Cumbie saw his first action during a 2002 win over New Mexico. He completed his first pass against Baylor University. After Kingsbury graduated, Symons was named the starter and Cumbie became the back-up. Tech blew out many opponents that year, giving Cumbie plenty of mop up time. He threw his first and only touchdown as a back-up against Baylor in a 62–0 rout in 2003. Prior to the 2004 season, he completed 40 passes out of 62 attempts for 374 yards and a touchdown with a 65.5 completion percentage.
2004
Cumbie earned the starting spot for the 2004 season over highly recruited junior college quarterback Robert Johnson and redshirt junior Cody Hodges. Cumbie led the Raiders to 7 regular season wins over SMU (27–13), TCU (70–35), Kansas (31–30), Nebraska (70–10), Kansas State (35–25), Baylor (42–17), and Oklahoma State (31–15). The Raiders were upset by New Mexico 27–24 and lost close games to division rivals Oklahoma (28–13), an overtime loss to Texas A&M (32–25), and were also defeated by the University of Texas (51–21). The Raiders finished the regular season 7–4, with a 5–3 conference record tied for third in the Big 12 South, and were invited to play a top 5 University of California team in the Holiday Bowl. Cumbie finished the regular season as the national leader in passing yards and passing offense.
Cumbie lead #23 ranked Texas Tech to a win in the 2004 Holiday Bowl over Aaron Rodgers, who led the #4 California Golden Bears. The Raiders were huge underdogs, but Cumbie went 39–60 (65%) and a career-high 520 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Raiders to the win. His performance in that game earned him M.V.P. honors. Cumbie finished the season his Senior season with 4,742 passing yards, completing 65.6 percent of his passes for 32 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions, and became the third straight Red Raider quarterback to lead the nation in passing.