The Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton endured a long and exhausting road to the College Football Playoff.
Morton has spent the second half of the 2025 season recovering from a hairline fracture in his right fibula, derailing a season in which he and the Red Raiders – were firing on all cylinders. The injury came after playing two full seasons with a Grade 3 AC joint sprain in his pitching shoulder, which meant a complete tear of the ligaments connecting the collarbone to the shoulder blade.
Texas Tech lost just once after Morton’s injury this time around, doing enough to make the collegiate playoffs as the fourth seed. When the Red Raiders began to prepare for the University of Oregonthere was no way Morton would be on the sidelines.
“It’s not how I was raised,” Morton said, according to a story published by USA Today on December 31, 2025. “I will do my best to enter this field.”
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He continued, “When I’m healthy, I think the offense expands a lot. We have a lot of playmakers though. It makes my job easier. If I can find them open and get them the ball quickly, I think we can be pretty explosive.”
With Morton’s best football, hopefully ahead of him, he has his girlfriend, the Texas Tech football player Kate Leibelsupporting him from the sidelines. The two have been together for more than two years, and their relationship took them from the grill to Texas wine country and beyond.
Although Leibel still has eligibility if she wants to play one more year, she refers to herself as a Texas Tech alumna in her bio. to X and now offers private soccer lessons to kids in the Lubbock, Texas area.
Keep scrolling to see the complete timeline of Behren Morton and Kate Leibel’s relationship.
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June 2023
Behren Morton and Kate Leibel
Courtesy of Kate Leibel/InstagramMorton and Leibel began dating shortly after Leibel’s freshman year ended. Morton had just finished his third year in Lubbock as a redshirt sophomore, poised for his biggest season yet.
December 2023
The couple celebrated Christmas together in Morton’s hometown of Eastland, Texas. Leibel published a carousel of holiday photos, with the family dog prominently featured.
“Taught me around <3," she wrote in the caption.
June 2024
Morton and Leibel celebrated a year together, with Leibel publishing one Instagram tribute that showed the two together, hugging and walking hand in hand.
“A year with my best friend 🤍 it’s so easy to love you B 🫶,” she captioned the photos.
Morton replied to the comments: “I love you munch! ❤️”
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March 2025
Kate Leibel and Behren Morton
Courtesy of Kate Leibel/InstagramThe duo spent part of spring break on a wine tour in Fredericksburg, Texas, with Leibel sharing photos of the couple sipping wine, red and white, and enjoying some time together, exploring the area around Joanna’s Market at Signor Vineyards.
September 2025
The day after Texas Tech’s season-opening win over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Leibel shared photos of her and her friends supporting Morton at the game and during a game tailgate. In one of the images, he is wearing a T-shirt that says “Morton fan club”. She wears her number 2 jersey in many of the others.