The official site has released the spring roster and we need you to help look for any updates in the comments. Robert Hall is returning to Lubbock and the ESPN Big 12 Blog Bros opine on the keys for David Gibbs as the new defensive coordinator.

Spring Roster Released.  The official site released, or updated, the spring roster and there are apparently some new weights for some of the players and some new walk-ons. LAJ’s Don Williams tweeted out a few things that he noted, including that Patrick Mahomes and Davis Webb have both added some weight, Mahomes up to 221 and Webb up to 227.  Also, Rika Levi is down to 339 from a weight that was way too high last year and DE Talor Nunez, a walk-on, is up to 265. I’d love to have you all point out anything else you might notice in the comments.

As to some of the new preferred walk-ons that stood out to me, were as follows:

• K Michael Barden (5-10/174) Austin Westlake – Video: Barden was originally supposed to be part of the 2012 class and this says he originally committed to Air Force.
• FB Stanton Keane (6-0/222) Cooper:  His bio ways that he was a redshirt last year, but I didn’t remember that. He played quarterback as a senior.  Here’s an article from high school when he choose Texas Tech. I couldn’t find any video other than just single game highlights on news broadcasts, not a full-on highlight video.
• RB Connor Wyatt (5-8/196) West Texas A&M – Video: He’s mainly just running over people there and does catch the ball out of the backfield well.
• OL Ethan Smith (6-5/268) Atascocita – Video: Same school as incoming receiver Quan Shorts. He’s a bit light in the video, but he is tall and maybe that frame will fill out.

Hall Looks to Get Into Quarterback Coaching. Really terrific interview from Red Raider Sports’ Matt Clare with former Texas Tech footballer Robert Hall, who is currently coaching with Mesquite Horn and they will be visiting for a two-day coaching clinic this week.

On a personal note, Robert Hall is who made me fall in love with wide open offenses, started by the late, great, Dick Winder. In any event, Hall talks about why he’s coming to Lubbock and this is just a very small part of the interview:

“I coach offense and work with quarterbacks, so my focus will mostly be play calling in certain situations and what type of drills or development they are doing with the quarterbacks. Coach Kingsbury is known for being a good quarterback coach and has produced some very good, young quarterbacks. I want to ask about what plays or options they would call in certain situations, along with observing some of the various drills they put the quarterbacks through.

“Coach Kingsbury and I both played quarterback, plus we both have some of the same influences in terms of coaching and drills. Dick Winder, rest his soul, was such a great coach and had an impact on both of our careers. Kingsbury played under coach (Mike) Leach, but he learned Dick Winder drills in practice and the same goes for several coaches across college football. Art Briles told me that he used to drive from Stephenville to Lubbock back in the day just to learn from Dick Winder. I’m just a student of the game and want to continuously learn more about how to development talent.”

Also part of the interview is that new director of player personnel, Emmett Jones, walked on at Texas Tech during Hall’s senior year, and I didn’t know that. Also, Hall has his own quarterback school, which is great. Seriously, go check out the whole thing, you’ll be sorry you didn’t.

MikeTTU Don’t Stop. I think I may have missed this last week, but I’ll do my best not to miss it again, via Wreck’Em 24/7’s Mike LaBarre he’s back with his possible Red Raiders from this past week.

Keys for Gibbs. The ESPN Big 12 Blog Bros did a roundtable and asked what was the biggest key for all of the new coordinators. There’s lots there as they went through the entire Big 12 and all three bloggers answered, but I’ll pick out Max Olson:

Olson: Got to start by finding a way to consistently stop foes from doing what’s easiest: running right at these Red Raiders. Opponents ran the ball nearly 50 times per game against Tech last season, 11 more than the league average. No wonder they ended up with the worst run D of all Power 5 teams. I like a lot of the pieces Tech has in its front seven entering 2015 and am curious to see what solution Gibbs can offer for perhaps their big weakness.

Briles Likes Hocutt. Via the Waco Tribune Baylor head coach Art Briles said that he does like that Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt was added to the College Football Playoff selection committee:

“I’ve fortunately never been on trial, but if you go to trial, you’d like to have a jury that fits the demographic or a makeup of the people you’re representing or you would like to be represented by,” Briles said. “And to me, it fits. He’s from the south, he’s played football, he’s young, and he understands this part of the nation.”