Recruits React. Wreck’Em 24/7’s Carlos Silva (via the LAJ) has some reaction from some recruits, namely 2016 DT commit, Ivory Jackson, who said that Mike Smith told him before his visit and Smith said that he was likely headed to the NFL. Here’s Jackson:

“With a great leader like Fehoko and all of us being young, we’re ready to do something great,” Jackson said. “Yeah, it’s going to be different without those coaches, but we all have to believe in Gibbs since he will be the guy. We’ll see it through and know were in good hands.

“He flipped the Houston program around and he’s going to do the same with Texas Tech.”

There will be some players that flip their commitment, it is inevitable, so hang on tight. Oh, and there was another tweet from Red Raider Sports that teased that there are more coaching changes and it would seem logical that Trey Haverty is the other coach that may have been let go. Hate speculating here, but that would see logical given the past few days.

RELATED: Smith and Curtis Knew That They Would Not Return Last Year | Texas Tech Spring Game David Gibbs More Thoughts on Smith and Curtis, Considering Possible Replacements | Mike Smith and Kevin Curtis No Longer With Texas Tech Coaching Staff

Kingsbury Had to Fire His Friends. LAJ’s Nicholas Talbot wrote that head coach Kliff Kingsbury had to fire his friends:

The upside to removing them now is Tech will have the same defensive coordinator for two consecutive season in Gibbs, and young players like Breiden Fehoko, D’Vonta Hinton and Jah’Shawn Johnson returning.

It also signals that Gibbs is in charge of the defense. Gibbs is going to bring in “his guys,” and they are going to do it his way, which has worked well for him at every stop he has made throughout his career.

Talbot also goes into Kingsbury’s extension before the 2014 season and saying that he had not earned it in 2014, but maybe in 2015 after going 7-5 and firing two of his friends.

Semifinalists for Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award. Congrats to IR Jakeem Grant, QB Patrick Mahomes and RB DeAndre Washington for being named semifinalists for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, which goes to a player born in Texas and exhibits the best qualities of Earl Campbell. Congrats to all three.

Report: Meacham Staying at TCU; Cumbie Courted by Texas. Land Grant Gauntlet’s Chris Ross notes that TCU co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham is apparently not leaving Ft. Worth and will stay at TCU while fellow co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie is being courted by the Longhorns.

Miscellaneous. Land Grant Gauntlet has their Week 13 Big 12 quarterback rankings . . . ESPN has their latest bowl projections and Mark Schlabach has Texas Tech playing in the Texas Bowl against Texas A&M and Brett McMurphy predicts Texas Tech against Georgia in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.