Texas Tech Football Things: Weekend Practice Recap

Head coach Kliff Kingsbury:

Been great, seeing our coaches interacting with people . . . Nic Shimonek: I think offensively, it reminds me of that run after me with B.J. and Cody and Sonny guys that have been in the system for four years, he’s got a bunch of good players around him, he’s really operating at a high level . . . did not know what he was getting, I was literally, like, I’ve got enough quarterbacks, let him try to walk on and see what he’s got, Zach Kittley worked with him on a day-to-day basis, he’s self made, it wasn’t like we gave him anything, we didn’t expect him to be here . . . Joe Wallace is knocking out some corporal punishment, with Madison Akamnonu, his back his tight and letting him rest until spring break, with Wallace, he’ll be back Thursday of this week . . . Wallace’s corporal punishment: mental licks, he’d rather take licks than the amount of conditioning he’s getting in . . . Donta Thompson: wanted to do some things offensively, he played that in high school, we felt that with outside receiver depth we have, he does a good job of inline blocking . . . OL coach Brandon Jones: he’s been good, he’s passionate about this place and done a good job everywhere he’s been coaching similar offenses, i think he’s transitioned seamlessly . . . we were obviously very poor in the run game, saw things that we were too close to the fire to see, we scrapped what we had last year and I think it will pay off, any improvement will be significant . . . Re. scrapping the run game: just more the way we did things on steps and timing, schematics and give ourselves more of an advantage with the offensive line personnel we have . . .

LAJ’s Don Williams wrote about how Houston Miller is getting a look at defensive tackle and pretty much at any spot along the defensive line. Miller is listed at 260, but Kingsbury said that Miller is coming in at 275 to 280. Here’s head coach Kliff Kingsbury and defensive coordinator David Gibbs had to say about Miller:

“You really don’t know exactly until you get to spring,” Kingsbury said on national signing day, “but a guy that’s worked really hard and gained a lot of weight, Houston Miller’s one. He’s a guy we think could play an end. We could slide him down inside and he could be effective as well.”

And defensive coordinator David Gibbs said, “We’ve got a few guys that could change positions in the spring. With these younger guys, we really haven’t pigeonholed them into a certain spot. There’s some guys you haven’t seen yet who could play end or 3-technique (defensive tackle) or noseguard … so we have some versatility there.”

Williams is reporting that Miller and Nick McCann started at the first team with Lonzell Gilmore and nelson Mbanasor at defensive ends.

LAJ’s Don Williams writes about sophomore Douglas Coleman and how he has transitioned to this spring:

“I feel stronger,” he said. “I feel a lot more fit, I guess you could say. Coming in last fall, not being big enough, not feeling like I could take on those guys … Now I’m the size I want to be and I feel like I can do anything.”

Williams said that Coleman was running with the nickel back first team with Jaylon Lane and Octavious Morgan playing the left cornerback and D.J. Polite-Bray and Desmon Smith at right cornerback. There’s also some additional notes there and i’d just caution everyone that I’d bet that the coaches are just testing a bunch of stuff out and the press only is permitted to see 30 minutes of the practice.

LAJ’s Don Williams writes about the position change for Donta Thompson, who is 6’5″ and 220 and the coaches have moved him to the fullback, or what coach Jabbar Juluke calls the B-back, and receivers coach Emmett Jones talked about the versatility that he could bring at that position:

“And I saw it this past semester, him being physical on the edge, and saw him develop as a wide receiver when it came to route running and recognizing coverages. He gives us a different dimension as far as having a big back in the backfield that can block and catch coming out of the backfield also. At the same time, you can line up at Y (inside receiver) without subbing and just keep the tempo going.”

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