The first practice is in the books and Texas Tech started practice in the new indoor practice facility due to some all too common July showers and then apparently moved outside once the weather passed.
Thanks to generous donations to the Campaign for Fearless Champions, practice No. 1️⃣ of #TTUCamp17 is indoors! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/awY6htc35U
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) July 31, 2017
I’ve posted some highlights below, and RedRaiderSports’ Will McKay has some highlights as well.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury held court after practice. The volume was really down when the press conference started and was tough to hear, but here goes the non-transcript:
Kliff Kingsbury: Using the new indoor practice facility, to be able to use it was nice and not have to push back practice, gave us a little energy to start practice. It was my [Kingsbury’s] first time in the facility and really just started to stretch . . .
. . . [D’Vonta Hinton] working through some health issues, don’t have a date for return yet, we’ll see how it develops, it’s day to day, it’s a number of things, nothing life threatening
. . . [Dewayne Johnson] he’s still learning our system, he played at Nebraska and he’s an experienced guy, telling him to go take one of those guard spots . . . getting Dwayne here early, we thought he’d have a slight edge, but we haven’t pushed one ahead of the other
. . . it’s a positive day, we’re 0-0, and that’s a positive thing for the coaches
. . . [on the young offensive linemen] maybe some of these young guys don’t have to play, but we’re going to let them all compete and see if we have guys that can redshirt
. . . [Paul Stawarz] yeah, he’s come a long ways, he’s worked at it and worked to get stronger, he was snapping every day and watching film, he’s got a good feel as to how we do things. Tony Morales is the backup center and going to compete with some of those other guys, he’s doing great in grad school
. . . [how Kingsbury changes] I think you adapt to your personnel, keep track of what worked and what didn’t worked, I think everyone has expiramented on what worked. I think the two-a-days, we’re down to 4 of them and you can’t wear pads, basically glorified scrimmage
. . . [who steps up if Hinton can’t go] Christian Taylor has stepped up and had a great spring, he’ll step up to that position
A-J Media’s Don Williams that touches on most of those items discussed in the press conference.
From A-J Media talks with the aforementioned Dwayne Johnson, who transferred in from Nebraska, who wants to work for the FBI or a SWAT team when he finishes school and why he chose Texas Tech:
“I kind of wanted to go to a bigger school, and just growing up I liked Texas Tech,” he said. “It got a hold of me and I’m here now, so I’m excited to be here.”
So Johnson will make the most of his last college football season. Some time after, he’ll endeavor to be part of another squad — the SWAT team — and fulfill a childhood dream.
“Growing up, I always pictured myself being one of those guys to kick down a door or whatnot,” he said. “It grabbed my attention, and that’s the way I want to go.”