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Things You Shouldn’t Worry About: Volume I – Beard’s Contract and the Offense

Miscellany
Seth C

Things You Shouldn’t Worry About: Volume I – Beard’s Contract and the Offense

This may be a full-on series or it may be a one-off. I wish we knew.

“Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, Faith looks up”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why Hasn’t Beard Signed His Contract?

This one is pretty simple. Texas Tech played in and Chris Beard coached in the National Championship game and so time was of the essence. Beard only had a few days to go out and recruit before the dead period started, which was yesterday. The quick and dirty answer is that Beard was actually working and trying to make Texas Tech better by recruiting point guard Clarence Nadolny.

So, Beard hasn’t signed his contract or really had time to work on a contract just yet. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen.

Davide Moretti Is Going to Leave Texas Tech!

Well, this still could happen, but I kind of get the feeling that Davide Moretti enjoys the college experience. It’s probably pretty fun to get top of the line training, dialed in nutrition, and top notch coaching. I don’t know that Moretti is getting that in Italy (he may argue that the nutrition is just fine in Italy, just give him his sauce!). Yesterday, Moretti spoke to NCAA’s Andy Katz and he said that the only thing he could think about doing is how to get better next year.

So yeah, he’s probably pretty dialed in and there’s a possibility that he could leave early. His dad is a head coach and he’s been away from home for two years, but I think he knows that he can be really good next year. Think of the jump in progress he made from last year to this year. I think it was one light year.

What’s Wrong With the Texas Tech Offense?

I feel ya, for sure. There were some rough edges with the offense, but let’s consider a few things:

  • The most versatile and complete tight end might not be on campus, Tyler Koontz. I have a feeling that he may be a day-1 starter. With the current group of tight ends, you’ve got one guy that’s just a blocker pretty much, Tyler Carr (although I think he is getting better catching those passes), a guy like Donta Thompson who is a decent pass catcher, but never had the opportunity to do it last year, and Simon Gonzalez who should essentially be in high school right now. Bold statement?
  • The offensive line is missing your absolutely best player in Jack Anderson and Dawson Deaton, who was the 6th man last year was also out. That’s some pretty important pieces to a cohesive offensive line.
  • T.J. Vasher and Seth Collins were both out for the game and those are likely your best receivers. The cool thing is that we got to see some Erik Ezukanma flex a little on Saturday and I sort of like those sorts of pleasant surprises.
  • The one thing that doesn’t cause me a bit of concern is the fact that Alan Bowman is your guy. He’s our guy.

What About Khavon Moore? What’s Happening There?

This is the one where I can’t really give you anything concrete, but theoretically, I really sort of inherently trust Chris Beard to put together a pretty terrific roster. One that works and one that will be the best for everyone. I recall last year that Josh Webster did not come back last year, he was asked to basically leave. But that’s not always a bad thing. Webster averaged about 5 minutes a game last year and he most likely wasn’t going to play any minutes this year. At Missouri State Webster was the starting point guard and he averaged nearly 8 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds a game. Hell yeah!. He got to play his senior year and was an integral part of that program.

I want to give plenty of credit for Webster’s head coach at Missouri State for letting him lead like that. That’s awesome. But sometimes things work out for the best. Beard has always said that he’s a truth-teller and sometimes telling someone the truth isn’t always fun, but if he’s asking a guy to move on then there’s maybe a good reason for it and if Beard can help that transition with all of the people he knows, then that’s beneficial too.

With Khavon Moore, I’m not sure what will happen. He’s got this life in Georgia that’s maybe a bit different than what he’s got here and maybe there’s some mutual benefit to moving on and maybe there’s some benefit to him staying here. What I will say is that with Corprew, Khalid Thomas, Andre Savrasov and Terrence Shannon, Jr. all looking for minutes, it’s going to be a very crowded frontcourt.

If Moore does move on, then I’m pretty comfortable as to how Beard will make it all work.

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