Athlon Sports has their annual expose as they have anonymous Big 12 coaches discuss their conference foes, including Texas Tech.

The opposing anonymous coach thinks that this year is going to be a transition year:

“It’s gonna take some time there. You know you’ll have depth at the skill positions on offense. You know that you’ll have to account for a solid receiving corps every year. That was the makeup of the team for so long. So if they’re going to start rolling in new stuff, it’s a gradual process. Your personnel dictates your creativity.”

The anonymous coach also says that Jordyn Brooks was the real deal and were glad to see him gone. I’d add that I really do believe that this staff transformed Brooks and they should get quite a bit of credit of re-making his body and a defense that really focuses on the success of the linebackers.

The anonymous coach was complimentary of defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, who said that he’s done a nice job:

“The DC (Keith Patterson) does a really nice job; they were a tough team in the red zone. I think they’ll be more and more aggressive, because from what we saw they weren’t afraid to roll the dice on calls. That’s great until it isn’t, and you’ll pay the price.”

I think that’s accurate and Patterson will freely admit that he gambles, that’s part of the identity of the defense and the longer that the team is in the system, the mistakes should decrease, as well as with improved talent making up for mistakes should be easier.

The opposing coach knows, as do we, that really the success of the team is going to be predicated on the success of Alan Bowman:

“It’s really about (Alan) Bowman. He has a history of injuries, but he plays really well when he’s healthy. Can he stay together? If so, they’re going to be something interesting on offense, because he’s a top-level talent.”

“I think this is another transition year, but there’s a really high upside if the offense clicks and Bowman is healthy. If that happens, they can outscore some teams and scare some others, and Matt Wells and his guys are pretty creative.”

I kind of agree here and think that if the offense does well, provides protection and opens some holes for SaRodorick Thompson (who is also praised by the anonymous coach) then I think there’s a situation where I think they’ll really surprise opponents. Wells and Yost always said that year 2 of the offense is usually significantly better and we’re about to see.

Go check out the whole thing. This is always a fun read each year. Don’t take it too seriously, but it is enjoyable for sure and I think this particular anonymous coach is right on with Texas Tech.