Head coach Matt Wells, running back and newly scholarshipped Xavier White and offensive lineman Josh Burger spoke to the media yesterday. I did not have time to do the White and Burger non-transcripts (sorry). For those of you new to this, these are not actual quotes, but me listening to the press conference and typing as quickly as possible to get the gist of the media availability.

Head Coach Matt Wells

It was related and it has been with how we have altered practice. Players and coaches have adjusted. Has proved to be a practice in the middle of training camp. So the way we practice, I think it has raised some spirits and handled it well.

[Re. affecting a position] Nobody has been wiped out, when you have that many positives it affects groups, but when you cross train the line and linebackers, it doesn’t affect as much. We set the reps and we take them and don’t over rep them. The guys who are healthy and negative, they get their reps, but we don’t add reps. We’re not going to add reps.

We’ve followed all of the protocols, there are plenty of guys to practice. When you practice as fast as we do, it is efficient. With less numbers, you change the way you practice. The guys have handled it well.

[Players who are in class vs. virtual] I don’t know a percentage, the vast majority of them and their classes are online and virtual. At Tech, some have gone all virtual, some are hybrid and split them up alphabetically and only going to class every 3 days. Most of them are still virtual, 9 or 10:30 virtual class and some are at your own pace, which means they won’t do work for a month and catch up in October [laughs].

[If any staff was affected] I didn’t have any full time staff, had a young coach test positive, but no other staff. I think wearing masks is unique, splash guards on helmets, players are yelling masks up”. I wear a shield out there, like I should have a blowtorch, it is weird, but we have accepted it and we have stayed within our protocols. We’ve been talking about this since May and June, and what is going to happen when we have positives, so the Big 12 knew and we were anticipating this. It is the opportunity to put into play what the coaches and the strength coach thought of during the summer. We’re going to try different things from a practice perspective. It is something we are able to put in play and learn how to play in October if it happens in October.

[Re. on if offensive players cross train on the defensive side of the ball] Not yet, more center to guard, guard to tackle, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is different. DB’s safety to corners, a whole new communication piece. Not so much offense to defense or vice versa. Whatever the number of quarantine players, you are going to have to learn how to play and practice with it. I think any of the teams that have had a few guys in quarantine you have had a taste with it, with the threshold, you are going to plan your attack and none of us know that number right now.

Any time you have 21 positives, we’ve got guys coming back almost every other day, coaches have dealt with it so long, it is like injuries, if you have numbers you can run numbers for a long time.

Tyree Wilson brings length and athleticism, guy that has played a role at A&M and rotated in and had some TFL’s and played a good role for them. We’ll see if they get the waiver and has a chance to be in the rotation.

[On NCAA waivers] I would think that they are going to read those on an individual basis, I think the COVID related waivers are applicable this time around.

[Still looking at potential adds to the roster] Depends on how good a player he is. As long as I have open roster spots, I’ll continue to add. Roster is not full yet, we are close, but not yet. [Wells says this off-mic a bit, “Good question, he’s onto something.”]

[Re. awarding scholarships] It is one of the best moments you can have as a head coach. To see young men graduate, first generation college grads, are some of the memories, awarding a walk-on for a scholarship. To be a walk-on you have to earn it, he absolutely earned it. He did it as a true sophomore, and got hurt. Worked his way back and moved him to running back, he has had a tremendous attitude, he’s going to be in the rotation. What a cool moment for his grandpa, who is a third generation Red Raider.

I think we’ve got good evaluations on guys, depending on who is in and who is out, also an opportunity to evaluate guys. Can’t lose your job because you are injured, but you can lose your job while you are injured or in quarantine.

[Recruiting transfers] It is tough, zoom, facetime, phone calls, old school letter writing. One of the best things we have are our people, our coaching staff, the support of Red Raider nation. The basketball games, Kentucky and Kansas, we had a Saturday in March. A transfer portal guy, we have to virtual tours and facetime and develop relationships as best you can. We went through the recruiting process and what we can do for him. He’s got 3 years left, he potentially could have 4, just have to get creative.

[On the NCAA waiver for this year] I think it is tremendous, one of the best things the NCAA has done. For our players, when I was able to tell them that, we were pretty transparent. We could feel an emotional burden be lifted from them. 1 or 5 or 10 games, I can come back next year. The underclassmen, I could get 1 game and be a senior, I think emotionally they are able to let it go now. Maybe we have a few no contests in a row, the emotional maturity of the team will determine the close games and who stays injury free at the right time and there will be luck involved and some emotional maturity will come to the forefront. I think it is a relief for a lot of guys. Will be expensive for some athletic departments, we are going to be able to do it here at Tech.

[On T.J. Vasher coming back] He’s talking about lanes, he’s going to become a PBA bowler Don [joking]. He’s a little out of shape, a little skinnier, Sholtz will take care of that and TJ will take care of that, I think he’s the best red zone receiver in the Big 12. I’ll stand by that.

For my own two cents here, 20 or so positive cases sounds like a lot. It is in comparison to a 100-man roster. I think anything short of an actual disaster, like the death of a player, this thing is full-steam ahead. Wells discusses what happens if a team doesn’t have enough players during the season, so these are all things that have been considered. Texas Tech football is happening hell or high-water.

Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams summarizes the media availability if you want actual quotes and reporting.

The latest episode of Typical Tech dropped yesterday and it was just head coach Matt Wells. I don’t know that this was much different than the media availability, but towards the end, Wells is asked about Tommy McVay again and gets a little emotional in talking about him. It emphasizes how much McVay meant.