You may be curious as to why I have not posted any non-transcripts of any of the post-practice press conferences and the reason is that there haven’t been any posted on YouTube. I messaged Matt Dowdy, who is in charge of communications for the football team, on Twitter and asked if the program would be doing that and he said that they’ve done small group one-on-one sessions, but that he would upload the next time that head coach Matt Wells spoke to the media. That’s really positive, hope this comes to fruition, and am glad that I’ll be able to do that for you.

Texas Football’s Shehan Jeyarajah is running down the top 50 college football players in Texas and at #31 is linebacker Colin Schooler:

Schooler gave up immediate transfer scholarship offers to walk on for a semester at Texas Tech last fall. It paid off, as Schooler became one of the best linebackers in the state. In just nine games, Schooler posted 63 tackles and five tackles for loss. He could be the best overall player on an improving Texas Tech defense in 2021.

I would encourage you to visit, there’s players from UTSA, TAMU-Commerce, UTEP, Rice, etc. I sort of enjoy looking at those things.

KLBK’s Phil Mayer writes about Marquis “Muddy” Waters journey to Texas Tech as well as the type of player he is:

Waters describes himself as a player that will do anything to win, whether that means putting in an extra ounce of effort or switching positions. Jones gave him the nickname “Muddy,” which, along with the shortened version “Mud,” has since become his go-to moniker among teammates. The nickname was formed partially after the famous blues singer Muddy Waters, whose music Waters is planning to check out at Jones’ request, but also because the coach felt it suited his hard-nosed brand of play.

I feel like the Muddy Waters who sang the blues was somebody you would have learned about in Texas Tech’s history of jazz course.

Kansas City Star’s Kellis Robinette writes about what seems to be the most important word in conference realignment: value.

Things are a little different this time around. Even though Big 12 teams are eager to find a stable home, no conference has publicly stated a desire to expand. It’s more of an option than a necessity.

But let’s say the Pac-12, indeed, looks to expand its footprint east. How much value must a school provide to be worthy of an invitation?

The good news for Big 12 teams is that the Pac-12 brings in significantly less money than most other power conferences.

During the 2018-19 athletic year, before the pandemic arrived, the Pac-12 distributed $32 million to its members, according to ESPN. That ranked ahead of only the ACC ($29 million) and lagged well behind the Big 12 ($37.7 million), SEC ($45 million) and Big Ten ($55 million).

So any team hoping to join the Pac-12 will need to be worth around $32 million or more in standalone value. That is a much lower bar to clear than the price for any team hoping to join the Big Ten.

Do any remaining Big 12 teams have a big enough brand?

This is true.

Matt Wells also talked about the importance of this season in terms of realignment…

“People are looking at us and how we respond to it…It’s now time for West Texas, Red Raiders to all wrap our arms each other and show the country what West Texas and Texas Tech is all about.” pic.twitter.com/NDFnfmX0TO

— Eric Kelly (@EricKellyTV) August 10, 2021

Practice.