Have a few more non-transcripts, i.e. summaries of things. I just ran out of time yesterday to do the summary for the media scrum with McGuire and we had about 5 minutes of Cumbie talking to the media yesterday.

Interim Head Coach Sonny Cumbie:

• Still waiting to see to see if he has clearance, will come down to the end of the week if the can go and if he has the reps. Probably going to come down to him or Donovan Smith
• I’ve known Coach McGuire a long time, since 2011, TCU was just right down the road, spent a lot of time together, he’s done a nice job at Baylor, known him a long time and have respect for him as a coach and leader.
• Had a couple of guys there at Cedar Hill, he was at our place a lot. Social coaching events, you cross paths quite a lot.
• The Iowa State defensive front is really good and the secondary doesn’t make mistakes. Done a great job with scheme. Our guys play hard too, they don’t do things easy, have patience on offense.
• It is similar when we talked to him about the Oklahoma game, he’s done well and had success and to continue that. The moment isn’t too big. He just has to continue to play like he practices.
• Just try to do things to inspire them, there’s some sort of tie to this program and and just wanted to pass it a long. I want to pour as much into these players these last few weeks and doing this to give ourselves the best chance to win.
• The pumpjack award, Colin Schooler awarded it to Xavier White. It is a daily thing, Coach Huffman found it on Amazon and they did a good job spray painting it.

Who’s going to get it today!!!!?!?#PJM pic.twitter.com/2TvvVsM8x6

— Sonny Cumbie (@SonnyCumbie_TTU) November 10, 2021

• Our players are really smart and they watch games every week, you can win a game just as easily as you can lose and your execution on Saturday and preparation, and getting them in terms of execution to play fast and play together.

So based on Coach Cumbie, the quarterback on Saturday will be Tyler Shough or Donovan Smith. That’s good news and not a shot against Henry Colombi, but Colombi isn’t the best quarterback if Shough is healthy and it is debatable if Smith is good to go. I sure am cheering for Sonny and will until the season ends. Could not have picked a better interim head coach.

Following around new head coach Joey McGuire on his first day on the job.

Head coach Joey McGuire: This was the media session with the reporters that I didn’t have time to transcribe yesterday, so you’re getting it today.

• Incredible, best friend, daughter, brother-in-law, my dog, are all from Texas Tech. Learned from a great man in Matt Rhule and I’m happy to be part of it.
• Roger Korn, tight end, was my best friend, he’s passed away.
• As a Texas high school coach, have to understand that high school coaches, I have more male athletes at Cedar Hill than at Texas Tech, they know how to do this job. Learning under Rhule and Dave Aranda. Matt said this is how we are going to manage a roster and this is how we will recruit and we’ll have a plan.
• Want to recruit high school, and be a developmental team that have measurables, heart, and film, and develop them and have grass roots. The majority of our roster will be high school recruits. Other part is grad transfer, is a grown man and completed something and will look at that. The transfers have to be from the state of Texas and want to come home. Want a Texas kid that wants to come home and if we do that we’ll have success. The JUCO’s have totally changed and it’s changed and the high school kids don’t have any place to go and you have to look at that.
• I have a hard drive that has notes from 1994, I’m an avid reader and I hope I did okay in the press conference and putting those notes and learning from the best. The committee has the books and excel spreadsheet, tried to cover from a-to-z what we’re going to do here are Texas Tech.
• One thing I want everyone talking about, this is going to be the Texas high school coaches university and will for sure be West Texas, that’s how I was at Cedar Hill, my doors were never closed. We’re going to open the doors and build relationships, didn’t do that because I wanted to be a college coach, but because I love this game. Dennis Harris asked him to learn about the mid-line and he brought a packet the next day and thought we were going to draw, and this game has given me so much, you have to give back.
• I think the biggest thing in recruiting, from matt Rhule, they are known as recruiters, we will recruit as a staff, a player will have a relationship with every person on our staff, because you don’t know who is going to connect with someone else and guys may end up leaving, it keeps the ego out and keeps the team of coaches all together. Win, and you get a job at the highest level and you’ll get jobs.
• Have a great respect for everyone here before and appreciate Coach Wells and Kingsbury. A way to play, take the X’s and O’s out, Cedar Hill and defense at Baylor, that’s how football is to be played, flying around, playing with passion, setting the edges, putting the football where we want it to go, not where they want it to go.
• Matt Rhule said you have to do 3 things: build relationships; find winners and get them on the field; and get the football right.
• Winning the Big 12, that’s the hump. There are some teams that have played in the Big 12 Championship, why not us? If you look at the landscape over the years, why not us and have to get over that hump. I don’t sleep a lot and want to friggin do everything I can.
• Great to play BYU and get a sense, love watching Cincinnati, am excited at Central Florida and Coach Mahlzahn, and excited to coach next year.
• We kind of did this in 2017, it was still the old February signing day, when Rhule hired me, have been a part of that in adjusting, have 1-on-1 meetings with the players and try to recruit this teams, we have some dudes, have the best receiver in the nation. Starts with relationships.
• I’m going to challenge Dave Campbell to put Jeff Traylor and me on the cover, they are supposed to be about Texas football, Jeff Traylor and Joey McGuire should be there. I am one of theirs, that’s not something to be cute off of, that’s in my DNA.
• The biggest thing Cumbie is going to do is getting me in front of these guys. He’s got plenty of things to deal with on Saturday, I can’t wait to get to the basketball game and my wife and I are huge sports fans and we’ll be at everything. Just want to pick his brain and have a good conversation.
• I think you will see it Saturday and every Saturday at this place, there is a passion in Lubbock and West Texas, times you play in Waco in a basketball game there’s more red and black than green. Talking to the committee, they want to bring a winner here, need to figure it out and map it out, it’s been done before.
• One of the things, with these 3 weeks allows me to slow it down and get the right guys that will pour into the players. The passion does not come from a building, but from how much you care about players. I was taken back when I started college and the lack of passion. Can’t talk about it, I’ve talked to coaches, will be very respectful and have 3 weeks, slow everything down and a group of coaches that believe. Recruit the right kids, working our tails off, loving these guys. The teams that truly develop players you don’t see a lot of transfers. You don’t see a lot of people transfer out of Clemson, we didn’t have a lot transfer out of Baylor.
• Can’t wait, it’s awesome, still remember the first time I came out here, it was 1989, Coach Dykes was the head coach, Gray was the running back, just fell in love with the place. Lost a tough game against TCU, remember that toe-tap and think the replay was wrong. Being in that stadium, the energy that Red Raider nation brings.
• I talked to about 10 of them last night, the guys that were here, I knew about 5 or 6 of them, the ones that have played Texas high school football, they can talk to their head coach and they’ll be able to talk about McGuire, I know what we have and how we need to develop. The 1-on-1’s next week and find out what they love about Texas Tech.
• Have to do three things: 1) Get to know the current team. 2) Going out and recruiting Texas high school players and evaluating the roster. 3) Getting to know Lubbock and getting around the people, that’s the best part of this place, and slowly but surely find the right staff.
• We’re fixing to play Iowa State, the Big 12 has change. A lot of 11 and 12 personnel. I want to be able to run the ball, that doesn’t mean we won’t throw it all over the place, but someone that will play complimentary football. Great teams complement each other. Will be in 10, 11, and 12 personnel. So fired up to meet our 6’9″ tight end. Defensively, lean towards an odd front, I’ve coached in odd and even front, all of it, but would lean more towards that, in 2019 we were one of the best defenses in the nation. Someone who has experience in the Big 12, defense is passion, running to the football, gapped out and fundamentally sound. Have to create a lot of turnovers. That’s one of my passions how hard we are going to play.