Just enough time to get out a non-transcript of yesterday’s presser with Kenny Perry and Marcel Yates. As a reminder, these are not actual quotes, just me typing as quickly as possible to get down what they are saying.

Special Teams & Running Backs Coach Kenny Perry

• Throughout the year, started looking and it’s hard to find punters in college football. Jack Burgess is a rugby guy from a protection standpoint, but he’s also been a traditional guy. He has to do the same thing that Austin did for us, very receptive. Need to find the next guy, but we also have Behren Morton, who can do some stuff.
• More of Burgess learning to do our system, and then developing our system to Jack. He can hit the ball, just dove into our scheme, Austin did rugby punts too.
• Tahj is a valuable piece to the program and university. Leadership is unbelievable. Cam’ron Valdez, can’t put Tahj through what we did last year. We’re moving guys in and out, Anquon Willis, Cameron Dicker, and Bryson Donnell, have to have 3 running backs because those guys have to help you on special teams. We know what Cam does, but he has to do other things well this spring.
• Dickey when you watch him in high school, he’s quick, over 200 pounds in high school, his body can take the load, and he has really good hands and good routes, a Swiss army knife. Anquan is a tough big bruiser, and Bryson has been solid since he’s been here.
• Drae McCray has been working great, Jordan Brown was already here, and then T.J. West, Coy Eakin can do it, Drae can be a kick returner and punt returner, judging the ball in high school is a lot different in college, Juice has done a good job of training and give him a chance to get out there.
• L.J. Johnson is learning how to catch a college punt, even Drae, Micah is another guy who can return punts. We’re going to give all of those guys a shot this spring. We made a good decision last year about when to return.
• Got a good situation with Gino Garcia coming back, after the first game. Reese Burkhardt is back, had a great kickoff guy, and Stone Harrington is doing good things as a kid, we’re in a good situation with Gino and Reese.
• Having a kicker you can do stuff with helps, I thought our guys, I sometimes think too much, we’re going to cover kicks, being aggressive and show confidence that we can cover kicks.
• Tahj is at that stage we know what we have, the other guys have to prove themselves, we do take some reps back and need to find out what the other guys can do.
• This team from a team standpoint, our strength guys have been great, these guys are playing at a high sense of urgency, from the running back, must be physical, have great vision. With special teams, we’re trying to find young guys who can help us and have depth.
• Mo Horn and Jalon Peoples have been great, watching them for me special teams wise, Joseph Plunk, and Chief Collins, need somebody, and those two have stepped up special teams wise.
• The offensive line are doing a great job this spring, are physical coming off the ball, and having a QB like Behren get out the quick screens, and think that Kittley did a great job last year, changed the entire offense last year to do with what we had. We’re going back to spreading people out, with Tharp and Miller, another one that is going to help us and will help Tahj and Cam, because teams won’t load the box.
• Cam knew that going into it, he just realized, we want him here, but we have a great thing going here. Cam saw that he wasn’t going to get the same thing he was getting somewhere else. We need to get him the ball.
• Clay McGuire is a good football coach, it is important, he coached here he has a vested interest in this place, he loves Texas Tech and Lubbock and do whatever he can to make it work.

Secondary Coach Marcel Yates

• C.J. Baskerville, big because he’s played a lot, a good leader off the field.
• Mo Horn, Bralyn Lux, Jalon Peoples, and Devynn Cromwell, those 4 at corner have been going hard, smart and physical and still learning. In order to have a good defense, those guys have to tackle.
• Miquel Dingle is still learning and athletic, he’s fast and speed is big for us, he’s just getting started and has a ways to go.
• Free safety is Chapman Lewis and Jordan Sanford, played a lot last year as true freshmen, both athletic and are still learning and making plays.
• Boundary is Baskerville, Marcus Ramon-Edwards and Javeon Wilcox, who can play free safety as well. Wanted guys that felt like the guy behind me can be just as good or better. We’re trying to get that good 2-deep.
• Wilcox out of TCU is a student of the game, comes in and watches film, he was asking questions, when I was on the road recruiting, he’s old school and studies film and is what we want.
• The guy they are replacing made some big plays, being the quarterback on the field and knowing all of the checks, those guys are getting there. Field safety you have to take good angles.
• Biggest growth is that these guys are starting to learn and starting to focus about what the offense is doing to them. Need to keep going about what the offense is doing.
• Isiah Collins is low maintenance and high output, he weights 190, just the way that he approaches the game and for him to be a freshman, he acts like a junior. We have things to fix in terms of him running to the ball, but he’s a man at a young age.
• At star is Brendan Jordan and A.J. McCarty, it is a battle, Brendan is getting better, when you go from your first spring and to year two you can transition from thinking to playing.
• McCarty was with scouts and started out with us, but when he couldn’t play with us, he was with the scout team for the year.
• McCarty can play all 5, but felt that with the way he moves, he’s physical and can blitz, he fits that star role.
• It is too soon to tell, lost a lot of experience, but have gained knowledge and physicalness as a whole, I think our guys are going to fly around and hit people, and watching those guys and learning from those guys and watching their mistakes and learning from their mistakes.
• As a defensive backs coach it is challenging no matter what, it is about guys understanding what they are dong and playing hard and fast. The physicalness, need our corners to be more physical than what they were, I feel like we have some physical corners.
• I love it, whoever says you can’t recruit to Texas Tech doesn’t know what they are talking about it, but the head coach makes it easier on you and we put an emphasis on recruiting and it works out from the top down. We look at what we look for and we do a good job as a staff recruiting those kids.
• Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, the sky is the limit because he’s going to do most things right. Going from junior to senior, his leadership went to a whole different level and talked to his teammates and staff better, his understanding of the defense and the offense. Rabbit was the model for younger players and the success he’s had, Rabbit listened to coach Yates, McGuire, and DeRuyter, and they see his success. Rabbit practiced hard.
• [Comparing Rabbit with Orlando] Scandrick was more of a corner, speed is about the same, I would probably say it is very similar.