A big ol’ football notebook.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on the staff working on the wide receiver screen game:
“Florida did a good job,” Joey McGuire said. “Clay brought a different screen that coach Leach used to use, and then we really studied Washington. Washington was really good at it last year.”
Tech won seven games last year without the perimeter-screen game being much of a weapon. Too often, it looked as if one wide receiver didn’t do enough to spring the receiver with the ball.
McGuire said others weren’t carrying out their assignments either.
“Just as much as the receivers have not been as good,” McGuire said, “the line has not gotten out there or they miss the very first guy and all of a sudden we’re getting hit before we can ever get it started.”
Athlon Sports with preseason Big 12 power rankings:
10: Texas Tech The Red Raiders are a wild card team to watch. Coach Joey McGuire’s squad returns only eight starters, but quarterback Behren Morton appears to be healthy after offseason shoulder concerns, and running back Tahj Brooks is a preseason Athlon Sports All-American. A revamped receiving corps and offensive line will be under the spotlight this fall. Texas Tech’s defense has made small strides under coordinator Tim DeRuyter. Can this unit improve in ’24 despite returning only four starters and entering the year with question marks in the trenches?
Athlon Sports’ Steve Corder on the absolute chaos at Colorado and Deion Sanders.
ESPN’s Dave Wilson & Kyle Bonagura on everything you should know about the Big 12 prior to week 1. Nothing serious, but a fun read
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman with his annual list of freak athletes and Caleb Rogers checked in at #92:
The super senior has made 42 career starts entering the 2024 season, which leads the team. The 6-5, 310-pounder, who started at left tackle in 2022 and then at right tackle in 2023, power-cleaned 406 pounds during the summer and squatted more than 600. During the spring, Rogers clocked 18.8 mph on the GPS.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Don Williams on how the staff is looking at the inside linebackers rushing the passer more:
In February, the Tech coaching staff rewatched every game from the 2023 season. Joey McGuire said the purpose was to identify what the Red Raiders do well, what they don’t do well — as a team and as individual players — and course correct accordingly during the spring and summer.
They sparked “some heated arguments,” McGuire said, and came to many conclusions. Regarding the inside linebackers, they asked themselves a question: Should they work on Roberts and Rodriguez developing pass-rush techniques? Or should they not ask them to do something they’re not cut out to do?
“We had 1.5 sacks from the inside linebacker position,” McGuire said. “OK, they’re not good pass rushers. So either we’re going to have to bring one more — instead of bringing four, bring five or six. Now that puts pressure on the secondary. Awesome. Or don’t rush the linebackers.”
As an aside, the ultimate answer was for them to get better at rushing the passer.
Attempt #2 at AI translating. I don’t know that I want to pay for AI to do this because I am cheap and I run a lean and mean operation.
Summary
Coach Joey McGuire praised Texas Tech’s first afternoon practice in full pads, highlighting situational drills, player performances, and leadership development.
Highlights
🌞 Good first afternoon practice in tropical heat.
🏈 Situational football emphasized, with competitive drills.
📈 Jaden Coffield and other young players showed dominance.
🔄 Offensive and defensive teams split two-minute drills.
⚡ Micah Hudson and Cam Brown connected for a big touchdown.
💪 Leadership emerging from linebackers like Jacob Rodriguez.
🧠 Mental training is integrated into practice routines.
Key Insights
🌡️ Adapting to Heat: The team’s ability to practice in tough conditions showcases their resilience and readiness for the season ahead. This is crucial for developing mental toughness as they prepare for games in varying climates.
🏆 Competitive Drills: Engaging in situational football drills promotes a competitive atmosphere, crucial for preparing players for high-pressure moments in actual games. This strategy helps players transition from practice to game-day performance.
🌟 Emerging Players: Players like Jaden Coffield and Micah Hudson are stepping up, indicating a promising future for Texas Tech’s roster. Their development is essential as the team looks to establish depth and versatility.
📊 Leadership Development: The emergence of leaders, particularly in the linebacker core, is vital for team cohesion and performance. Strong communication and experience can significantly enhance defensive strategies.
🚀 Mental Training: Incorporating mental training into practices shows a modern approach to athlete preparation, emphasizing the importance of mental health and focus in high-stakes environments.
🔄 Quarterback Dynamics: The relationship between Baron Morton and Micah Hudson illustrates the importance of mentorship and communication within the team, enhancing overall performance and confidence.
🏋️♂️ Injury Management: The structured recovery and rehabilitation routines indicate a professional approach to player health, which can help reduce injuries and enhance performance longevity.
00:00:02 good uh really good day um first afternoon practice um it’s been tropical anyway in Leck in the you know when we get on the field but it was good to get out in the Heat and um I thought it was a first day of full pads um came out we’re in a in a point you know I’ve told all of y’all I went to Detroit and talked to Coach Campbell one of the B biggest things that he talked about it was uh once you got enough install in just start attacking the situations we had a lot of situational football started off with Team compete uh
00:00:33 two-minute drill um and it went back and forth uh Baron had a big pass to uh cable Douglas um to get us going and offense ended up winning that first one uh defense won the second one and then uh cam Brown had a touchdown pass to uh Micah Hudson it’s about a 50- yard touchdown um so the offense won that and defense so we split the two-minute drill and then we ended with a live period uh short yardage we went middle of the field third down so third and three third and two third and one uh First Defense won two of the three um it’s
00:01:09 really good and then we went goal line and uh defense again won two of the three so uh good good things uh Jaden Coffield was dominant during that uh period which is good to see red shirt freshman uh play like that the times that we did want win um you know we had a couple big plays out of Jaylen Conor and Taj Brooks on the offensive side of the ball so really good stuff uh yesterday was a Red Zone lockout um the defense won right at the end I think it was like 18 to 16 first one to 18 wins um so really guys going back and forth a lot
00:01:47 of situational football putting as much stress on these guys as possible um to not only help us at home but help us on the road so with that open up for any questions can you talk about the stress that you that they’re putting in how has from week one to the beginning of week two they starting to crack or or show the things that you need to see them break down to build them back up yeah you know the biggest thing right now is uh seeing two guys um on the offensive side of the ball but let me start with
00:02:24 this Josh Kelly Caleb Douglas and Coy Aiken have been absolutely incredible I mean just at different times dominant um Coy had a huge touchdown uh the other day it was mixed Downs it wasn’t a team compete period but he had a huge touchdown uh those guys have been dominant but from the first three practices to now the next three practices what you’ve seen is the two guys that didn’t go through Spring football are playing faster and that’s Jaylen Conor and Micah Hudson both of those guys really struggled our first
00:02:56 three practices number one because they didn’t go through spring so the amount of offense that we have in right now uh the amount of install I think kind of overwhelmed them which is great that’s what you want to do during Camp um but the last three practices especially the last two practices you’ve seen those guys really Trend um in a good direction you know defensively uh keep coming back um I think Isaac Smith has been better these last three practices than the first three so that’s knocking some rust
00:03:28 off of him um AJ McCarty has been exceptional all through Camp he’s playing really fast great effort um and then the inside linebackers you know all four of them and and what Dingle can do in a yellow Jersey man he’s doing a great job but you know really pleased with that so who are some of the younger players that you haven’t mentioned already that are that have stepped it up from Spring to now yeah I think uh you know uh Kelby has done a really good job at receiver um you know right now so today we got
00:04:03 Sterling uh back in uh we kept dting with the ones because he’s been playing really well there’s going to be a battle there but today was uh Sterling’s first day to get some uh reps um but Jacob ponton has done a really good job because he’s had to play you know you want him with your threes and he’s had to be with the twos which is good for him um I thought he’s done a really good job uh Cam Dickey and I just can’t say enough about that guy man he’s he’s uh doing a great job somebody had a video or we had a
00:04:35 video of it the other day or maybe y’all did of him scoring a touchdown um with a long run he had another couple of really good runs today I think the good thing about cam Dickey is he’s put really pushing cam Valdez and so there’s great competition right there coach you mentioned talked about the other day the the red practice and the black practice splitting those two up uh when y’all split up into that group uh where do you have Micah and Cam and how do you kind of where do you place those guys when
00:05:01 you split up like that yeah they’re with uh cam dickey cam Valdez and Taj are all with the red team so that’s our ones and twos uh Micah is with the red team uh that’s our ones and twos so those guys are over there the the quarterbacks minus uh Baron kind of rotate through uh we’ve been now in six practices so we’ll kind of see uh how that goes uh you know which quarterback gets more of the red group um but those guys are all with the red team they’re with the ones and twos coach Coffield keeps coming up yeah
00:05:36 players and coaches what kind of player is he and how’s he figure in the rotation you know I told uh he made a huge play today um and actually he made a huge play in our first team compete very first play tackled Taj in the back field didn’t tackle him kept him up today he tackled him um you know he I I told Z I said if we were playing a game right now he would be one of the starters like he would go out with the first group um you know I just love that kid man he’s always smiling you know uh if you
00:06:06 if you want to feel good he makes you feel good because he’s so appreciative like he appreciates everything that we do in this program from the way we treat him the way we eat especially for a 300 plus pound guy he really likes the way we eat you know and and uh he do man he’s always like if I say Coffield he’s just going to smile and give me the guns up you know and and um I think him being a mid year uh I think him uh really coming on at the end of the year being able to play in the bowl game uh has
00:06:37 just and he had a great spring you know um I think he he’s doing a really good job go ahead coach talked about the other three tackles but I’m curious about Maurice Rodriguez because seems like he’s really changed his body since he got here in the spring and I guess what’s he been looking like so far yeah he he’s doing a good job he kind of rotates with the twos and the threes um you know it’s going to be interesting because because whenever I look at those tackles uh Sterling Dalton um and then
00:07:06 whenever you look at the right side like Jackson Hughes didn’t go live today but he’s got a bunch of reps this week and we’ll get even more next week so you’ve got tabanan and Jackson so you got some some vets in three of the four and then Dalton man like if you ask me the one of the biggest players from Spring and until right now would be Dalton Merryman um in the spring he he really struggled uh with his physicality um you know it’s tough I mean he’s 6’8″ you know 300 lbs so I mean he’s got to do a good job with
00:07:43 his Pad level and and use what he has and man he’s starting to do it he’s he’s had a really good six practices so far um you know and there there’s a battle right there I think uh Sterling sees that and that’s only going to make Sterling better Coach you mentioned Brown and Micah connected on yard touchdown can you break the play down a little bit for us yeah man it was just a go uh and what I was really proud you know I I was messing with Cam cuz I was like hey it was that for my birthday and uh you know in the if you go back in the
00:08:12 spring uh cam has got a really big arm he’s really strong uh but what he would struggle with was his deep balls like with his touch like anything post or corner to where he could really put you know something on the ball he didn’t struggle with that but the touch the fade man it was just a fade um and what was great uh again um you know we’ve had like we gave up a touchdown the other day we blew a coverage Caleb Douglas caught a deep ball on a post this wasn’t the blown covers man it was uh I don’t
00:08:42 know if it was Macho I think it was Macho and speaking of young guys Macho was doing a great job um and he was right there with him there was a battle and and Micah came up with it going back to to Edge rushers how’s Isaiah Crawford looked and what’s kind of y’s expectation for him yeah he’s doing a good good job today was his like you know he didn’t go as get as much in Spring um you know and so today was one of his more full practices he’s doing a good job it’s just uh you know with him being a red shirt freshman man there’s
00:09:16 some older guys in that room that really um you know it’s hard to push I mean it’s hard to push uh Harvey d right now he’s doing a good job Joseph Adedire because they’re all bees um so you look over there that’s Isaac Joseph and Harvey Dyson so you’re talking about a red shirt Jr um a true Jr and a red Shir sophomore and so guys that have been three and four years in college they it’s going to be really tough to move those guys coach I know this isn’t really it’s not you directly messing with this but when it come but you know
00:09:49 what it’s like being a high school football coach and how long it kind of takes to break down film and things like that with you guys using the answers system this year I know that’s probably a coach conry thing but being able to see some of those numbers break down in a blink and have it on an iPad on the sideline be able to kind of have those numbers on hand you know this is still a brand new system but what are your thoughts on being able to have that on side on the year uh well I that’s something that you know we still got to
00:10:13 get as far as regulated because I don’t think they’re going to let us do it in a game but where it does help is throughout the week um you know anything that you can help gas and qc’s make their job quicker um you know those guys spend so much time up here trying to get everything ready um uh spend so much time film breakdown and that that’s going to help a lot you know and it is being used a lot at the high school level you know I I know that uh Todd Mavis uses it at Lockard I know uh lee wigington uses it at Allen you know
00:10:44 there’s a there’s a good number of people it just breaks down stuff so much faster what did Tron do what how long down um ran in the pool yes it’s ankle uh ran in the pool yesterday uh he’s still in a boot so ran in the pool today I think he’ll be land running um tomorrow’s an off day so he should be land running like Thursday or Friday I mean he’ll still I would think uh probably that mock game week so he’s probably still another week away uh before he can get back out there we got really lucky he came down on uh it was
00:11:19 on a a punt uh Shield drill and uh he came down on Caleb Rogers leg and and we were worried that it it was a break but it wasn’t it was uh high ankle sprain and um he’s feeling a lot better he did that what first or second day uh second day yeah second day coach you lost a lot of leadership on the defensive side of the ball and while you saw some guys Step Up in Spring practices and through the summer workouts now that everybody’s here and everybody’s all the Freshman are on campus getting ready who are some
00:11:49 of the guys that are stepping into those leadership roles specifically on the defensive side of the ball that you that has been nice to see yeah Jacob Rodriguez you know um if if you think about about it we’ve talked about it before but in the four games that he start and finished we were 4-0 and uh I think the most we gave up were 24 points I could be wrong about that it might have been 28 but we played our best defense and it’s he’s a really really good football player we all know that but the one thing that Jacob does is
00:12:17 he’s one of the best communicators um that I’ve been around he’s extremely smart he’s got a high football queue so Jacob uh Ben Roberts um Bryce Ramirez like that leadership on our defense runs through that linebacker room uh CJ Baskerville has really stepped up in the secondary but really when you’re talking about who the voice is on defense it’s those really three guys and they’ll be on the field a lot as I guess as far as the linebackers go like you’re just talking about I guess what progress have you seen from the on
00:12:51 field you know separate from just the leadership fact yeah one of my favorites uh I actually did a deal today with ESPN it wasn’t anything recorded but it was for all of their sideline reporters it was me Dave Dorne and Sam Pitman and if y’all remember Dave Dorne the head coach of North Carolina State and he asked me about Bryce um Bryce Ramirez last year played just because he was tough like he was nowhere close movement wise than what he was before the injury and I think what you’ll see right now is he’s
00:13:26 all the way back I mean his his body movement right now is is totally different than what it was last year um in in a really good area um he I think seeing a lot out of him and then the other two just continued to grow I mean just uh the thing about guys at linebackers is many reps as you can get how you can process the pitcher see pullers um recognize play action pass stuff like that those guys have gotten so much better had time for one more you talked a lot about U M’s maturity level what kind of Sear is that kind of an
00:14:00 example of how he can struggle a little bit early having miss the Spring and then start figuring things out as quick as he has well I think it has the guy one thing that it has to do is the guy that just walked in the room and baron Morton you know one of my favorite things about both of them um you’re talking about somebody that’s totally not totally changed he knows that he’s qb1 and he is the voice of this team um in a great way and so uh Baron has been extremely demanding with M he’s also been a great done a great job coaching
00:14:33 him um it’s fun to watch the interaction and practice and I think talking about the maturity level most freshman could not handle the starting quarterback in their face you know saying hey this is what was called this is what we have and respond the way he does but then also come over and ask good questions um you know it’s funny I know y all saw it Baron and I were talking talking about it the other day but uh there’s a Jets uh video out there where it’s um Rogers and it’s Garrett Wilson they’re kind of
00:15:08 going at it a little bit and then they kind of shake hands there’s been some moments like that a a true freshman you know they’re they’re like puppies you know and most of them would freaking just respond that way and and Micah he’s a pleaser um you know he he understands he wants to be good he wants to be coach he’s one of the first guys in the building he’s not one of the first guys in the building because you know um like Tai is trying to get ready he knows that he’s behind from the standpoint that he
00:15:41 didn’t go through Spring football and um so he’s one of the first guys in the building with juice um you know I think he’s usually in there at 6 615 and they’re going over the play sheet so he’s ready to go and practice but I I just like his response um of the way he’s being coached not only by his coaches but by our captains what amount of like maintenance or daily time training room he is it I mean he he’s now so we’ve got a guy we’ve got a group so the way we Cy to do it we talk about it all
00:16:18 the time it’s pretty cool too we use this in recruiting Because rabbit has been a rock star in some of his interviews with phoen uh with the Cardinals talking about he came from an NFL program and that’s one thing with us so if you are banged up if you missed a rep in practice um or you’re a long-term rehab guy like right now McAlpin is kind of that guy you’re in the building at 5:45 with uh Mike and you’re getting all your rehab done um what we talk to our guys all the time about is being Pros like your body’s the money maker
00:16:51 you know and and that’s where you’re in make your money so we set time throughout the day to be in there so a lot of those guys we start our day at 6:30 a lot of those guys are usually in the building at 6:30 so they don’t have to have team meeting till 7:40 so they’re getting all of their recovery and everything like that then after practice then tomorrow we’re going to spend an hour and a half in a rotation of uh wreck and Recovery mental we’ll have mental training uh for 30 minutes we’ll have uh or about 20 minutes we’ll
00:17:23 have uh Mobility stps for 20 minutes and we’ll have uh cold tubs and norm tech boots and so they rotate those three rotations you know we want that to become their routine Taj Brooks is the best we have in the building right now that’s his routine and and everybody’s starting to to see that Baron’s another guy that’s great you know Baron’s kind of forced in it I’m glad he’s kind of forced in it because it’s only going to make him better for us in the long run and it’s going to make him better on
00:17:49 Sundays whenever he gets drafted what is mental training I’m sorry but no man it’s awesome so Dr Weston and his groups for just absolutely incredible man we’re blessed in Texas Tech we have three full-time Sports psychologists and like last night all three of them were at the team meeting tonight at the team meeting they’re going to start the meeting with uh you know just visualization so it’s going through that so you know you might have meditation uh one because we do this every Thursday during the season um
00:18:18 you might have meditation you might have Vis visualization if it’s uh if we’re really struggling in the fourth quarter then they’re going to talk how prep through the fourth quarter it’s just all game prep and then what’s great about them is you can make an appointment with them um you know and and uh some guys are perfectionist and you got to unwind them so how they deal with their perfection there’s good ways to do it and there’s bad ways to do it and um man we use them like crazy uh it’s Dr dude
00:18:47 Dr Weston and Dr Cassy just came on she was first day yesterday but she’s a Red Raider and a a love uh well she’s a Dallas Dallas native but she uh went to school here and so that man they’re awesome all right thanks coach yes DK Baron take everything back you didn’t hear anything I’m glad you here I talk