National Signing Day 2016: Will low-key approach to recruiting pay off for Texas Tech?

On the eve of National Signing Day 2016 when thousands of high school football players will send their official letters of intent to their chosen universities, coaching staffs across America are losing sleep and putting in as much work as a grad student the night before final exams. But at the Texas Tech football office there seems to be a aura of serenity because there is almost nothing to be done but collect the signed letters of intent off of the fax machine.

The excitement that awaits on Wednesday for fans of many universities lies in the anticipation of the decisions of recruits that will finally end months of speculation and courting and mercifully let the world know where they will play college football.

In years past, Texas Tech has been involved in these types of dramatics but this year is far different. In fact, Kliff Kingsbury has had the vast majority of his 2016 class put together since August.

Prior to the start of the season, 23 players had already verbally committed to the Red Raiders and in an unusual turn of events, almost all of them have remained loyal to their word despite the massive changes made to the Texas Tech coaching staff after the season.

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One must wonder why the 2016 recruiting cycle has been so different than those of recent years, especially the 2015 cycle.

In 2015, Texas Tech was shooting for nationally ranked star prospects. And for a while it appeared that strategy was going to pan out.

Before the summer of 2015, top 100 recruits defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko and quarterback Jarrett Stidham had pledged to Kingsbury and staff. Furthermore, the team was in hot pursuit of the nation’s top wide receiver prospect, Tyron Johnson.

Then, on signing day of 2015, Texas Tech fans and coaches alike eagerly awaited the decisions of 4-star defensive end Joseph Wicker and 3-star linebacker Arthur McGinnis. Both players were out of state prospects rated highly on the national scene and unfortunately, neither picked the Red Raiders.

In fact, of the star recruits Texas Tech courted in 2015 only Fehoko wound up playing in Lubbock. Losing out on such highly touted recruits caused much debate among Red Raider fans as to how the team should approach recruiting.

Many expected the charisma of head coach Kliff Kingsbury and his youthful staff to be the key in brining in top recruits based on style and flash but that was not the case in 2015. Meanwhile, another faction of fans felt that Texas Tech should continue to try to find the blue-collar recruits that seemingly embody the values of hard work and determination that most Red Raiders feel are synonymous with West Texas and Texas Tech University.

There is no doubt that after the 4-8 disaster that was the 2014 Texas Tech season, the entire program was humbled, if not humiliated, forcing all involved to re-examine everything including its recruiting strategy. Ultimately, the 2014 season forced Kingsbury to change his entire demeanor as a coach.

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With a losing season as its most recent product to sell to recruits, Texas Tech went to work the old fashioned way. Kingsbury turned down an offer to travel to the ESPN studios in Connecticut and appear on a plethora of radio and television shows in order to host recruits.

Ultimately, that decision by Kingsbury landed his team the services of the No. 1 ranked JUCO wide receiver in America, Derrick Willies. The 6-foot-4, 205-pound standout figures to be a major player for the 2016 Red Raiders offense and has been on campus since the start of the Spring 2016 semester.

It has been decisions like this that have defined the 2016 recruiting cycle. Texas Tech has not been chasing nationally ranked prospects simply because the players were highly rated by Internet recruiting services.

Rather, the Red Raiders put in tons of groundwork and uncovered recruits like quarterback Jett Duffey, linebacker Jordyn Brooks and defensive end Houston Miller before they became stars. Now, each of these players stands to be a stalwart of the 2016 class despite the fact that none were nationally coveted when Texas Tech first came onto the scene for each over a year ago.

Some point to the fact that the top programs in the nation have been reeling in top recruiting classes for years as proof that Texas Tech much shoot for the highest rated recruits possible. For example, college football’s premier program, Alabama has had either the No.1 or No. 2 recruiting class in each of the four years signing a total of 72 five and four–star recruits.

But the reality is that Texas Tech is not Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Southern California or Oregon. In other words, Kingsbury has miles to go before he can make Texas Tech a national brand that is capable to bringing in top-10 recruiting classes each season.

So after learning that difficult lesson in 2015, Kingsbury and his staff seem to have changed its philosophy on recruiting. Tomorrow, Texas Tech expects to add 25 players to its roster. Of that group, only two are rated as 4-star players, Willies and fellow wide receiver T.J. Vasher of Wichita Falls, TX.

But in building a class with a foundation of 20 players rated as 3-star prospects, the Red Raiders are trying to fill a number of holes in the roster and add quality depth in much needed areas like the defensive line.

An additional benefit of this new recruiting philosophy is that as coaches and fans around the country pull out all the stops trying to recruit the nations’ top players by sending ridiculous cakes and gift baskets or have celebrities such as former professional wrestlers attend their school’s signing day event as Michigan is planning with Rick Flair, Texas Tech will go about its business with little fanfare and even less drama.

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Only time will tell if this return to traditional West Texas values will pay dividends on the field. Keep checking in with Wreck ‘Em Red this week for coverage of National Signing Day 2016.