Texas Tech DB Jah’Shawn Johnson’s Bingo Card had deeper meaning

Media Days tend to give fans a glimpse into the preparation teams, and individual players have made in the offseason. But for Texas Tech’s Jah’Shawn Johnson, perhaps his ‘Bingo’ card was sending a deeper meaning.

Jah’Shawn Johnson looks to be a critical component to the Texas Tech defense this upcoming season, but looking deeper, his ‘Media Day Bingo’ card shows a level of detail Tech’s been lacking for some time.

One of the biggest issues stemming from the Texas Tech Football narrative throughout the history of the program, has been its defense. Something fans and media members alike do during the offseason is prod the glaring issues; often times sounding like broken records. We wonder if players are hearing the sentiments, and more importantly, what’s being done behind the scenes to address the issues.

For programs like Oklahoma, you wonder of Bob Stoops unexpectedly stepping down was the result of backchannel narratives, questioning whether he had reached his ceiling at OU. For programs like Texas Tech, the narrative has been whether the defense is preventing the team from even looking up.

At the beginning of offseason work, Texas Tech players were asked to buy in to a system that resembled more of a pro-style program. If you paid attention to players and coaches’ social media accounts since January, you’ve likely seen that any “breaks” have consisted of working out, and working with each other.

Texas Tech junior defensive back Jah’Shawn Johnson further confirmed the system on Media Days when he was asked by a member of Fox Sports how he spent his summer. “Well, the little break we had, I didn’t do much; I just worked out.”

Perhaps this is why ‘Media Day Bingo’ was such a hit, and perhaps this tells us about a team that’s been listening. As the old saying goes, “The devil is in the detail,” and it’s those little details in football that determine whether a team wins, or loses. For a team like Tech, which had plenty of opportunities to win three more games last season, those details are why we’re having this same conversation every year.

A large part of that conversation is fueled by the media, which Johnson addressed:

“We got together and came up with a few questions we thought the media would ask us, so I did bingo earlier and I have a bunch that I can mark out now,” Johnson said, via USA Today. “It’s been fun.”

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While the questions can be attributed to lazy reporting, the monotony of the questioning can be attributed to the fact that production hasn’t moved the needle. In fairness, every coach (no matter how successful they are) receives similar lines of questioning. But for players to take ownership, shows maturity, and an intrinsic understanding that you always have to be several steps ahead of your enemy.

Unfortunately, some of the unasked questions are things fans are most curious about, such as, “what were offseason workouts like,” and what players’ individual goals were headed into this season.

I think what this tells us, is that we need to view this season through a much broader scope lens. The narrow field of vision fans and media have for the program is a direct effect of previous seasons, however, with the team exuding a renewed sense of self confidence, maybe it’s time we all start buying into the vision, too.

Texas Tech knows details are the difference-makers headed into this upcoming season, and with Fall Camp beginning in exactly one week, fine tuning those details will be front and center on the to-do list.