Five biggest Texas Tech athletics stories of 2018
No. 3: Matt Wells named Texas Tech football head coach
He was not the coach the majority of Texas Tech football fans wanted but on November 29th, Utah State head coach Matt Wells was named the 16th head coach in program history. The announcement capped a wild week that saw athletic director Kirby Hocutt defy the wishes of his fan base (including some big money boosters) to hire the man he coveted throughout the process.
What made this move even more intriguing than a normal coaching search was the revelation that Tech reportedly had a big name head coach interested in the position. It has been widely accepted that West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, a former Texas Tech assistant under Mike Leach, was interested in interviewing for the job but was not granted the opportunity.
Bringing in Holgorsen would have been a home run hire in the eyes of most fans. It would have generated about as much excitement as any realistic option while being as close to a return to the Mike Leach era as possible without brining The Pirate himself back.
We can confirm that Dana Holgorsen was interested in the Texas Tech opening but Kirby Hocutt declines to interview him morning. @RedRaiderNation @KAMCNews
— David Collier (@CollieronTV) November 29, 2018
Therefore, refusal to even talk to Holgorsen angered a huge section of the fan base and those feelings were only amplified when Wells was officially hired. Many did not feel like Wells’ 44-34 record in six seasons with the Aggies was impressive enough for their liking, especially considering that prior to a 10-2 season in 2018, he’d guided his alma mater to three-consecutive losing seasons.
But this process was left up to one man, Kirby Hocutt. After being hamstrung by school officials and booster influence in the two previous head coaching hires he had made (Al Golden at Miami and Kliff Kingsbury), the Texas Tech AD seemed hell-bent on hiring the man he wanted regardless of outside opinion.
In the weeks since Wells’ arrival, he has won over a significant portion of the fan base with his energy and likable personality. He is fantastic when it comes to giving interviews and he seems to be far stronger with his interpersonal skills than his predecessor which has certainly helped him start to sway public opinion in his favor.
Of course, we will not know how this move pans out for a handful of years. But in 2018, Hocutt’s decision to go with a very unpopular hire to lead the school’s most popular program was one of the year’s defining moments.