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Texas Tech football: Matt Wells needs to follow Chris Beard’s blueprint

By Matthew Conner

EAST LANSING, MI - AUGUST 31: Head coach Matt Wells of the Utah State Aggies looks on while playing the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on August 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 38-31. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - AUGUST 31: Head coach Matt Wells of the Utah State Aggies looks on while playing the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on August 31, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan State won the game 38-31. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Be an integral part of the Lubbock community

West Texas is about as close to Mayberry as you are going to get in the world of college athletics.  And that is what makes it special.  The people in Lubbock value authentic connections and face-to-face interactions.

Chris Beard has mastered the art of being a local figure in Lubbock.  He has never shied away from being present in the community and has repeatedly professed his love for everything from the 806.  He’s built tremendous relationships with local business owners and community organizations and that is beginning to pay dividends in terms of booster support and fan engagement.

Wells must do the same.  Fortunately, he seems like the type of person who enjoys shaking hands and meeting the general public.

He was in attendance at Sunday’s Texas Tech baseball game and was at most of the home Big 12 basketball games.  What’s more, he was at the TCU basketball game in Ft. Worth after holding a meet-and-greet with Red Raider Club members in Ft. Worth.  That was just one stop one a 10-city tour of Texas designed to let Tech fans get an up-close look at their new head coach.

Kingsbury did events of a similar nature but never seemed to fully embrace his role as the most famous man in Lubbock.  While Beard comes across as if he is everyone’s best friend, Kingsbury was so seldomly seen in the wild in Lubbock that sightings of him became the West Texas equivalent of Big Foot encounters sparking mass hysteria and wild tales.

Kingbury was just as likely to be spotted hanging out with Mike Tyson and Tom Brady at the Preakness Stakes or with bikini-clad women at a rooftop pool in Dallas as he was to be seen an Spanky’s or Evie Mae’s.  But because of his status as a former Red Raider Q.B. and the first hero of the “Air Raid” era, he could get away with being enigmatic and still be beloved by the fans.

Matt Wells does not have that luxury.  He is an outsider.  And the last time we hired one of those, Tommy Tuberville snuck out of a recruiting dinner to take another job.  Tuberville openly hated Lubbock and even compared it to Iraq after he had left town which has cause many Red Raider football fans to be leery of another coach with no ties to the university.

Wells needs to take a page from the Spike Dykes playbook and act as it he is running for mayor.  If he shows up at every Lions Club pancake breakfast, Rotary Club cake walk and church chili cook-off, he will show the fans in Lubbock that he is invested in the community as much as he is invested in the football program.  And that will carry as much weight with Texas Tech football fans as nearly anything else.

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