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Texas Tech football: 5 unknowns that remain ahead of 2019 season

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 14: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 14, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 59-44. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - NOVEMBER 14: The Texas Tech Red Raiders take the field before the game against the Kansas State Wildcats on November 14, 2015 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 59-44. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TX – SEPTEMBER 08: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks to pass the ball during the game against the Lamar Cardinals on September 08, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 77-0. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX – SEPTEMBER 08: Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks to pass the ball during the game against the Lamar Cardinals on September 08, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech won the game 77-0. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

Though the Texas Tech football season is beginning to appear on the horizon, there remain several unknowns about the 2019 team and the program in general under Matt Wells.

Texas Tech football fans are in an odd spot this summer.  Still trying to recover from the turmoil of the previous season in which we were cast into the role of children who have to watch two parents they love navigate a much-needed divorce, we find ourselves facing an uncertain future.

Some believe this is the start of a resurgence for Red Raider football.  They have seen enough from Matt Wells to believe that he is the right man to take the program back towards the upper echelon of the Big 12.

And naturally, they point to areas where the new head coach seems to be more prepared than his predecessor.  Certainly, Wells has six years of on the job training during which he put together two 10-win seasons at a university, much like Texas Tech, not necessarily known for being a yearly contender in football.

These fans have bought in to what Wells has sold and have seen enough from the glimpses inside the program that we’ve received since his arrival to be sold on their new head coach.  But it is fair to wonder if they, like a child looking for a father figure, are simply seeing what they want (and perhaps need) to see in order for them to remain emotionally invested in Red Raider football.

The other part of the fan base is more like a teenager refusing to call the new guy “Dad” and still looking to pick apart every perceived flaw.  Wells is certainly not as interesting as Mike Leach, as accomplished as Tommy Tuberville nor is he a Red Raider like Kliff Kingsbury so this faction of the fanbase remains skeptical and unimpressed with the hiring.

What’s more, the fact that Wells had three-straight losing seasons at Utah State from 2015-17 is cause for alarm.  After all, Kingsbury was fired for having three straight losing seasons and during his three-season run of futility, he went 16-21, which is slightly better than the 15-23 Wells went in the three years prior to 2018’s 10-2 regular season.

So it appears that we are entering the most uncertain Texas Tech football season since perhaps 2000 when a little-know former offensive coordinator from Oklahoma was set to take over for the legendary Spike Dykes.  Of course, we did not know then what Mike Leach would eventually accomplish in Lubbock and we can only hope that Matt Wells can have similar success.

But for now, all we have is time; time overthink and overanalyze every aspect of the football program we love so much.  So let’s take a look at five unknowns about this team as we wait for the return of Red Raider football.

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