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Why Texas Tech football hasn’t seen recruiting bump under Matt Wells

By Matthew Conner

LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Matt Wells of the Utah State Aggies watches his team warm up before their game against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium on November 9, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Utah State won 28-24. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 09: Head coach Matt Wells of the Utah State Aggies watches his team warm up before their game against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium on November 9, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Utah State won 28-24. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images )
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images ) /

Texas Tech football fans have begun to question why there has been no recruiting bump thus far in the first year of the Matt Wells era, which is understandable, but there are some understandable reasons why the results have not come as early as some may have wished.

College football fans have come to believe in the notion that there will be a significant recruiting bump shortly after hiring a new head coach.  And certainly, there have been a number of coaches that have been able to turn a program’s recruiting around almost as soon as they stepped on campus but Texas Tech football fans are still waiting for such an occurrence to happen for their program in the first year of the Matt Wells era.

The theory is that new coaches are able to use the buzz and momentum generated by their hiring to improve their program’s recruiting.  Normally, this bump comes in the first class the coach signs in which he has been in his current position for a full recruiting cycle.

Thus, many are willing to give Wells a pass for the 2019 class because he was in Lubbock for less than a month before the December signing day.  But Red Raider fans are asking why the 2020 Red Raider class is lagging behind every other Big 12 team as we near the middle of the summer.

With only three verbal commits, Tech’s current class ranks last in the Big 12 and 83rd in the nation.  Obviously, that should change but this still has some fans worried about the new coaching staff’s ability to recruit.

After all, many were hoping for the type of bump that Baylor saw between 2017, when Matt Rhule was hired and 2018 when Baylor’s class ranking improved eleven spots from No. 40 overall to No. 29.  Likewise, in Austin, Tom Herman signed the No. 3 class in the nation following his first full recruiting cycle in 2018 after landing the No. 25 class in 2017.

And maybe the most concerning to Red Raider fans is the success Kansas is having in the first full recruiting cycle of the Les Miles era.  After signing the lowest-rated class in the Big 12 in 2019, Miles currently has the No. 5 2020 class in the conference and the No. 34 class in the nation.

So is there reason for Red Raider fans to panic?  Not quite yet.  Certainly, the recruiting bump we were all hoping for has yet to materialize but by taking a closer look at why that is, we may see that there is still a reason to believe that Well’s can bring better talent to Lubbock.

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