Texas Tech football: Matt Wells insists defense is priority at media day

At the Big 12’s annual media days this week, Matt Wells and some of his players were steadfast in their insistence that defense will be a priority for the Texas Tech football team moving forward.

Anytime there is a change in leadership at the top of an organization, the new regime is almost certain to come in guaranteeing to fix or improve the obvious shortcomings and failures of their predecessors.  That was certainly the case Monday in Arlington, TX when new Texas Tech football head coach Matt Wells and the rest of the Red Raider contingency made their renewed commitment to defense their main talking point.

"“I think the biggest thing to consistently winning in the Big 12 for my tenure here at Texas Tech is we have to play championship-caliber defense,” Well said according to the official Big 12 transcript of his session. “We have to play the play great win at defense, there is not a time that is ever more challenging than to play that in the Big 12 than right now.”"

As everyone knows, playing defense has proven to be rather difficult for the Red Raiders during the two-decade “Air Raid” era.  In fact, since 2003 Tech has finished in the top-80 of the total defense rankings six times (2012, 2009 and 2004-07).

During that time, the program’s average total defense ranking has been 82nd and in exactly half of those 16 seasons, Tech has fielded a defense that finished in the 100s overall. That time frame has spanned four different head coaches and more defensive coordinators than there have been sequels in the Fast and Furious franchise yet no one has been able to figure out how to play defense on the South Plains.

But Matt Wells believes that his regime will finally be the one that brings back the type of defense Red Raider fans grew accustomed to during the “Swarm” days of the Spike Dykes era.  Granted, he knows that doing so in the Big 12 will be especially difficult.

"“It’s a challenge to play defense every single Saturday in this league,” he said.  “and I know that’s something that Keith Patterson and our defensive staff are excited to do and our players are excited to do…”More from Wreck'Em RedTexas Tech football: Red Raider fans need to know about these MountaineersTexas Tech football: Red Raiders land first commit for class of 2025Texas Tech football: Why have the Red Raiders struggled on the road under McGuire?Texas Tech football: Why the Red Raiders can compete for a Big 12 titleTexas Tech football: Plenty of questions remain as conference play arrives"

Some Red Raider fans (myself included) remain skeptical given that Wells’ defensive coordinator, Keith Patterson, has had only one top-100 defense in his last five seasons as a DC at a Power 5 school (Arizona State and West Virginia).  But Wells is baking on the success Patterson had last fall at Utah State when his defense was ranked No. 51 in the nation at Utah State.  Still, the challenge of slowing Big 12 offense is much greater than the challenge of stoping those in the Mountain West.

Still, it will be refreshing for Red Raider fans to see their team play an attacking style of defense under Patterson after three years of playing a rather reactionary defensive scheme under former DC David Gibbs whose philosophy was to try to limit big plays and find a way to stop opponents in the red zone or by forcing turnovers along the way.  Granted, Patterson is also interested in turnovers but he believes that his system will force them more frequently because his players will be applying extreme pressure on the offense from all over the field.

"Coach Patterson comes in with a new scheme that can be effective if we execute it the right way,” senior linebacker Jordyn Brooks told Fox Sports Southwest’s Sarrah Merrifield Monday.  “It’s more aggressive, a lot more blitz packages.  It’s perfect for the Big 12 because it’s a pass-happy league so, you know, we need to get in those quarterbacks’ faces.”"

Getting to the QB has been a problem for the Red Raiders for quite some time.  Last year, Tech registered 28 sacks, which was good for 50th in the nation and a nice improvement in that area from the program’s previous efforts.

But that was the first time since 2014 that the Red Raiders managed to finish in the top-100 in the nation in that category.  And this year, the Red Raiders are tasked with replacing their two top pass rushers from 2018 in Kolin Hill and Tony Jones who combined for 9.0 sacks last fall.

"“The first thing on our plan to win is to play great defense,” Wells told Fox Sports SW’s CT Steckel.  “And I think when you make a decision to play out of a spread offense and to play no-huddle and to play fast…and to push the ball down the field, how you play defense to me is the key to the whole thing because that offense needs possessions, it needs touches.“So evaluating that defense, practicing with that defense, it’s going to be part of our DNA, part of our culture.  We’re gonna play defense.  We’re gonna be tough. We’re gonna be physical.”"

Wells is not the first Red Raider head coach to talk a good game when it comes to defense.  In fact, any coach is quick to go to his bag of cliches when talking about that side of the ball.

But what his two most immediate predecessors failed to do was establish any consistency in that aspect of the program.  From 2009 through 2018, the longest tenure of any Red Raider defensive coordinator was the four years Gibbs spent on the job from 2015-18.

Hopefully, Patterson can finally be the answer to Tech’s defensive woes and put the program back on solid footing in the area of the game that has been the Red Raiders’ downfall for most of this century.  After what Wells and his players said at Big 12 media days, there’s no doubt that defense is at least a top priority in Lubbock once again.