Texas Tech football: All-time West Texas Red Raider team
OL: E.J. Holub, Rex Richards, Dan Irons, Phil Tucker, Jonathan Gray
West Texans are known for their toughness so it is fitting that the all-time West Texas Red Raider team features a fantastic offensive line. With E.J. Holub, Rex Richards, Dan Irons, Phil Tucker, and Jonathan Gray up front, this team would be able to manhandle opposing defenses.
Lubbock’s Holub was a two-way starter at center and middle linebacker from 1958-60 and was the program’s first College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 1986. “The Beast” as he was known by his teammates was a first-Team All-American in 1959 and 1960 and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1960.
The Lubbock High grad is the only player in history to start two Super Bowls at two different positions (started Super Bowl I at linebacker and Super Bowl IV at center) and joined Anderson and Dave Parks as the first three players inducted into the Texas Tech ring of honor.
Phil Tucker from Tulia was a Red Raider from 1965-67 and a three-year starter. He was a first-team All-American as a senior and an All-Southwest Conference selection in 1967. Tucker was inducted into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame in 1967.
Monterey Plainsman Dan Irons is widely regarded as one of the best offensive linemen in program history. From 1975-77 he was one of the top tackles in the nation earning All-American honors in 1977. He was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame in 2015.
Estacado’s Jonathan Gray was a 3-year starter in a career that spanned from 1996-99. He was first-team All-Big 12 as a senior and one of the most physically dominant linemen Tech has produced in the last three decades.
Finally, from Midland Lee came big Rex Richards in 1999. The 6-foot-6, 337-pound mauler started seven games as a true freshman and 42 in his career while earning second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2001.
This offensive line is far better than I anticipated it would be when I began compiling this roster. Of course, to compete in the modern era, you would have to bring in some extra size like former Coronado Mustang Gabe Hall (293 pounds) or 305-pound Canyon High school alum Cody Campbell (who has done rather well for himself in his post-football career).
In Holub, Irons, and Tucker you have three of the most highly-regarded offensive linemen in program history and in Gray and Hall you have two of the most massive and nasty blockers to ever don the Double-T. On the current roster, Tech has some young West Texas linemen such as massive 6-foot-11, 350-pound true freshman Trevor Roberson from Wellington, Ty Morrow from Canadian, and Landon Peterson from Odessa. Those young men have quite the legacy to live up to as their fellow West Texan offensive linemen have set a rather lofty bar.