Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Why Texas Tech football is in better shape now than one year ago

By Matthew Conner

LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Seth Collins #22 and Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrate a touchdown during the second half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Kansas 48-16. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TX - OCTOBER 20: Seth Collins #22 and Alan Bowman #10 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders celebrate a touchdown during the second half of the game against the Kansas Jayhawks on October 20, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech defeated Kansas 48-16. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

There is no question about the status of the head coach

For the first time since the 2016 season, Texas Tech’s head coach will not be found on any offseason lists of coaches on the hot seat.  Regardless of whether one was in favor of keeping Kingsbury or is in the camp that is still cynical about Wells as his replacement, we can all agree that it is refreshing to finally have stability in regards to the leadership of the program.

August of 2017 was the first time that Kingsbury’s seat began to warm up as Tech was coming of a 5-7 season despite having furture NFL MVP Pat Mahomes at QB.  That season, Tech did little to secure its head coach’s grip on his job going just 6-7.

In fact, many believed that a change was needed prior to the 2018 season despite the fact that Tech reached a bowl game the previous fall.  Fortunately, we are now receiving a break from the speculation about Texas Tech’s head coaching positon and that is only going to help the program.

Make no mistake, the uncertianty surrounding Kingsbury hurt the Red Raiders, especially on the recruiting trail.  Players are going to be less inclined to commit to a program that they fear will make a coaching change during their four years on campus.

In fact, we saw the impact that the Kingsbury firing had on the 2019 recruiting class as at least ten players that were once comitted to the Red Raiders decomitted because of the unknowns surrounding the future in Lubbock.  That list included some key players like QB Maverick McIvor, OT Trevor Roberson, and DB Alex Hogan who recomitted to Tech and highly-valued targets like DE Stephen Parker and RB Velton Gardner, who ultimatley signed with Kansas.

Now, we know who will be in charge of the program for the next three years at the very least.  That means opposing coaches can no longer use the uncertianty at the top of the program as a way to negatively recruit against Tech as they did for most of the last three recruiting cycles.

In life, we all crave certianty.  It is a core human need.  Now that we have no question about the program’s leadership and who will be in charge for the forseeable future, we (and more importantly, the players on the roster) can focus one moving forward and not on whether or not a beloved alum will be shown the door after the season.

Home/Texas Tech Football