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Texas Tech football: The incredible miss rate of Tech’s top 10 all-time recruits

By Matthew Conner

BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers celebrates a sack during the first half against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - SEPTEMBER 08: Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers celebrates a sack during the first half against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at Tiger Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers and Tyler Shelvin #72  (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Breiden Fehoko #91 of the LSU Tigers and Tyler Shelvin #72  (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Breiden Fehoko

When defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko from Honolulu, Hawaii signed with the Red Raiders in 2015, he became the highest-rated player to ever ink with Tech as he had a rating of 0.9753.  So it was easy to believe that he might become the program’s version of Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy.

But two years and only 38 tackles later, he left the program for LSU.  Many believe that he was not happy when family friend Mike Smith was not named the full-time defensive coordinator after serving in the interim role for the final nine games of 2014 and when Smith left Lubbock following the 2015 season after being Fehoko’s defensive line coach, it started the wheels of Fehoko’s transfer in motion.

He played the 2016 season but failed to report to Tech after Christmas break as he eventually announced his intention to leave the program.  It was a huge disappointment for a player that was supposed to be the leader of a defensive turnaround.

But somehow, the No. 1 recruit in program history never had more than 19 tackles in a season and managed just two sacks in his time as a Red Raider.

After transferring to LSU, he didn’t become any more productive.  After making just 16 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 2018, he followed that up with 18 tackles and 0.5 sacks in his senior campaign this fall.  The only positive about his 2019 showing was that six of his stops went for a loss.

It hurt when the No. 8 defensive tackle in the class of 2015 left the program, not because his productivity wasn’t easily replaced but more because it left Tech woefully thin at a critical position.  Also, it was a huge disappointment that we never got to see his career play all the way out in scarlet and black.

What Fehoko’s 4-star ranking told us was that he was physically dominant when compared to his peers at the high school level.  But what the rankings couldn’t have measured was his lack of drive to improve and be a better football player.  In that way, the No. 1 recruit in program history will always serve as a cautionary tale helping Red Raider fans learn to temper expectations for any recruit, no matter how highly-rated he may be.

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