Texas Tech football: Matt Wells banking on experienced coaches to fix defense

Derek Jones arrives from Duke with quite the reputation as a secondary coach

To understand just how bad the Texas Tech secondary was in 2019, we have to look back to only one play.  The above catch and run by OU’s Charleston Rambo against Tech in Norman is a perfect microcosm of the team’s almost comical deficiencies in the secondary.  Not only does Rambo come up with the catch in a crowd of three Red Raiders, But he’s also able to pick up 20 more yards because two Tech defenders run into each other trying to make the tackle.

You have to think that Wells would try to keep such a Three Stooges type of moment from being seen by potential DB coaches given that Kerry Cooks, last year’s safeties coach, is no longer with the program to help engineer such tragically laughable lowlights. Who knows if Cooks’ replacement saw that comedy of errors before his arrival but either way, Wells has found his man.

When you have one of the worst secondaries in the nation, it’s wise to bring in the best possible coach to help that position group and that’s what many believe Tech has done.  Former Duke assistant coach Derek Jones is now part of Wells staff where he will coach the secondary along with Patterson, who is also going to help coach safeties.

This move was met with some extremely high praise from industry experts. In fact, some of the most highly-regarded college football reporters are calling this a significant win for Wells.

Interestingly, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Fox Sports 1 reports that Jones had opportunities to join SEC programs this offseason.  Thus, one would have to believe that Tech’s ability to add him to Wells’ staff is an indication that the athletic department stepped up to pay him a salary that is competitive with what he could have earned in the SEC.  That’s not something Tech has done in the past.

Jones had been at Duke since 2008 where he coached the secondary every year and eventually rose to the rank of Associate Head Coach.  Prior to that, he was at Tulsa in 2006 where he worked with Wells and Patterson on the Golden Hurricanes’ staff.

His coaching career began in 1998 at his alma mater Ole Miss.  He’s also had stops at Murray State (2000-04), Middle Tennessee State (2005), and Memphis (2007).

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"According to his Texas Tech bio page, “Jones mentored several Blue Devils into NFL draft picks during his tenure as Ross Cockrell was selected in the fourth round in 2014, while Jamison Crowder heard his name called in the same round a year later. Duke had not previously had a defensive back chosen in the NFL Draft since 1996 prior to Cockrell’s selection.”"

Jones may also prove to be a fantastic recruiter due to what is apparently an infectious personality.  In addition to being a football coach, he’s published a motivational book titled “Always Play to Win” and he has his own website dedicated to his motivational teachings.

That’s going to be important because he may need to rely on all the motivational strategies he has in his arsenal to get through life in the pass-happy Big 12 with the secondary he has to coach.  Last year, the defensive backs Tech put on the field were repeatedly victimized in key moments and now, Jones has to figure out how to coach up a group that will have to proceed without All-Big 12 safety Douglas Coleman, who led the conference with eight interceptions in 2019.

Of course, if Tech could figure out how to generate a pass rush with any consistency, it would be a huge help to Jones and his position group.  But being as Patterson’s play-calling often leaves his defensive backs on an island, Jones had better be able to coach up his guys regardless of what happens with the front seven.  If he can, perhaps the defense will surprise us all this season.

It is obvious that Matt Wells believes in surrounding himself with experienced and proven college coaches.  When completing his initial coaching staff, the least amount of experience any of his assistants had were the six years of receivers coach Joel Filani.

That’s a far cry from what we saw Kliff Kingsbury attempt to do with his first group of assistants in 2013, though financial constraints limited who Kingsbury was able to add at that time.  Regardless, the failure to build a strong overall coaching staff proved to be a significant component of Kingsbury’s downfall and now that Matt Wells is benefitting from an increased salary pool for his assistants, we can hope that he will not suffer the same fate as he predecessor.