Texas Tech football: The most underrated players of the Tommy Tuberville era

LB Terrance Bullitt

It’s a shame that current defensive coordinator Keith Patterson won’t be able to clone former LB Terrance Bullitt and put him in his scheme because the Garland native would be a perfect fit for Patterson’s “spur” position, which is a hybrid safety/LB.

From 2010-13, the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder made 135 tackles, 16.5 of which went for a loss.  But nagging injuries kept him from ever becoming the type of defensive force that his talent suggested he could have been.   Most notably was a recurring shoulder injury that plagued him for most of his sophomore and junior seasons.

The reason for that injury was the fact that Bullitt played the game like a heat-seeking missile.  A hard hitter who threw all caution to the wind, he would be perfect in Patterson’s attacking, blitz-happy system.  Were he to play for Tech under the current defensive coaching staff, he would certainly have ended up with more than the one career sack he was able to register at Tech.

We talk often about Chris Beard’s obsession with positionless basketball players.  Patterson wants similar players on his defense and that’s what Bullitt was as he spent time at both safety and outside LB before becoming a roving defender his senior year.  Were he to have been able to play in a different system and stay healthy, he would have had a much more memorable Red Raider career but make no mistake, he was a solid player in his day.