Texas Tech football: DT Nick McCann leaves the program

Wednesday, head coach Matt Wells confirmed that defensive tackle Nick McCann has left the Texas Tech football program.

According to Matt Wells, senior defensive tackle Nick McCann has left the program.  Wells reportedly shared the news with reporters after practice on Wednesday and it was Tweeted by RedRaiderSports.com.

According to the Texas Tech football website, the Texarkana native has appeared in only four games this year and hasn’t seen the field since the Iowa State game on October 10th.   In his limited action, he was credited with only five tackles (1.5 for loss).

It’s a disappointing end to McCann’s Texas Tech football career.  After all, he entered 2019 as the starting defensive tackle on the heels of a career-high 24 tackles the previous season.

But last year, he saw his productivity dip to just 12 tackles and he was replaced in the starting lineup by Jaylon Hutchings, who was a redshirt freshman at the time.  Now, he’s no longer part of the program leaving an already thin defensive line searching for more healthy bodies to plug in behind Hutchings for the final two games of the year.

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When he signed with Tech in the class of 2016, McCann was a 3-star prospect who was rated the no. 60 defensive tackle in the nation and the no. 9 player in the state of Arkansas.  In addition to Tech, he held offers from the likes of Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas, SMU, Tulsa, and others.

He ends his time as a Red Raider with 46 career tackles (6.0 for loss) and 1.5 sacks.  His best game came in 2018 when he had six tackles (2.0 for loss) and a sack against Texas in Lubbock.  He also had four tackles against Texas this year as well as four tackles against Kansas last season.

McCann’s prolonged absence from the field has given walk-on defensive lineman Troy Te’o some playing time.  The former Lubbock Cooper Pirate transferred to Tech from Eastern New Mexico prior to last season and now he’s seeing action along the defensive front as the Red Raiders search for warm bodies to plug into the rotation.  So far, he’s seen action in three games registering two tackles.

McCann’s departure will also mean that Tech will have to address the defensive tackle spot this offseason, either on the recruiting trail or via the transfer portal.  Right now, 6-foot-3, 305-pound JUCO prospect Demeco Roland is the only defensive tackle committed to the Red Raiders in the class of 2021.

College football is a game of attrition, especially over the course of the season as injuries take their toll.  Over the last few weeks, Tech has been hit hard along the defensive line with players like Eli Howard, Tony Bradford Jr., and McCann all missing time for various reasons.  Now we know with certainty that McCann will not be back and that leaves an already thin position even more vulnerable than it already was.