Opinion: Texas Tech football should keep Matt Wells, replace David Yost

The Texas Tech football program should give Matt Wells another year but replace David Yost as offensive coordinator.

Year Two of the Matt Wells era at Texas Tech was a total dud, with the Red Raiders barely squeaking by with a 16-13 win against lowly Kansas to finish the season with a 4-6 record. Fans are understandably upset with both Wells and offensive coordinator David Yost, but only one of those coaches should be given the pink slip.

Wells has made his share of questionable decisions during games, especially this season. There was the short kick that started the late rally by Texas, the onside kick returned for a touchdown by Oklahoma State, the missed field goal attempt on second down against TCU. He’s left me with my mouth agape in horrid amazement quite a few times unfortunately.

Despite all that, I believe it’s simply too soon to move on from Wells. When a new coach comes in to lead a program, he needs at least three or four years to bring in his recruits and show what he can do. The first year was a flop, but quite a few of those losses were close ones (and that Baylor loss was on the refs). It’s hard to judge a guy after his second year when that second year is in the midst of a pandemic and the team didn’t have the benefit of spring practices.

Say what you want about Wells, but the team has generally showed some fight during his time here and the defense looks improved under coordinator Keith Patterson. Besides, Wells was Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt’s hire, and I highly doubt Hocutt is going to move on from him after only two seasons, regardless of what some boosters want. It hasn’t been fun to watch Texas Tech football lately, but if you’re going to give Wells the job, you have to give him enough time to make it work. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Offensive Woes

What Wells does need to do, though, is replace Yost. At a school that’s been known for high flying passing attacks for the past two decades, having a season like this is just plain unacceptable. The offense continuously struggled to move the ball and score points, and quarterbacks Alan Bowman and Henry Colombi just never looked particularly good.

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Texas Tech sits 35th nationally in passing offense and 38th in total offense. This is the first time the Red Raiders have finished outside the top 11 in passing offense since before the Air Raid came to Lubbock, and it’s the first time they’ve finished outside the top 16 in total offense since 2001. There’s plenty of talent on this roster and there wasn’t a significant number of injuries, so there’s really no excuse.

QB Alan Bowman looked to have regressed since his freshman year under Kliff Kingsbury and didn’t seem to read the field or go through his progressions very well.  Meanwhile, Henry Colombi had difficulty pushing the ball down the field. The offensive line struggled at times, the running backs fumbled too often, and the top receivers, particularly Eric Ezukanma, were horribly underutilized at times. Ezukanma basically said as much after the Kansas game.

There were times when the offense seemed to get in sync, but those were few and far between. The play calling was abysmal, with far too many screen passes, especially when the receivers had difficulty blocking. For the most part, it seemed the only way Texas Tech could score a touchdown was if it broke off a big play, and that all falls on Yost.

For Wells to have a shot at turning this thing around in 2021, he simply has to make changes to the offensive coaching staff, and that starts with Yost. Continuing with this same group will only set him up for failure. If he keeps Yost and things don’t improve significantly next year, it may leave Hocutt with no choice but to move on.