Friday can only mean one thing for the discriminating Red Raider fan.
It's time for another edition of the Red Raider Confidential! The ground rules
are simple and easy to follow: everything reported in this report is not to be disclosed elsewhere. This feature is posted in the premium forum to ensure that this information stays exclusively within the
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This will continue to be successful only if everyone
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Potts will be the man
In the
spring of 2005, redshirt freshman Graham Harrell pushed senior-to-be Cody Hodges
for the starting quarterback position and, if not for Harrell's fluke wiffle
ball injury, the competition would have continued to be extremely close in the
fall.
We don't expect the 2009 competition to replace Harrell to be nearly that close.
Not only is junior-to-be Taylor Potts far and away the leading
candidate to replace the reigning Johnny Unitas Award winner, we are told that
there might not be much of a quarterback race at all this spring.
Our stance has been and continues to be that the only signal caller on the
roster with the necessary characteristics to give Potts a run for his money is
Seth Doege, who is fresh off of his redshirt season. While we
won't be able to see for ourselves until March, we are told that, at this point,
Doege might still be a year away.
Potts has all of the physical tools to be an excellent quarterback for the Red
Raiders, but we're anxious to see how he handles the leadership aspect of the
job.
With Potts being the clear-cut leader at quarterback, you can expect to see
junior-to-be wideout Lyle Leong on the field a lot, potentially in a starting
role. Potts has a tremendous comfort level and rapport with Leong, harking back
to their days at Abilene High, and he will look to him more than any other
receiver on the field when he needs to get rid of the ball.
Woods familiar with Lubbock
This past season, Rockwall
(TX) Heath running back Kendial Lawrence amassed one of the
best stat lines in the state. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he
was the biggest reason that Heath was able to make their deepest playoff run in
the history of the program.
Teammate Austin Woods would like to remind you that Lawrence
didn’t juke past the entire defensive line by himself.
“We run the spread so I am confident in my run blocking,” said Woods. That shows
with Kendial! He had nearly 3,000 yards rushing this year.”
Obviously the spread and passing offenses are something that the 6-foot-5,
275-pound offensive lineman can handle and schools have noticed. Perhaps that’s
why SMU and Texas Tech were his first two offers.
Furthermore, Woods sounds like he would be a good fit in the Red Raiders program
as he explained that he’s very versatile for his size.
“I’d play in any kind of offense they want me to play in. With pass rushing, I
have good speed and I work on that every day. I feel like I can move the
defensive linemen whichever way that I need to.”
The Texas Tech coaching staff came to the school a week or so ago to formally
offer Woods. He later had some contact with them as well.
“We were talking about the bowl game and everything and they told me about Texas
Tech. Then they let me know that they have been watching me on film and really
liked how I played.”
With the local offer from SMU, Woods had mentioned how the Conference USA
program was close to home. We asked him if distance was a big factor when making
his final decision.
“It doesn’t matter that much. Tech is probably a six hour drive and that’s not
bad. It’s a good school, too. It’s a little bigger football playing in the Big
12, too. It’s a good time to be a Red Raider right now.”
The 2010 graduate is more familiar about Lubbock and the West Texas area than
most prospects.
“My mom’s side of the family lived out there for a while. My mom was out there,
actually. My grandfather has told me some stories about Lubbock with the dust
storms and how the wind blows hard.”
Plus, it appears that Mike Leach’s idea of recruiting on
primetime television might have worked after all.
“I was watching the 60 Minutes and they had a special on Mike Leach. He
was talking about how it rains mud.”
Expect Woods to make a trip out to the campus in the near future as he has
confirmed that he will be at Tech’s junior day in February.
“Getting your education paid for is exciting enough and getting the chance to
play football.”
The chance to play on the next level is something that Woods is obviously going
to have a big opportunity to do. He’s attending Texas A&M’s junior day this
weekend and both Texas' and Oklahoma’s offensive line coaches have come to
observe him at school. He’s also getting mail from Michigan and Kansas State.
Premium Q&A: Terrance Bullitt
We spoke with Red Raider safety commitment Terrance Bullitt on Wednesday and got
his thoughts on his official visit to Texas Tech this weekend.
Thoughts on your upcoming visit to Tech?
TB: "I'm really excited about it. I know that me, Joel
[Gray] and Will [Ford] and a lot of the commits are going to be there. I heard
that there are supposed to be some more [uncommitted prospects] than just
Jonathan Stewart. I'm really wanting to meet them and try to get them on board."
What kind of things do you say to guys like that to try and get them, as you
say, 'on board'?
TB: "I won't try to just to talk to them about Tech. I
just want to get to know them. And hopefully they'll see it's nice and family
down there and they'll want to come to Lubbock also."
You've obviously visited Texas Tech before, is there anything special you're
looking forward to out of your official?
TB: "I'll probably look at more the campus, instead of
just the athletic facilities. I've seen all that I can see before. It's all
pretty nice, I just want to have fun when I get down there."
Has your in-home visit with Coach Leach been scheduled yet?
TB: "It's like the week after I get back, so I guess - I'm
not for sure, that's a good question."
Any special plans for National Signing Day?
TB: "I'm just going to do it at my school and go out to
eat with my family, just celebrate and that'll be a good day."
Blake weighing his options
After decommitting from Texas Tech
a month ago, four-star receiver Emory Blake has been thinking
hard about where he’ll go to school. He’ll visit Auburn this weekend, but is
likely to choose between Colorado and Tech.
“I’ve been thinking about mainly Tech and Colorado for several months,” he said.
“Actually, that’s how it’s been pretty much since I committed. Nothing really
ever changed, and I thought it would after I committed, and that was a bit of a
red flag. So that’s why I told them I was open again.”
One reason Blake started having second thoughts was the perception that Mike
Leach might not be in Lubbock much longer.
“Coach Leach interviewing for those jobs got me to thinking a little bit,” he
explained. “I didn’t want to have to worry about dealing with a new offensive
staff and all new people, because the ones there are the ones I’m comfortable
with. I knew once the Auburn job got filled that he’d be staying, but you still
have to keep that in mind and everything. ”
However, one thing that did not affect his decision was four-star wideout
Eric Ward enrolling at Tech.
“I think that’s great,” he said of Ward joining the Red Raiders. “If I go there,
that’s going to be a huge plus because we’ll be able to help each other and
defenses would have a pretty tough time with us, I know that much. Coach called
me and told me right when it happened and I’m all for it. I’m a very competitive
guy, so I like winning, and that guy will help Tech win, I know that.”
While only time will tell where Blake ends up, it’s safe to say it’s not going
to be a simple decision on his part. He’s genuinely torn at this point and is
honestly trying to find the best situation for him personally.
Premium Q&A: Jaye Crockett
We spoke with 2009 Texas Tech men's basketball signee Jaye Crockett
this week and got the latest on his senior season.
So I know y’all had a big tournament last weekend and knocked off the #1
team in the state- how was that?
JC: Well, we played Manzano, and like you said, they were
No. 1. It was a crazy game - I played every minute I think, and I just killed
myself. I was so worn out after that game I didn’t even have the energy to
celebrate the victory. I was having trouble with high fives (laughter). But
that’s the way to do it, I guess, leave it all out there.
You guys ended up losing in the championship game to Gallup right?
JC: Yeah, that was a bad deal.
That’s not exactly a fun place to play, is it?
JC: No sir - you know how it is. It was like a big family
re-union up in that place. It seemed like everyone knew everyone and they were
all yelling and being crazy like the we had threatened their kid or something.
It was pretty crazy. But that’s a great environment and I’m glad we experienced
it because it will only make us better.
You’re averaging over 30 points a game this year, but you were held to 13
against Gallup. Do you think playing so much in the first two games hurt you in
the championship?
JC: I’m sure it had some effect on my game, but you have to
fight through that. Playing non-stop isn’t too bad during district because you
have a day to rest, but tournaments are tough, because you’re playing
full-court, fast break basketball for 3 nights in a row with no breaks, and that
gets tough.
Do you know your final numbers for the tournament?
JC: I think I had 26, 25, and 13 points, and I know I had
over 10 boards in each game.
I know you’re scoring over 30 per game right now, but do you know your
rebound numbers, etc.?
JC: I think Coach told me on the way home that I’m
averaging 13 rebounds a game.
How’s it been playing more on the perimeter?
JC: Good. I’ve been getting to do a bit of everything, but
I love the perimeter. I think it’s going to be really helpful getting the
experience of just handling the ball and being able to make plays like that.
Have you been keeping up much with Texas Tech’s season?
JC: I watched the first few games, but I think the last
one I saw was UNM, which was a good game. I’m excited to get up there and play
with those guys.
Note: Crockett and his 10-5 Wildcats are on their way to
Albuquerque right now, where they will face off with the new No. 1 team in the
state, Highland. All eyes will be on Crockett as he matches up with fellow
senior wing Chad Adams, who is committed to UNM.
Misc. recruiting tidbits
- Daniel Cobb mentioned in an update in December that he was contemplating
taking a couple more official visits. He confirmed to us last night that he has
not and does not have any visits planned after this weekend.
- Kyle Clark is still getting an earful from other programs about Mike Leach's
future at Texas Tech.
- The near half-dozen unreported visitors have a combined star ranking of 16.
The story behind Williams' decision
After the conclusion of the press conference in Plano this week for the
Michael Crabtree/Brandon Williams
anouncements, Armen had a chance to speak with the Williams family. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Williams spent a good 15 minutes explaining to him the details of the
situation and why they agreed with their son that declaring early for the NFL
Draft was the best thing to do.
This all began about when Williams received his third round grade from the NFL's
College Advisory Board. Before that projection, there wasn’t much thought, if
any, about him leaving early. But they felt obligated to do some research once
they received the grade.
Crabtree likely had a large effect on this decision as Williams said during the
press conference that the two time Biletnikoff Award winner was the first person
that he called after finding out his projection.
Williams then sat down with his family and there was one major factor that stuck
out more than anything else.
Bottom line, the family felt that both Williams and Texas Tech had a dream
season and the thought was that it would be very difficult for the Red Raiders
to duplicate that in 2009.
What if the team has a worse record next season? What if the defensive ranking
goes down? How would that all affect Williams directly in his draft status? It’s
unknown. But it was enough to convince the Williams family that their son needed
to leave while he was out.
Mr. Williams did want to mention that part of this deal as well was that their
son promised he would go back and get his education at the earliest opportunity.
That was mandatory in this decision and a very big factor as well.
It needs to be pointed out that by far the financial aspects of this decision
had absolutely nothing to do with it. Mr. Williams noted that he and his wife
both have very successful jobs and they were in no rush for their son to make
millions. So let’s get that out of the way.
To them, the most disappointing part of this process was the reaction by the
coaching staff.
This was a hard decision for the family and one in which they devoted a lot of
time making phone calls and doing research. It wasn’t hard for Williams to leave
Texas Tech or his teammates.
From the family's perspective, they felt like they would be doing right by the
Red Raiders. They hoped that their son could set the standard for defensive
lineman at Texas Tech and show other recruits that it’s possible to excel there
and then become successful in the NFL.
That was not quite the reaction they received. Both Ruffin McNeill and Mike
Leach disagreed with their conclusion that leaving early was the right move.
Now, Crabtree is taking Williams under his wing. The two will be training at the
Michael Johnson Performance Training Center in Frisco. At first, Williams was
contemplating a move to Atlanta for the next few months but as one Williams
family member put, “If a facility right here in Dallas is good enough for
Crabtree, then it’s good enough for Brandon.”
To view previous installments of the Red Raider Confidential, you can visit the
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This post was edited on 1/16 9:08 AM by A. Dickens
This post was edited on 1/16 2:10 PM by A. Dickens
