Friday can only mean one thing for the discriminating Red Raider fan: time for another edition of the Red Raider Confidential. As always, we begin this session with the ground rules. Everything that is reported in the Red Raider Confidential must stay well… confidential. That's the way this deal works. The Red Raider Confidential is posted in the premium forum to ensure that this information stays exclusively within the Raider Nation.
This will continue to be successful only if everyone helps out, so let’s all work together and keep the discussions limited to this board.
The Hollins hook-up
The newest Tech commit, DE Jonathan Hollins, will be the first to remind you that he knows all about winning and being successful.
“We won state three out of four years in high school,” stated Hollins about his playing days at Redemptorist HS in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
And last year, during his freshman campaign at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California, Hollins helped his Cougar team make it to the State semi-finals and lost by three-points in double-overtime.
“I’m very excited to see how he responds his second year,” said head coach Garett Tujague. “Jonathan brings a great confidence with him in his work ethic that he instills in others. He’s very technically sound and a hard worker.”
Heading into Canyons as a player that had only played on the outside of the d-line, it was felt by Tujague that Hollins would best contribute on both the inside and outside.
“Ability-wise, we probably have four Division-I defensive lineman,” said Tujague. “So it’s fun moving him around. We put him in and out so that people wouldn’t know where he lined up. They can’t do blocking schemes if he is both inside and outside.
“If they’re calling it at the line then we’re already making them do more mental gymnastics then they need to be and that gives us an advantage.”
“I played a little at defensive tackle,” said Hollins. “I played it and thought it was quite fun. Whatever they need me to play, I’m down for it.”
It was shortly after Hollins began playing for Canyons when he started getting attention for his third go-around with the recruiting process.
“My recruiting started during the season last year,” reflected Hollins. “Right after it started, I got letters and started getting people asking about me.”
But still, Hollins wasn’t listening.
“I still have Tech as number one on my list. They’ve been with me the whole way so it’s only right for me to come out there and win a championship.
“The contact has been pretty mutual over the years. Back and forth, we call and stay in contact. Our relationship is pretty strong.”
How have the Red Raiders kept in contact with Hollins over the years? After high school, he went to Hargrave Military Academy, and then a junior college in Mississippi for a semester before he eventually wound up at Canyons.
Seems that any pursuing college would have a very difficult time tracking down any prospect after so many moves. It’s always great to have any extra eye on a prospect and for the Red Raiders, that happens to be the above mentioned head coach of Canyons, Garett Tujague.
“I’m really good friends with the secondary coach at Tech, Brian Mitchell,” said Tujague. “We played together at BYU. We have a great relationship of working together and making sure he can get back to Tech.”
Because of his connection with the Red Raiders, he knows the situation between Hollins and Tech very well. He feels that it’s part of his job to make sure he sends Hollins back to West Texas.
“If he comes to me and says he doesn’t want to go to Tech then I’ll have him call Tech and tell them and then we’ll open the market. But Jonathan is a good kid and I can’t see that happening. I’d be shocked if he came in and said that to me.”
Hollins says that he has thought about opening his recruiting process, but doesn’t see the point.
“I’ve gotten letters from Oklahoma, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Kansas, NC State,
I want to say last season my coach told me a few schools that offered, West Virginia, but they had a coaching staff change. I think NC State and a few more schools as well.
“I think about it and the possibilities of opening up the recruitment because it’s an exciting process,” admitted Hollins. “But there are a lot of things you have to keep in mind and are looking for. With Tech, it’s a good program I can try to get in and learn the plays and everything and get in and compete for a spot. I wouldn’t have to go through all the other stuff.”
Meanwhile, it’s been a job of Tujague’s to protect Hollins from incoming programs.
“There aren’t any offers that Jonathan has,” said Tujague, but then he corrected himself. “Well, there are or there would be, but there aren’t because that’s where the kid wants to go because I protect him to even having to deal with other schools.
“Since he’s been off the map for a little while a lot of them are not realizing that he’s been committed to Texas Tech for a long time. But we tell them that he’s committed to Texas Tech.
“They’ve done an amazing job of tracking him. Coach Mitchell and the whole staff have been all over him and making sure he’s doing good in his grades and doing grade checks. In fact, they were even here last week.”
Hollins wasn’t at the school when Dennis Simmons stopped by though. He was back home in Louisiana taking class and working out.
“I’m going back to Cali at the beginning of June so I can sit down with my coaches and we can start working on next season. I talked to Coach Dennis and he said they’re going to fly out here on a trip pretty soon.”
Coaches aren’t the only individuals affiliated with Tech that Hollins talks to occasionally either.
“I keep in touch with (current Tech linebacker) Brian Duncan and a few other guys. The last time I talked to B-Dunc was three weeks ago. I called him. He told me to hurry up and get up out there.
“He just told me everything and was excited. He says it’s a whole new team now and the coaches are doing a great job of bringing in new guys and everyone is exited. It’s not the same Texas Tech anymore, it’s a good time to be a Red Raider.”
Hollins realizes what he is so close to being a part of.
“As you can see in previous years, the team is developing and the fan base is still the same. They all love tech. they have great recruits coming in, and the program is upcoming. It’s pretty nice. The coaching is great and everybody just really wants to get in and win.”
Being a winner, Hollins has no problem with that.
“I’m just ready to get down and get it out of the way. I’m ready to get this next season and going and then in December, I will be out of there.”
It’s only natural for Tech fans to think in the back of their mind of any possibility that Hollins wouldn’t qualify for a third time. But Tujague assures us that won’t happen as his grades are just fine right now and Hollins adds that there’s a reason for that.
“I’ve learned a lot and grown as a person and player and everything.”
Expect Hollins to be in a Red Raider uniform next season.
New QB offer a longshot
Right now, Upland (California) QB Josh Nunes is playing the process real cool. He’s listing no favorites and saying that he’s looking to get educated in all of the college programs as a whole.
“I’ve only been familiar with football itself for about two years,” Nunes said. “I really didn’t know anything about football before two years ago. I played a little bit of freshman ball and I really started learning football during my sophomore and junior year. So I’ll be going into my third year of varsity football. I learned most of my reads and the offense in varsity.”
Despite not growing up around the game, Nunes has an arm with undeniable strength. Don’t believe us, let the 15 offers speak for themselves. The latest school on the long list happens to be Texas Tech.
“I talk to Coach Riley quite a bit and he seems like a great guy and they definitely have a great offense. I’ve definitely heard about them.”
So what does he learn in the conversations with Tech WR coach Lincoln Riley?
“I get to talk about the offense with him, the quarterback situation, the school itself, the academics there, Coach Leach and how everything is run.”
The head coach at Tech is one person that Nunes has been trying to get to know a little bit better.
“I’ve been in contact with him, I’ve talked to him once before. He has a great offensive mind and definitely the person who put in the offense there. I don’t know too much about the man himself and haven’t had a chance to talk to him too much but from everything I’ve heard, he’s a great guy.”
While Nunes says that he tries to keep up with Riley as well and has in fact talked to him three or four times, Red Raiders fans shouldn’t get too excited as speaking to coaching staffs seems to be normality for Nunes right now.
“I try to talk all of them, yeah. They’re not allowed to call me but I try to keep in contact and call them every now and then.”
Why does Nunes think he’s special at the gunslinger spot?
“I like to pick apart the defense with my reads. I take pride in learning the offense and learning the opposing defense. I love to make reads and get the ball to the receiver. Coaching staffs tell me that they like the way I move safeties and mess around with the defense a little bit. They talk a little bit about my arm strength, too.”
While Nunes does not have any top choices right now, he hopes to have a top five by the end of the month.
“For me it’s about the school itself. The offense, coaching staff have a big part, academics. I’m saying that I want to major in engineering right now but technically I’m not really sure.”
Nunes has shown interest in many local schools and a few outside of the state as well.
“I’ve made a couple of visits to schools within driving visits. We’ve also turned it into a vacation with the family and check out the area and make it a weekend trip. Recently I made trips to Cal, UCLA, Stanford, and ASU.”
When asked as to what schools he’d like to visit soon, Nunes listed Boise State, BYU, Utah, Colorado, and not Tech.
While Nunes says that he’d “like to try” to visit the Red Raiders eventually, don’t count on it. We say this because Nunes gave the impression that he would have to take a visit to any schools in the running pretty quickly. When asked if he would wait for an official visit to Lubbock, Nunes responded:
“I don’t know if it’ll go that far. It’d be kind of nice to get it out the way before my senior year and relax a little bit.”
The Red Raiders need to move up in Nunes’ eyes very quickly in order to have a shot with this West Coast talent.
Linton looking elsewhere
We had multiple conversations with new Tech offer S Dexter Linton and while he seemed a little bit all over the place, there was one factor that remained constant: It was like pulling teeth in order to get Linton to say anything about Tech.
First of all, he is definitely enjoying the recruiting process.
“It’s fun,” said Linton. “I like talking to all the coaches and seeing what all they talk about, the differences. I like comparing them and being in the whole process. There are all these schools coming after you, that’s exciting.”
For Linton, that is definitely the case right now with offers from seven programs: Kansas, Wisconsin, Purdue, Oklahoma State, Louisville, Texas Tech, and Houston. He believes that Ole Miss could be offering soon as well.
So what do coaches like about the 6-foot-0, 185-pound defensive back?
“Usually they say that they like my patients and I know how to read the field and I’m fast. They just say that I’m a player that they can build around and can fit into their system well.”
Linton’s visited two schools at this point.
“Yeah, I went to Kansas and I went to UT. I went to UT’s junior day when they invited me and I’m going again for track. I kind of lost contact with them because it was early when they wanted me and I guess they went a different way.”
Though the Jayhawks were a long way from the Lone Star State, Linton felt that it was worth the trip.
“That was the first school that offered me so I felt like I needed to see what it was like. They wanted me early compared to the other schools. There must’ve been something they liked about me so I wanted to see what it was about. I wasn’t expecting an offer so early like they did. It was a couple of months ago. I went to their junior day. I went to their junior day and really liked everything. They’re building a new facility and I like the coaches.”
Linton just wasn’t impressed at the beginning. The Jayhawks have made a big enough impression to where Linton says that is the school he would commit to today, if he was forced to make a decision.
“For right now, Kansas is number one. They’re just my top choice right now. But it’s too hard to tell because they’re all even after that. I really don’t have any favorites right now.”
Any future visits scheduled?
“Not right now, but this summer our 7-on-7 team is going to a Louisville camp. I just got an offer from them this week as well. I’m going to an Ole Miss camp with some of my other players. I might want to go to Wisconsin or Purdue and see what it’s like up there.
“I’m looking for a program that fits me and where I can have fun and also get my education. Nothing really too much. I could go to a school where I know I could see me at.”
Linton even talked about his infatuation with the state of Florida and how he would like to visit Florida and Miami at some point, if he had the opportunity.
Still, no mention of Texas Tech. So, we asked Linton about those Red Raiders.
“I haven’t really talked to any Tech coaches very much. I talked to Coach Mainord for a while and he was pretty cool. I’ve been to Texas Tech a couple of times for track and one for football. But I really don’t know much about them. I haven’t seen their facilities or anything.”
Linton was actually in Lubbock last weekend for the regional track meet.
“Yes, I was. We ran a 4x1 and 4x2, we got second. Yeah, the first day coach Mainord. I talked to him. He was trying to get me to come see the facilities and wanted to show me around the campus but I didn’t have any time because I had to do all three relays. He’s the coach that is recruiting. I just called him and will try to keep in touch and meet up. That’s really all I’ve seen, I haven’t really seen too much but their stadium was nice when we played on it. I liked it. That’s really about it. I’ve been at their track and stadium.”
Mainord has brought up the point to Linton that Tech has six seniors graduating at the safety position next year.
“Yes, he has. He told me that was a good opportunity for me to play as long as I work and do what I’m supposed to do. But that’s definitely a plus and something to think about.”
Any chance of Linton going to a Tech camp this summer?
“I probably will since it’s not too far away. But it really just depends on what my mom wants to do until these official visits come because I’m pretty sure my mom will want to go, too.”
Bottom line, Linton has been to Tech three times for football and track events, but failed to mention it when talking about the schools he’s seen and are interested in. While in Lubbock last weekend, Mainord offered to show him around but he failed to find time.
Granted, he was very busy with multiple events he was in and a lot of time high school coaches don’t allow their prospects to look around while at track meets. But don’t forget that everyone knew that ’08 Weatherford DE Kapron Lewis-Moore never showed any interest in Tech and even he had time to walk with Mainord around the facilities.
He most definitely is not ‘wow’ed by the Red Raiders at this point, but that is not to say that the coaching staff still does not have time.
Terrance Bullitt Talks Recruiting
With a brother who’s an A&M legacy and another brother who once played at Baylor, the irony of Terrance Bullitt potentially ending up at Texas Tech is pretty funny. Bullitt, who explained to us earlier this week that his brother just wants him to be happy, even if it’s not at A&M, says he’s not waiting on an Aggie offer.
“I don’t know why people assume that I care whether they offer or not,” he explained. “I’m just doing my thing and if they don’t offer, that’s fine with me.”
He continued, explaining that A&M is looking at him as a linebacker, a position he wants no part of.
“I talked to Coach Malone like a month ago and he said they’re recruiting me as a linebacker,” he said. “And in all honesty, I don’t want to play linebacker and I’ve told them that. They said they wanted to do spring evaluations and stuff and that’s fine with me, I’m not worried about them not offering or anything like that. They can do what they’ve got to do and I’m doing the same.”
Bullitt says he’s looking to narrow down his list by the end of the summer and says he wants to take a few summer visits and some or all of his official visits before making a decision.
“This summer I want to visit Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and maybe SMU,” he said. “Those four are all for now, but we’ll see. I also know that I do want to take all my officials, so we’ll see.”
Darden Likes Simmons
With Tech likely only taking one or two receivers in this year’s class, the recruitment of wide receiver Jarrod Darden is one to keep a close eye on. With a 6-foot-5 frame and a ton of natural ability, Darden is someone that a lot of schools are really starting to like. Luckily for Tech, they offered Darden early and he came out to Tech to take in a spring practice.
Throughout most of his visit, he could be seen chatting with Tech assistant and recruiter extraordinaire Dennis Simmons, which is no coincidence, as Darden says the two are forming a pretty good relationship these days.
“I’ve been talking to Coach Simmons weekly,” he explained. “I call him weekly and see how everything’s going. I don’t always just talk to him though, I’m getting to know the whole staff and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them better.”
One thing Darden really liked about his visit was getting to watch Simmons in action.
“We’ve got a great relationship,” explained Darden. “I like the kind of coach he is. When I was up there, you could tell he’s real laid back, he doesn’t have to yell to get things done because he’s a great coach. You can tell when he’s disappointed and that will do more for you than getting yelled at. Or at least for me it does. I really liked his coaching style.”
His relationship with Simmons is one of many reasons why he likes Tech at this point, and Darden says that if Signing Day were today, his decision would come down to Colorado and Texas Tech, but says it’s too close to call at this point.
Q&A With Emory Blake
Four-star Austin WR Emory Blake spent time to talk to us about his current recruitment.
RRS: Have you been talking to Tech’s coaches at all lately?
EB: I’ve been talking to Coach Riley a lot. We talked about 4 or 5 days ago I think. Our relationship is really good. I’m trying to figure out when I could come to Lubbock. We haven’t found a date yet but we’re working on it right now. He also said they’re gonna come see me during spring football, so I’m looking forward to that.
RRS: What would you be looking for on a visit if you made it down to Tech?
EB: I want to see the campus and see what the coaches are like, that sort of thing. I know my dad would probably be interested in seeing a lot of how they do things and all that. I also would want to see the academic side and meet the players, you know, stuff like that.
RRS: Speaking of your dad, what does he think of Tech’s interest in you?
EB: He really likes Texas Tech and how they throw the ball 60 times a game. We haven’t really talked about the whole process too much, but I know when we got that offer he was incredibly excited. He was like, ‘Man, that’s Texas Tech, that’s a big deal son, you know if they offer you as a receiver you’re doing something right because all they do is pass, pass, and pass some more.’
RRS: So what’s your schedule looking like for this summer?
EB: I’m looking to go see Tech, USC, Florida, and probably LSU. And I’m actually going to go to Texas’ camp, so I guess that means I’ll probably be taking about five visits this summer.
Gray Feeling the Pressure
When we spoke to Joel Gray earlier this week, we shared a good laugh about his friend Kyle Clark’s commitment.
“Yeah, he told me that he committed and that he’s really excited about it,” he said before adding with laughter that Clark had probably, “had a little bit of help knowing about Tech thanks to his offensive line coach.”
After talking for a minute about Clark’s commitment and Brian Kegan’s role in that commitment, Gray explained that he hasn’t exactly had the easiest time keeping an objective mindset about Tech.
“It’s not like I’ve got a fighting chance either,” the star offensive lineman said with a chuckle. “I have like 4 coaches on our staff here and even our principal here I think went to Tech, so everyone’s been saying pro-Tech stuff all the time.”
Though Red Raider fans had thought for some time that Gray’s relationship with Mason Walters might influence his decision, it turns out it might be his friendship with Clark that sways his choice of schools.
“Kyle’s been trying to tell me to come out there and be a Red Raider, which, like I’ve always said, is a possibility for sure,” he explained. “I really like it out there and I could see myself out there, but I’ve still got a lot to do and see before I can make that decision.”
Gray, who picked up an offer from Virginia this week, is still one of the Red Raiders’ top targets and a commitment from the Lewisville Hebron product would certainly be huge for Tech.
Two Tidbits
We’ll keep these short but they’ll be sweet.
1. It appears that an in-state quarterback might be next on Texas Tech’s quarterback target list. At this point Garrett Gilbert, Aaron Murray, Allan Bridgford and Josh Nunes are the four signal callers to be offered by this next target(we think) is an in-stater. More on who (if we’re right) and how he feels about the Red Raiders this week.
2. Secondly and lastly, we’ll add someone to Texas Tech’s commitment list this week. We promise.
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