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If you're in the Lubbock area and looking to get into shape, but don't know where to start, check out the website for Cardinal's Fitness. You can sign up for individual classes -- no contract or membership required -- that are good for people at any fitness level.
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Now that new Texas Tech head football coach Kliff Kingsbury has had a chance to communicate with a lot of the recruits on the program's board, most Red Raider commits have had some time to sit down and think about what life may look like under the new regime.
Bastrop (Texas) cornerback and Tech commit Aneas Henricks is extremely happy with the hire, and he's excited to see where the young coach takes the program.
"I think it's a great hire," Henricks said. "He's a young coach. He knows what he's doing. You see the kind of production that his quarterbacks have put up, from Case Keenum to Johnny Manziel to even himself, so his system obviously works. It seems like there's a lot of excitement wherever he goes, and he's coming back home to Texas Tech. Hopefully he brings some excitement back to Lubbock."
The biggest question surrounding Kingsbury and his staff is undoubtedly related to age. It's been 10 years or less since many of his coaches will have played college ball. Henricks has no problem with that, and he's happy to have a staff around him, including new defensive backs coach Kevin Curtis.
"I think it's a good thing," Henricks said. "I talked to Coach Curtis, and he made it sound like he's going to work hard. When you have young coaches, they're really energetic. They're still fairly young because they're not that far off from playing. They can probably relate to you a little bit more than older coaches. But, I talked to Coach Curtis and he told me about his career, where he's been, what he's done, and he thinks I could fit it, knows what I need to do when I get up there."
As the corner said, he called and spoke with Coach Curtis for the first time Sunday morning. The two share a similar playing background and seem to have quite a bit in common.
"He's been to the NFL, and he played at Texas Tech as a freshman," the Tech commit said. "He has a story similar to me because he played quarterback, and this is my first year playing corner this year, He also played quarterback and then corner, so he knows how things played out that way. That was kind of the conversation that we had."
It's also comforting and reassuring to Henricks that every single coach hired by Kingsbury so far once donned the scarlet and black in West Texas. He knows that every coach has played in the Jones, lifted weights in the football training facility, and gone to class at Texas Tech. They know exactly what the players will go through in Lubbock, and it means a lot to the senior.
- McKay
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We've spoken with most 2013 prospects that are committed to the Red Raiders since Kliff Kingsbury was hired as Tech's next head football coach. But we finally got a hold of Justis Nelson on Thursday night, and he's spoken with both Coach Kingsbury and defensive backs coach Kevin Curtis in recent days.
"He was just letting me know that he was trying to build up a relationship with me, letting me know that if I had any questions or wanted to talk or anything that I could always call him," Nelson said. "He just explained how excited he was for next year, the season, the young staff that he's going to bring in and stuff. He was just trying to get to know me."
He also let the athlete know that he would be coming in at cornerback, just as he would've in the previous regime, but noted that Nelson could play receiver down the road should things change.
"He thought I was a very talented, that I could play both sides of the ball if I wanted to," Nelson said. "But he said that they'll bring me in at corner and use me there. As far as what we're going to do next year, he told me that we're going to be real aggressive, going to play really hard on both sides of the ball. That's basically what he told me."
Nelson has been keeping in touch with Coach Curtis on a fairly regular basis. Nelson is excited to be coached by the former Red Raider and is excited to meet him when he visits Lubbock later on in January.
"Coach Curtis, I've talked to him a lot since he was hired. He seems like a real cool guy," Nelson said. "He also played with Coach Kingsbury, I think. They're both young, both really energetic. I like that he's told me that he's going to push me so that I can be the best I can be, and I'm going to push him too. I'm really excited about meeting him when I go down on my official visit on the 18th."
Many have spoken to the youth that will permeate throughout the new Tech coaching staff, and Nelson absolutely loves it. He's excited to play under former Red Raiders, and he's happy to play for coaches that are excited to be in Lubbock.
"I think it's going to be great," Nelson said. "All the coaches are going to be young, so they'll be easy to relate to, and there's not really going to be a barrier between us. They've been through the same things we will go through recently. I'm real excited about how much enthusiasm they will have and how energetic they will be. It seems like they're going to work us really hard, but we're going to have fun doing it, so I'm really excited for next season. It's great that those people have played for Tech before because they'll have just as much, if not more, enthusiasm on the team. They were raised at the school, so it's going to be a lot of fun and be a lot of pride and enthusiasm that comes out of those guys, so I'm really excited."
- McKay
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Waco (Texas) Midway receiver Hunter Jarmon has been invited to take an official visit to Texas Tech and will oblige the weekend of Jan. 18 -- the week after visiting Washington State.
Jarmon is still confident he will get an offer and views his upcoming trip to Lubbock as a business interview as much as anything else.
"I think that's definitely it," Jarmon said. "Coach Kingsbury and the rest of the staff need to see how they like me and who I am before extending an offer."
Fortunately, Jarmon has a man in his corner in new assistant coach Eric Morris who was the receiver's primary recruiter at Washington State before making the jump to Tech.
"Coach Morris called (Wednesday) and he asked if I still had an open mind for an official visit," Jarmon said. "I said I have two more left, but I had committed one to Washington State. He said OK. We talked a little more and he said he wants me to come up there. As far as a scholarship, I don't know. I guess I'll find out when I get up there.
"It seems pretty close because Coach Morris never did feed me any bullcrap at Washington State. So I feel pretty strongly that an offer is coming soon."
And if Tech makes the offer?
"They'd rank up there pretty highly," Jarmon said. "I really like Tech and it's fairly close to home where my parents could see me play. So it ranks really high. I know they like to throw the ball a lot and I got to see the campus last spring break when I was mainly there for baseball when I went up there to play. I got the see the baseball facilities, but as far as football facilities I'm kind of clueless right now."
Jarmon added he's not frustrated with what some could see as getting the slow play from Tech.
"They're still having staff meetings and getting ready for the bowl game and stuff," Jarmon said. "Morris will be at the game as well. He understands the situation and hasn't shown any frustration he can't offer me yet. I haven't either."
-Graham
This post was edited on 12/28 4:05 PM by A. Dickens
If you're in the Lubbock area and looking to get into shape, but don't know where to start, check out the website for Cardinal's Fitness. You can sign up for individual classes -- no contract or membership required -- that are good for people at any fitness level.
---
Now that new Texas Tech head football coach Kliff Kingsbury has had a chance to communicate with a lot of the recruits on the program's board, most Red Raider commits have had some time to sit down and think about what life may look like under the new regime.
Bastrop (Texas) cornerback and Tech commit Aneas Henricks is extremely happy with the hire, and he's excited to see where the young coach takes the program.
"I think it's a great hire," Henricks said. "He's a young coach. He knows what he's doing. You see the kind of production that his quarterbacks have put up, from Case Keenum to Johnny Manziel to even himself, so his system obviously works. It seems like there's a lot of excitement wherever he goes, and he's coming back home to Texas Tech. Hopefully he brings some excitement back to Lubbock."
The biggest question surrounding Kingsbury and his staff is undoubtedly related to age. It's been 10 years or less since many of his coaches will have played college ball. Henricks has no problem with that, and he's happy to have a staff around him, including new defensive backs coach Kevin Curtis.
"I think it's a good thing," Henricks said. "I talked to Coach Curtis, and he made it sound like he's going to work hard. When you have young coaches, they're really energetic. They're still fairly young because they're not that far off from playing. They can probably relate to you a little bit more than older coaches. But, I talked to Coach Curtis and he told me about his career, where he's been, what he's done, and he thinks I could fit it, knows what I need to do when I get up there."
As the corner said, he called and spoke with Coach Curtis for the first time Sunday morning. The two share a similar playing background and seem to have quite a bit in common.
"He's been to the NFL, and he played at Texas Tech as a freshman," the Tech commit said. "He has a story similar to me because he played quarterback, and this is my first year playing corner this year, He also played quarterback and then corner, so he knows how things played out that way. That was kind of the conversation that we had."
It's also comforting and reassuring to Henricks that every single coach hired by Kingsbury so far once donned the scarlet and black in West Texas. He knows that every coach has played in the Jones, lifted weights in the football training facility, and gone to class at Texas Tech. They know exactly what the players will go through in Lubbock, and it means a lot to the senior.
- McKay
---
We've spoken with most 2013 prospects that are committed to the Red Raiders since Kliff Kingsbury was hired as Tech's next head football coach. But we finally got a hold of Justis Nelson on Thursday night, and he's spoken with both Coach Kingsbury and defensive backs coach Kevin Curtis in recent days.
"He was just letting me know that he was trying to build up a relationship with me, letting me know that if I had any questions or wanted to talk or anything that I could always call him," Nelson said. "He just explained how excited he was for next year, the season, the young staff that he's going to bring in and stuff. He was just trying to get to know me."
He also let the athlete know that he would be coming in at cornerback, just as he would've in the previous regime, but noted that Nelson could play receiver down the road should things change.
"He thought I was a very talented, that I could play both sides of the ball if I wanted to," Nelson said. "But he said that they'll bring me in at corner and use me there. As far as what we're going to do next year, he told me that we're going to be real aggressive, going to play really hard on both sides of the ball. That's basically what he told me."
Nelson has been keeping in touch with Coach Curtis on a fairly regular basis. Nelson is excited to be coached by the former Red Raider and is excited to meet him when he visits Lubbock later on in January.
"Coach Curtis, I've talked to him a lot since he was hired. He seems like a real cool guy," Nelson said. "He also played with Coach Kingsbury, I think. They're both young, both really energetic. I like that he's told me that he's going to push me so that I can be the best I can be, and I'm going to push him too. I'm really excited about meeting him when I go down on my official visit on the 18th."
Many have spoken to the youth that will permeate throughout the new Tech coaching staff, and Nelson absolutely loves it. He's excited to play under former Red Raiders, and he's happy to play for coaches that are excited to be in Lubbock.
"I think it's going to be great," Nelson said. "All the coaches are going to be young, so they'll be easy to relate to, and there's not really going to be a barrier between us. They've been through the same things we will go through recently. I'm real excited about how much enthusiasm they will have and how energetic they will be. It seems like they're going to work us really hard, but we're going to have fun doing it, so I'm really excited for next season. It's great that those people have played for Tech before because they'll have just as much, if not more, enthusiasm on the team. They were raised at the school, so it's going to be a lot of fun and be a lot of pride and enthusiasm that comes out of those guys, so I'm really excited."
- McKay
---
Waco (Texas) Midway receiver Hunter Jarmon has been invited to take an official visit to Texas Tech and will oblige the weekend of Jan. 18 -- the week after visiting Washington State.
Jarmon is still confident he will get an offer and views his upcoming trip to Lubbock as a business interview as much as anything else.
"I think that's definitely it," Jarmon said. "Coach Kingsbury and the rest of the staff need to see how they like me and who I am before extending an offer."
Fortunately, Jarmon has a man in his corner in new assistant coach Eric Morris who was the receiver's primary recruiter at Washington State before making the jump to Tech.
"Coach Morris called (Wednesday) and he asked if I still had an open mind for an official visit," Jarmon said. "I said I have two more left, but I had committed one to Washington State. He said OK. We talked a little more and he said he wants me to come up there. As far as a scholarship, I don't know. I guess I'll find out when I get up there.
"It seems pretty close because Coach Morris never did feed me any bullcrap at Washington State. So I feel pretty strongly that an offer is coming soon."
And if Tech makes the offer?
"They'd rank up there pretty highly," Jarmon said. "I really like Tech and it's fairly close to home where my parents could see me play. So it ranks really high. I know they like to throw the ball a lot and I got to see the campus last spring break when I was mainly there for baseball when I went up there to play. I got the see the baseball facilities, but as far as football facilities I'm kind of clueless right now."
Jarmon added he's not frustrated with what some could see as getting the slow play from Tech.
"They're still having staff meetings and getting ready for the bowl game and stuff," Jarmon said. "Morris will be at the game as well. He understands the situation and hasn't shown any frustration he can't offer me yet. I haven't either."
-Graham
This post was edited on 12/28 4:05 PM by A. Dickens
