We are squarely in the middle of prediction season. No one knows whether Texas Tech will rebound from last season's 4-8 showing this fall, but everyone has a guess. We will all find out together over the next few months, game by game, if the program's batten-down-the-hatches approach to the offseason has paid off. Come December, when conclusion season begins, we will all reflect on what we just witnessed, make big-picture proclamations and start looking ahead to 2016.
If I may, I'd like to bring conclusion season to Lubbock a little early -- at least briefly.
The jury is still out on Kliff Kingsbury's time as the Red Raiders' head football coach. Ultimately, like virtually all of his Power Five peers, he will be judged wins and losses. Through two seasons, it's hard to imagine there are many people -- Kingsbury included -- who are happy with his sub-.500 record. That being said, he's hardly the first coach to struggle early in his career; his legacy on the South Plains will be defined by what happens in 2015 and beyond, not what happened in 2014.
What we can conclude at this point is Kingsbury and his staff have done a praiseworthy job of addressing the program's depth issues on the offensive and defensive lines. It certainly didn't happen overnight, and there were some hiccups along the way, but Texas Tech heads into Kingsbury's third season with one of the Big 12's best offensive lines, a senior-laden defensive front, sufficient reserves (knock on wood) on each side of the ball and plenty of reinforcements coming for the future.
Kingsbury used every tool at his disposal to fix this issue. The Red Raiders certainly worked at addressing the lines in their first three signing classes under his leadership; from the moment Kingsbury was introduced to now, the program has signed 12 offensive linemen (3 JUCO) and nine defensive linemen (5 JUCO). More recruits are on the way, with eight defensive linemen (1 JUCO) and four offensive linemen on track to ink with Texas Tech in 2016.
The Red Raiders also scoured the transfer market. Those attempts did not always bear fruit (Malcolm Bunche) but, at the very least, the additions of Emeka Okafor, Ondre Pipkins, Mike Mitchell and Kolin Hill -- no matter how good they are -- give the Red Raiders much-needed numbers up front. This is especially important on defense, as the program will be bridging the gap between the 2014 JUCOs and the incoming high school signees.
Texas Tech has also added depth through its walk-on program. Talor Nunez arrived on campus as a defensive back, was moved to the defensive line and recently earned a scholarship. He played in 12 games in 2014 and there's no reason to expect that he won't be a mainstay in the Red Raiders' rotation -- even if it's on the back-end -- for the next three seasons.
We still don't know if any of these guys can play. That's still a ridiculously huge question mark. But you have to get players on the roster before you find out if they're any good, and Kingsbury has done a great job of laying the groundwork.
If I may, I'd like to bring conclusion season to Lubbock a little early -- at least briefly.
The jury is still out on Kliff Kingsbury's time as the Red Raiders' head football coach. Ultimately, like virtually all of his Power Five peers, he will be judged wins and losses. Through two seasons, it's hard to imagine there are many people -- Kingsbury included -- who are happy with his sub-.500 record. That being said, he's hardly the first coach to struggle early in his career; his legacy on the South Plains will be defined by what happens in 2015 and beyond, not what happened in 2014.
What we can conclude at this point is Kingsbury and his staff have done a praiseworthy job of addressing the program's depth issues on the offensive and defensive lines. It certainly didn't happen overnight, and there were some hiccups along the way, but Texas Tech heads into Kingsbury's third season with one of the Big 12's best offensive lines, a senior-laden defensive front, sufficient reserves (knock on wood) on each side of the ball and plenty of reinforcements coming for the future.
Kingsbury used every tool at his disposal to fix this issue. The Red Raiders certainly worked at addressing the lines in their first three signing classes under his leadership; from the moment Kingsbury was introduced to now, the program has signed 12 offensive linemen (3 JUCO) and nine defensive linemen (5 JUCO). More recruits are on the way, with eight defensive linemen (1 JUCO) and four offensive linemen on track to ink with Texas Tech in 2016.
The Red Raiders also scoured the transfer market. Those attempts did not always bear fruit (Malcolm Bunche) but, at the very least, the additions of Emeka Okafor, Ondre Pipkins, Mike Mitchell and Kolin Hill -- no matter how good they are -- give the Red Raiders much-needed numbers up front. This is especially important on defense, as the program will be bridging the gap between the 2014 JUCOs and the incoming high school signees.
Texas Tech has also added depth through its walk-on program. Talor Nunez arrived on campus as a defensive back, was moved to the defensive line and recently earned a scholarship. He played in 12 games in 2014 and there's no reason to expect that he won't be a mainstay in the Red Raiders' rotation -- even if it's on the back-end -- for the next three seasons.
We still don't know if any of these guys can play. That's still a ridiculously huge question mark. But you have to get players on the roster before you find out if they're any good, and Kingsbury has done a great job of laying the groundwork.
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