Good morning, happy Friday everyone.
As always, the Friday Flare is brought to you by our friends at Gator's Bayou. Need an adult beverage to round out your week? Head over to the patio at Gator's Bayou and have a few this afternoon.
Later this summer, they will be hosting live music. Check out their website and follow them on social media for more upcoming events.
----------
WEEKLY CLICKS
...a quick list of links from the various stories posted on RRS this week.
Q&A with former Texas Tech Director of Player Development, Max Lefevre
Coleman ready to hit the field in bigger role
Margin Hooks/Coach Flight Skillz Clinic thoughts
Morton recaps another unofficial visit, learning the TTU offense
Bruffy discusses flip to right tackle, time as a Red Raider and more
2021 WR Jerand Bradley enjoys visit to Texas Tech
Player Breakdown: Graduate Transfer Evan Rambo
The 3-2-1: Visitors on campus, who is the next 2020 commit and more
Q&A with the new Austin Peak assistant coach Darryl Dora
JUCO OL Brandon Coleman hearing from Texas Tech
Moore is staying in West Texas
Player Breakdown: Graduate Transfer Armand Shyne
Q&A with Portales (NM) DE Philip Blidi
The Notebook: Wells, Red Raiders set for fall camp
-----------
NEW 2020 COMMITS
The coaches landed two (2) new 2020 commitments this week, and both announcements came after unofficial visits to campus earlier in the week.
Also, both prospects are West Texas talents, something Coach Wells has talked about and emphasized since taking the job at Texas Tech.
JOHN HOLCOMB
Holcomb is a big tight end prospect, and someone who plays both sides of the ball for his high school team. We will find out more specifics about Holcomb soon, but watching his tape shows a prospect that loves contact and provides plenty of examples of his blocking abilities. The Wellington coaches use him for end around plays, tunnel screens and he plays defensive end on defense.
The Texas Tech coaches see Holcomb developing into a true tight end in their offense. Listed at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds, he still has another year at the high school level and can continue to develop and add weight once he joins the program and gets with Coach Scholz in the weight room.
Currently unrated - soon to be rated, Holcomb chose the Red Raiders over offers from Kansas, Army, Indiana, SMU and others.
L.B. MOORE
Moore is a very intriguing prospect, listed at defensive end and someone the coaches see playing the 'Raider' position in their defense - a rush end, or outside linebacker type position.
He talked about his commitment here...
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound prospect has already added 10 pounds this off-season and has very long arms, giving him a long reach when attacking the edge and trying to tackle the QB or RB in the backfield. Moore is a great example of the West Texas talent that Wells referred to when he talked about keeping West Texas talent in West Texas during his introductory press conference.
He is already rated fairly, however, I believe he will outplay that ranking and is already one of my favorite takes in this 2020 class.
Currently rated a 5.6 three-star prospect, Moore is listed as the No. 115 overall prospect on the Rivals Texas Top 150 for the 2020 class. He chose the Red Raiders over offers from Baylor, Kansas, Purdue, Air Force and others.
-----------
OFFICIAL OFFERS
The always fun and inclusive members of the NCAA have made the traditional 'written scholarship' basically worthless, but most programs continue the tradition every year on August 1st.
Yesterday marked the first time coaches across the country could send out 'official offers' to 2020 prospects.
Most of the official offers sightings yesterday were expected, like the example above from WR commit Ja'Lynn Polk, but there were a few notable offers that went out yesterday...
Jonathan Riley - Kilgore J.C. DB
Brandon Coleman - Trinity Valley C.C. OL
Cedric Melton - Arizona OL commit
The Rivals national team put together examples from several programs across the nation, most every P5 program/conference...if you're interested to see how other programs approached the official offer yesterday.
----------
2019 CLASS - FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTORS?
During the local media day yesterday, @B. Soliz posted the following from head coach Matt Wells...
We’ve played somewhere between three and six freshmen a year. Some are surprises and some you expect. There are some guys that will be close but we’ll start talking about them next week. Linebacker being thin will be a position where a guy can get reps and earn there spot.
From a recruiting standpoint, or me just being a recruiting guy at heart, this particular comment caught my attention.
Remember, true freshman can actually play in up to four (4) games before 'burning' their redshirt. Last season, guys like Erik Ezukanma played early in the season against out of conference opponents and then the coaches kept him out the remainder of the season to save his redshirt.
We have talked about depth at linebacker and these 2019 signees being in a good position to earn playing time, but with Coach Wells mentioning 3-6 possible freshman contributors, I wanted to look through the 2019 signing class and choose six freshman contributors...
TE Simon Gonzalez
He was an early graduate and went through spring practices with the team, and should be considered the easiest - 'this guy will play' - pick here.
LB Tyrique Matthews and LB Bryce Robinson
Both linebacker signees have to be considered with the comments from Coach Wells, and with his size Robinson could be one of the freshman contributors to help with the rotation at linebacker early in the season.
K Austin McNamara
This is a complete guess, but the Red Raiders will be replacing the team's punter and McNamara was a very highly thought of prospect when it comes to the specialist K/P role. He could earn the spot in fall camp and become the team's punter going into the season.
DE Tony Bradford Jr.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 245-pounds on the Texas Tech official roster, Bradford Jr. is a freshman that could earn early playing time on the defensive line. The coaches have specifically mentioned him when asked about the 2019 freshman class in media availability. He was very disruptive for the 6A champion North Shore Mustangs last year and could provide some much needed depth early in the season for the defensive line rotation.
DB Alex Hogan
Another standout from Houston Lamar, Hogan is a very athletic prospect that played both defense and offense last season. He also returned kick offs and punts, and this could be an opportunity for Hogan to make an early impact on special teams. The coaches have also mentioned Hogan when asked about the 2019 freshman class in media availability. I almost chose Dequanteous Watts, because he is such an intriguing prospect, but both Watts and Hogan are guys that could play early in non-conference games.
----------
FRENSHIP HEAD COACH JAY NORTHCUTT
I had a chance to speak with Frenship head coach Jay Northcutt this week, and we talked about a variety of topics, including the new quarterback on campus - Donovan Smith.
On getting to know Smith...
"I have been able to spend a lot of time around Donovan this summer," Northcutt said. "The UIL allows us to spend two hours per week for specific off-season drills, so we had 30 minute sessions on a daily basis Monday through Thursday. Donovan has a really great attitude, because you never know with a kid coming into your program with offers. You don't know about their attitude or personality, but Donovan has been great."
Smith as a QB prospect...
"Donovan has played quarterback most of his life, and a lot of people don't really know that," Northcutt said. "When we talked about him playing receiver at Gorman, he told me that him and his best friend there were the two best receivers on the team and that is just how it played out for their team. Because when I watched him throw for the first time, I wondered how he wasn't their quarterback last year at Gorman.
"Donovan has a very strong arm and has always considered himself a quarterback, so you can see that he works at it. He already knows our offense and could run every play tomorrow, if he had to. He is just under 6-foot-5, and I believe he measured just under 6-foot-5 at the Tech facility over the summer. He has also been working out every day and Donovan is 210-pounds right now.
"He has been at every workout this summer and puts in a lot of extra work with the receivers. I think a lot of people are going to be impressed with Donovan as a quarterback prospect, because this is a kid that started receiving scholarship offers at quarterback as a freshman. I have coached talented quarterbacks before and he is the real deal."
On senior WR Drew Hocutt...
"Drew is going to be a three year starter, returning team captain and what I would consider the glue of our football team," Northcutt said. "He is a tremendously hard worker and is constantly trying to get better. He runs great routes and has really good hands, he will be a big part of our offense this year.
"Drew is a kid that doesn't even want to take a vacation. He loves to work out and has been around all off-season. He is a kid that could easily go to the College World Series in Omaha, but he stayed around and worked out with his teammates. That's just the kind of kid he is."
On Matt Wells and his staff...
"I'm going into my third season here at Frenship," Northcutt said. "I came from Sachse, I was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. I actually had a kid at Sachse, Kent Myers, who went on to play for Wells at Utah State. Luke Wells actually recruited him, so I have known most of them for years before they arrived at Texas Tech. I'm excited they are in Lubbock and believe they can do great things at Tech.
"Coach Wells has brought over his coordinators in here just to meet with me and my staff. They are very welcoming and have let high school coaches around here know that they have an open door policy at their program. I just received a text from Coach Yost inviting me out to the first practice tomorrow. I think they have done a very good job of working with the high school coaches."
----------
GETS IT
Some of you might have received a phone call from head coach Matt Wells or one of the Texas Tech assistants this week, as they took a few hours to personally call season ticket holders a month away from the first game of the season.
----------
LISTENING TO FREEBIRD FOR THE FIRST TIME
At times, we take can the smallest things for granted...like your parents introducing you to their music, allowing you to appreciate the greatness of songs like Freebird and others.
This concept made me laugh, the video is pretty long but somewhat fascinating to watch a grown man hear Freebird for the first time.
----------
WHOA
Obviously the Crimson Tide have become the standard in college football, but things like this only further prove their operation can be considered 'cutting edge' when it comes to things like this...
THEY HAVE A FRICKIN' CYRO CHAMBER ON THE PRACTICE FIELD!!!?!!?!!!!??!!!
I mean, whoa...growing up we drank from a hose, waited in line for water and 1-2 'trainers' or volunteer students feverishly passed around water bottles to help keep us cool in the summer heat.
This makeshift cryo chamber checks in at a cool 25 degrees and looks to hold at least 25-30 players...whoa
FORGET BOTTLE SERVICE, THIS IS BURGER SERVICE
Usually the perky cocktail waitresses arrive in groups of 4-5 to deliver overpriced bottles of Tito's and Greygoose vodka with sparklers and other fancy neon lights/etc...but former NFL WR Chad Johnson had a unique request from the bottle service crew this week, two giant bags of McDonald's.
IT'S FRIDAY, TAKE T-PAIN'S ADVICE AND TREAT YOURSELF
He provides some great advice here...you can take a trip, go for a spa day or...
Have a great weekend RRS!
As always, the Friday Flare is brought to you by our friends at Gator's Bayou. Need an adult beverage to round out your week? Head over to the patio at Gator's Bayou and have a few this afternoon.
Later this summer, they will be hosting live music. Check out their website and follow them on social media for more upcoming events.
----------
WEEKLY CLICKS
...a quick list of links from the various stories posted on RRS this week.
Q&A with former Texas Tech Director of Player Development, Max Lefevre
Coleman ready to hit the field in bigger role
Margin Hooks/Coach Flight Skillz Clinic thoughts
Morton recaps another unofficial visit, learning the TTU offense
Bruffy discusses flip to right tackle, time as a Red Raider and more
2021 WR Jerand Bradley enjoys visit to Texas Tech
Player Breakdown: Graduate Transfer Evan Rambo
The 3-2-1: Visitors on campus, who is the next 2020 commit and more
Q&A with the new Austin Peak assistant coach Darryl Dora
JUCO OL Brandon Coleman hearing from Texas Tech
Moore is staying in West Texas
Player Breakdown: Graduate Transfer Armand Shyne
Q&A with Portales (NM) DE Philip Blidi
The Notebook: Wells, Red Raiders set for fall camp
-----------
NEW 2020 COMMITS
The coaches landed two (2) new 2020 commitments this week, and both announcements came after unofficial visits to campus earlier in the week.
Also, both prospects are West Texas talents, something Coach Wells has talked about and emphasized since taking the job at Texas Tech.
JOHN HOLCOMB
Holcomb is a big tight end prospect, and someone who plays both sides of the ball for his high school team. We will find out more specifics about Holcomb soon, but watching his tape shows a prospect that loves contact and provides plenty of examples of his blocking abilities. The Wellington coaches use him for end around plays, tunnel screens and he plays defensive end on defense.
The Texas Tech coaches see Holcomb developing into a true tight end in their offense. Listed at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds, he still has another year at the high school level and can continue to develop and add weight once he joins the program and gets with Coach Scholz in the weight room.
Currently unrated - soon to be rated, Holcomb chose the Red Raiders over offers from Kansas, Army, Indiana, SMU and others.
L.B. MOORE
Moore is a very intriguing prospect, listed at defensive end and someone the coaches see playing the 'Raider' position in their defense - a rush end, or outside linebacker type position.
He talked about his commitment here...
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound prospect has already added 10 pounds this off-season and has very long arms, giving him a long reach when attacking the edge and trying to tackle the QB or RB in the backfield. Moore is a great example of the West Texas talent that Wells referred to when he talked about keeping West Texas talent in West Texas during his introductory press conference.
He is already rated fairly, however, I believe he will outplay that ranking and is already one of my favorite takes in this 2020 class.
Currently rated a 5.6 three-star prospect, Moore is listed as the No. 115 overall prospect on the Rivals Texas Top 150 for the 2020 class. He chose the Red Raiders over offers from Baylor, Kansas, Purdue, Air Force and others.
-----------
OFFICIAL OFFERS
The always fun and inclusive members of the NCAA have made the traditional 'written scholarship' basically worthless, but most programs continue the tradition every year on August 1st.
Yesterday marked the first time coaches across the country could send out 'official offers' to 2020 prospects.
Most of the official offers sightings yesterday were expected, like the example above from WR commit Ja'Lynn Polk, but there were a few notable offers that went out yesterday...
Jonathan Riley - Kilgore J.C. DB
Brandon Coleman - Trinity Valley C.C. OL
Cedric Melton - Arizona OL commit
The Rivals national team put together examples from several programs across the nation, most every P5 program/conference...if you're interested to see how other programs approached the official offer yesterday.
----------
2019 CLASS - FRESHMAN CONTRIBUTORS?
During the local media day yesterday, @B. Soliz posted the following from head coach Matt Wells...
We’ve played somewhere between three and six freshmen a year. Some are surprises and some you expect. There are some guys that will be close but we’ll start talking about them next week. Linebacker being thin will be a position where a guy can get reps and earn there spot.
From a recruiting standpoint, or me just being a recruiting guy at heart, this particular comment caught my attention.
Remember, true freshman can actually play in up to four (4) games before 'burning' their redshirt. Last season, guys like Erik Ezukanma played early in the season against out of conference opponents and then the coaches kept him out the remainder of the season to save his redshirt.
We have talked about depth at linebacker and these 2019 signees being in a good position to earn playing time, but with Coach Wells mentioning 3-6 possible freshman contributors, I wanted to look through the 2019 signing class and choose six freshman contributors...
TE Simon Gonzalez
He was an early graduate and went through spring practices with the team, and should be considered the easiest - 'this guy will play' - pick here.
LB Tyrique Matthews and LB Bryce Robinson
Both linebacker signees have to be considered with the comments from Coach Wells, and with his size Robinson could be one of the freshman contributors to help with the rotation at linebacker early in the season.
K Austin McNamara
This is a complete guess, but the Red Raiders will be replacing the team's punter and McNamara was a very highly thought of prospect when it comes to the specialist K/P role. He could earn the spot in fall camp and become the team's punter going into the season.
DE Tony Bradford Jr.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 245-pounds on the Texas Tech official roster, Bradford Jr. is a freshman that could earn early playing time on the defensive line. The coaches have specifically mentioned him when asked about the 2019 freshman class in media availability. He was very disruptive for the 6A champion North Shore Mustangs last year and could provide some much needed depth early in the season for the defensive line rotation.
DB Alex Hogan
Another standout from Houston Lamar, Hogan is a very athletic prospect that played both defense and offense last season. He also returned kick offs and punts, and this could be an opportunity for Hogan to make an early impact on special teams. The coaches have also mentioned Hogan when asked about the 2019 freshman class in media availability. I almost chose Dequanteous Watts, because he is such an intriguing prospect, but both Watts and Hogan are guys that could play early in non-conference games.
----------
FRENSHIP HEAD COACH JAY NORTHCUTT
I had a chance to speak with Frenship head coach Jay Northcutt this week, and we talked about a variety of topics, including the new quarterback on campus - Donovan Smith.
On getting to know Smith...
"I have been able to spend a lot of time around Donovan this summer," Northcutt said. "The UIL allows us to spend two hours per week for specific off-season drills, so we had 30 minute sessions on a daily basis Monday through Thursday. Donovan has a really great attitude, because you never know with a kid coming into your program with offers. You don't know about their attitude or personality, but Donovan has been great."
Smith as a QB prospect...
"Donovan has played quarterback most of his life, and a lot of people don't really know that," Northcutt said. "When we talked about him playing receiver at Gorman, he told me that him and his best friend there were the two best receivers on the team and that is just how it played out for their team. Because when I watched him throw for the first time, I wondered how he wasn't their quarterback last year at Gorman.
"Donovan has a very strong arm and has always considered himself a quarterback, so you can see that he works at it. He already knows our offense and could run every play tomorrow, if he had to. He is just under 6-foot-5, and I believe he measured just under 6-foot-5 at the Tech facility over the summer. He has also been working out every day and Donovan is 210-pounds right now.
"He has been at every workout this summer and puts in a lot of extra work with the receivers. I think a lot of people are going to be impressed with Donovan as a quarterback prospect, because this is a kid that started receiving scholarship offers at quarterback as a freshman. I have coached talented quarterbacks before and he is the real deal."
On senior WR Drew Hocutt...
"Drew is going to be a three year starter, returning team captain and what I would consider the glue of our football team," Northcutt said. "He is a tremendously hard worker and is constantly trying to get better. He runs great routes and has really good hands, he will be a big part of our offense this year.
"Drew is a kid that doesn't even want to take a vacation. He loves to work out and has been around all off-season. He is a kid that could easily go to the College World Series in Omaha, but he stayed around and worked out with his teammates. That's just the kind of kid he is."
On Matt Wells and his staff...
"I'm going into my third season here at Frenship," Northcutt said. "I came from Sachse, I was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. I actually had a kid at Sachse, Kent Myers, who went on to play for Wells at Utah State. Luke Wells actually recruited him, so I have known most of them for years before they arrived at Texas Tech. I'm excited they are in Lubbock and believe they can do great things at Tech.
"Coach Wells has brought over his coordinators in here just to meet with me and my staff. They are very welcoming and have let high school coaches around here know that they have an open door policy at their program. I just received a text from Coach Yost inviting me out to the first practice tomorrow. I think they have done a very good job of working with the high school coaches."
----------
GETS IT
Some of you might have received a phone call from head coach Matt Wells or one of the Texas Tech assistants this week, as they took a few hours to personally call season ticket holders a month away from the first game of the season.
----------
LISTENING TO FREEBIRD FOR THE FIRST TIME
At times, we take can the smallest things for granted...like your parents introducing you to their music, allowing you to appreciate the greatness of songs like Freebird and others.
This concept made me laugh, the video is pretty long but somewhat fascinating to watch a grown man hear Freebird for the first time.
----------
WHOA
Obviously the Crimson Tide have become the standard in college football, but things like this only further prove their operation can be considered 'cutting edge' when it comes to things like this...
THEY HAVE A FRICKIN' CYRO CHAMBER ON THE PRACTICE FIELD!!!?!!?!!!!??!!!
I mean, whoa...growing up we drank from a hose, waited in line for water and 1-2 'trainers' or volunteer students feverishly passed around water bottles to help keep us cool in the summer heat.
This makeshift cryo chamber checks in at a cool 25 degrees and looks to hold at least 25-30 players...whoa
FORGET BOTTLE SERVICE, THIS IS BURGER SERVICE
Usually the perky cocktail waitresses arrive in groups of 4-5 to deliver overpriced bottles of Tito's and Greygoose vodka with sparklers and other fancy neon lights/etc...but former NFL WR Chad Johnson had a unique request from the bottle service crew this week, two giant bags of McDonald's.
IT'S FRIDAY, TAKE T-PAIN'S ADVICE AND TREAT YOURSELF
He provides some great advice here...you can take a trip, go for a spa day or...
Have a great weekend RRS!
