we are now only two (2) week away from seeing the Red Raiders kickoff the season against Wyoming
it's Friday, let's Flare...
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WEEKLY LINKS
EDGE Jaxon Lee talks Red Raider commitment
Tech's battle at outside receiver heating up with Coy Eakin news
McGuire addresses media after first scrimmage of fall
2023 Red Raiders in the NFL: Preseason Week One
Some early notes on the Wyoming offense
Tech's depth-filled EDGE group poised for explosive season
Small steps key in Ramirez's road to recovery
Big strides taken by Tech tight ends ahead of 2023 season
Rewind: Texas Tech's 2016 recruiting class
Inside backers prepared to step up after Merriweather, Eldridge depart
Attention to detail takes Tech receiver room by storm
The Recruiting Six-Pack
McGuire excited as fall camp rolls along towards opener in Laramie
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TTU RECRUITING THIS WEEK
there were several recruiting notes this week with two (2) 2024 commitments receiving a fourth star from Rivals, a handful of new offers made from the coaching staff and we started to see visitor invites to the home game against Oregon next month...
Red Raider commitments add 4th star from Rivals
Prosper offensive tackle Ellis Davis received a fourth star from the Rivals team this week. The 6-foot-7, 275-pound prospect is now a 5.8 four-star prospect, the No. 22 overall offensive tackle prospect in the nation and the No. 49 overall prospect on the Texas Top 100 for the 2024 class.
updated industry rankings:
Rivals - 5.8 four-star prospect, No. 22 overall OT prospect and No. 49 prospect in Texas
247 - 90 rating (four-star prospect), No. 245 on the Top 247, No. 19 overall OT prospect and No. 42 prospect in Texas
On3 - 96 rating (four-star prospect), No. 30 in the On3 300, No. 4 overall OT prospect and No. 7 prospect in Texas
Sachse outside linebacker Cheta Ofili received a fourth star from the Rivals team this week. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound prospect is now a 5.8 four-star prospect, the No. 25 overall outside linebacker prospect in the nation and the No. 57 overall prospect on the Texas Top 100 for the 2024 class.
updated industry rankings:
Rivals - 5.8 four-star prospect, No. 25 overall OLB prospect and No. 57 prospect in Texas
247 - 91 rating (four-star prospect), No. 180 on the Top 247, No. 9 overall EDGE prospect and No. 33 prospect in Texas
On3 - 94 rating (four-star prospect), No. 55 in the On3 300, No. 4 overall EDGE prospect and No. 12 prospect in Texas
new offers this week
The Texas Tech coaches offered Grand Oaks (Texas) 2025 tight end Ty Rupe this week. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound junior now lists 10 total offers from programs around the country, including offers from Colorado, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Mississippi State, your Red Raiders and others.
The Texas Tech coaches were the first program to offer North Johnston (North Carolina) 2025 linebacker Traquin Watson this week. The 6-foot-4, 203-pound junior is a linebacker, playing both outside linebacker and edge rusher/defensive end. True to form, it appears James Blanchard and the recruiting team found another impressive early offer from North Carollina...of course.
The Texas Tech coaches offered Spring (Texas) 2025 wide receiver Ahran Ogbor this week. The 6-foot, 195-pound junior now lists three (3) total offers from your Red Raiders, Grambling State and UTSA.
weekly Micah Hudson update
Lake Belton and Pflugerville Weiss had a scrimmage last weekend, leading to this 'guns up' picture of Micah Hudson and Tech commit Cai Morgan taken by one of our newest colleagues at Rivals - Landyn Rosow from AggieYell
in the latest Rivals rankings release, Hudson remains a five-star prospect and the No. 6 overall prospect in the nation. with recent commitments from a pair of defensive lineman rated No. 3 and No. 5, Hudson is now the top uncommitted prospect in the country
Morgan also received a rankings update this week, moving to a 5.7 three-star prospect + No. 41 overall safety prospect in the nation and No. 79 overall prospect on the Texas Top 100
we at RRS still believe it is a matter of when, not if for Hudson announcing to the Red Raiders...but these are waters none of us have been swimming in before, and anything can happen in recruiting
fall camp pics - Kasen Long
first off, if you do not follow Jason Pearson on social media, then stop what you are doing and give him a follow. Jason does a tremendous job shining a light on West Texas talent in and around the Lubbock area. he visited several fall practices around the area over the past two weeks, highlighting several underclassmen prospects who hold offers from Texas Tech.
I came here to post the pictures of Texas Tech commitment, Shallowater offensive tackle Kasen Long...we do not always get a chance to see the West Texas recruits in person, and Long is listed at 6-foot-5, 262-pounds - always good to see the makeup or frame of an offensive lineman prospect...the pics show a lean 262-pounds with plenty of room to grow into his frame.
Oregon game invites go out
the Tech coaches started to send game invites to commitments and targets for the Oregon game yesterday. this is a pretty simple, yet unique design from the creative team.
this invite went to several top 2025 targets who posted the image and said 'I will be there'...
Rudder (TX) 2025 ATH Jaquise Martin
Bryan (TX) 2025 WR Terrence Lewis
Killeen (TX) Shoemaker TE Isaiah Butler-Tanner
Brownsboro (TX) CB Micah Strickland
Arlington (TX) Timberview S Nathan Tilmon
Frenship (TX) WR Leyton Stone
Alief Taylor (TX) DE Ikechukwu Okafor
there will certainly be others who attend this game against Oregon, but this is a great start and at least half of these prospects were in town for the pool party less than a month ago...so the momentum is building for the 2025 class.
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updates to the TTU Personnel Dept.
the program announced title changes for the Texas Tech recruiting/personnel department this week
not a ton to cover here, but we have talked about this department a lot in the offseason and specifically 'how' they operate versus the standard way recruiting personnel operate
this is an NFL driven system, hence the new title of General Manager for James Blanchard with Brian Nance becoming the new Director of Player Personnel and Sean Kenny being named the program's Director of Scouting
I could write more about each of these gentlemen, but the real story is how the Texas Tech Athletics program has invested into the success of TTU football with talent like this...because only five years ago the program employed one (1) maybe two (2) people that shared a ton of responsiblities that a team of 4-5 full time staff now conduct on a day to day basis
not only did McGuire famously bring Blanchard on the plane with him to Lubbock, but the TTU decision makers paid them and continued to elevate their position within the program with title changes and pay raises - all within a span of 1-2 years
this is a very competitive space, you have to take care of your people and talent is sought after by others on an annual basis...re: Notre Dame came after Blanchard in the offseason, plus I'm sure Nance and Kenney fielded some level of interest from other programs
all of these words to say, great job to the Texas Tech program for continuing to develop and enhance the talent on campus
this is a great recruiting team and something that could help your Red Raiders win on the field for years to come
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AP Top 25 released this week
no preseason Top 25 for the Red Raiders, but the Texas Tech program was the leader in 'others receiving votes' - so call it No. 26 in the nation
Texas Tech led with 101 votes followed by South Carolina 73, UCLA 66, UTSA 64, Arkansas 22, Boise St. 17, Pittsburgh 16, Kentucky 14, Troy 10, Louisville 10, Auburn 7, Minnesota 6, Duke 4, Toledo 4, Mississippi St. 4, Florida 4, Baylor 3, Illinois 3, Coastal Carolina 3, NC State 1, South Alabama 1, James Madison 1 and Liberty 1
in terms of the TTU schedule, the Red Raiders will face...
No. 15 Oregon
No. 16 K-State
No. 17 TCU
No. 11 Texas
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the 2023 FREAKS List
Bruce Feldman released his annual Freaks List for 2023 this week and included three (3) Red Raiders - safety Tyler Owens, defensive tackle Jaylon Hutchings and edge rusher Myles Cole
s/o to @B. Golan for the screenshots...
...while we are talking about freaks, I wanted to highlight this tidbit from our own @J. Apodaca on DE/Edge Rusher Isaac Smith
the official roster lists Smith at 6-foot-6, 260-pounds and he was impressive in the Texas Bowl against Ole Miss...expect to see him a lot more often this season
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Nelly set to perform at halftime of the Big 12 Championship Game
at some point it was Just a Dream, at one point you Shake Ya Tailfeather, drink some Pimp Juice, use some Country Grammar, put in your Grillz, put on your Air Force Ones, start a Tip Drill, it gets Hot in Herre and then you Ride Wit Me while screaming E.I.
we are old, but poke fun at Nelly performing at halftime of the Big 12 Championship Game all you want...BUT all of you would love to be there anyway watching the Red Raiders play in this game
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internet fun
Tyree Wilson returned to practice this week for the Las Vegas Raiders
this fan in particular is very excited, they even shared a custom meme to celebrate the news...
I love following Freezing Cold Takes, mostly because we all have bad takes...but man some are way worse than others, as we keyboard warriors all know very well
this one from September of 2016 is, well...something
this last one is just weird to me, I mean seeing 'how' it happened seems possible, but still very dumb by someone involved...
the Cincinnati coaching staff, led by Luke Fickel left to take similar positions at Wisconsin this off-season...well, fast forward to this week and someone forgot to log out of their Cincy Twitter profile, then proceeded to post a picture of now Wisconsin QB Tanner Mordecai (remember him???) in an attempt to hype the former SMU/OU signal caller during fall practice
it was quickly deleted, but not before the internet had screenshots
we all have access to RRS Twitter, but when people say they 'accidentally' do these things...do not buy it, because you have to be just dumb or beyond busy to not notice which account you are using at any given time
last one, I have been a longtime follower/fan of the No Context College Football account on Twitter...well there is now a No Context Texas Tech account on Twitter, or I just found it recently anyway
if you aren't familiar, the concept is posting a screenshot with no context - could be funny, could be a throwback, etc/etc
give them a follow, whoever runs the account is active and posts on a daily/weekly basis...
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Recruiting - Around the Big 12
we look around the new-look conference this week after more new commitments were made, the rankings are now updated and have shifted the Sooners to the top class in the conference...
BYU wins the week with the only commitment in the Big 12 Conference, adding their QB to the 2024 class. I will start incorporating the new schools (Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State) in the coming weeks as well.
*listed in current Big 12 rankings order, new programs now officially added to the Rivals rankings list - plus a new 'look' or design from the Rivals team on these lists/pages
Oklahoma - 19 total commitments, No. 14 class in the nation
the Sooners did not add a new commitment this week...
Texas - 16 total commitments, No. 18 class in the nation
the Longhorns did not add a new commitment this week...
UCF - 17 total commitments, No. 23 class in the nation
the Golden Knights did not add a new commitment this week...
Texas Tech - 18 total commitments, No. 30 class in the nation
the Red Raiders did not add a new commitment this week...
West Virginia - 20 total commitments, No. 40 class in the nation
the Mountaineers did not add a new commitment this week...
Cincinnati - 20 total commitments, No. 42 class in the nation
the Bearcats did not add a new commitment this week...
TCU - 16 total commitments, No. 43 class in the nation
the Horned Frogs did not add a new commitment this week...
*the class ranking jumped 12 spots from No. 55 last week to No. 43 because some unranked prospects received rankings this week
Kansas - 15 total commitments, No. 49 class in the nation
the Jayhawks did not add a new commitment this week...
Iowa State - 16 total commitments, No. 52 class in the nation
the Cyclones did not add a new commitment this week...
Baylor - 14 total commitments, No. 57 class in the nation
the Bears did not add a new commitment this week...
Oklahoma State - 13 total commitments, No. 60 class in the nation
the Cowboys did not add a new commitment this week...
BYU - 12 total commitments, No. 81 class in the nation
the Cougars added one (1) new commitment this week...
QB Noah Lugo
Houston - eight (8) total commitments, No. 88 class in the nation
the Cougars did not add a new commitment this week...
Kansas State - seven (7) total commitments, No. 92 class in the nation
the Wildcats did not add a new commitment this week...
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have a great weekend everyone!
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