Little delayed getting this one up, but here we are.
Opening Statement:
"I am really fired up about this bowl and our opponent. I grew up a Razorback fan. I was actually telling the team whenever we knew who we're going to play...We had season tickets from for the Razorbacks almost my entire life. I have a lot of family there, I was born in Texarkana, all of my mom's sides in Arkansas, and so I grew up calling the hogs, and so I cannot wait to be playing Arkansas and hearing them call pig suey and we come back with some Raider Power. This is a throwback of Southwest Conference opponents, you know, a league that I grew up watching. And whenever I said that we get opportunity to go to the Liberty Bowl, one of the longest running bowls, and has such a storied history. I didn't get to coach in it the last time we were there. I was hired as the head coach but I wasn't coaching in it, so really excited to coach in this bowl. Our guys are really excited, excited to go to Memphis, excited for the opponent, and it's going to be a lot of fun, because I know Coach Pittman. I know his offensive line coach really well, Coach Mateos and I coached together and they're going to play with a lot of passion, and we're going to play with a lot of passion. So couldn't be any better. I told Kirby (Hocutt), I said, you made my day with this bowl and this matchup, I'm so excited. It's going to be good for us. We've already had a couple practices. It was just basic practices, and we're going to practice tomorrow. It won't be introducing them to Arkansas yet. We'll practice on Monday. We'll take Tuesday off, and then we'll come back Wednesday, and that'll be for Arkansas."
How important is it to win this one back in Memphis to have the longest bowl streak in program history?
"Yeah, it's making history. Number one, anytime you get to play in a bowl, it's important. We counted it out whenever we're talking about our young guys, we'll get 13 extra practices with our young guys. And so that's almost a full spring. So we're getting really an extra spring with a guy like Jacob Potton and Nick Fattig. I went back today and watched the last series with us on offense against West Virginia, and had those guys out there, and they were out there whenever Tahj got over 1500 yards and and when Will Hammond got into the end zone. So just for those guys, these practices are so valuable. I think it's, it's awesome to be able to send out a group of seniors that have done so much for this university on being in a bowl game, it's going to be a great atmosphere...few days that we're there in Memphis, and it is a big deal. We talked all season long, especially whenever we didn't reach the goals that we wanted to keep pushing this program forward. Got an opportunity to get a ninth win, and then we also have an opportunity to win four bowl games in a row, and that hasn't been done, so it's a big deal."
Could you touch on hiring OC Mack Leftwich and what he can bring to this program?
"Yeah, I'm excited. Mack is here, Shiel will be here tomorrow. So Mack got to meet the team tonight. You'll see it on social media. Our players got to move into the new football facility, the Womble Football Center. And so he got to meet the team tonight, and we'll start meetings and everything whenever to get to know the players that are coming back. You know, one thing that I told the players that was so exciting about him and why I was so interested in him is from the day that he started calling plays. He was the best in the country. I mean, if you go back to Incarnate Word, I think they were the number one offense in total yardage, their number one offense in total points. You know, this last year we were 10th overall in offense, and Texas State was sixth overall on offense. It also helps that he comes from, he doesn't come directly from the Mike Leach tree, but there's a branch somewhere connecting because Eric Morris was the guy that, you know, really got him started. It was a cool story of listening to, when I talked to Eric about hiring Mack, he said, well, also ask Clay (McGuire) too, because they spent three or four weeks at Washington State at an Airbnb together. He also credited as being a great quarterback evaluator. He's credited for the guy that found Cam Ward. I don't think anybody can argue that. Eric Morris is going to tell you that's who found him, and listen to the story whenever y'all get a chance. That's a be a great question to ask him, because it's a really good story of finding a guy that was a wing T offense, that probably at the time, was a little pudgy, that didn't look like the typical quarterback that would fit into this style of offense, and he saw something that nobody else did, and was able to really develop him. And so we're excited it's going to be a lot of the same whenever you're coming to tempo. And he's very creative. I think he's excited to work with Josh Cochran be back with Clay McGuire, because our run game, they were very, very good at running the football this year at Texas State. But our run game, adds some, you know, 12 personnel, creative stuff with a tight end, and so I know he's excited about that."
What's the plan for the coordinators for the bowl game?
"I want them to add in anything they can add to help us win. But the main thing with them is they're going to be around evaluating our current players, and then starting tomorrow, we'll have visits with people that are coming in the portal. December, it slows down a little bit. From the standpoint, we're not on the road, because last year we're on the road, we're recruiting the portal and getting ready for a bowl game. Now you're just recruiting the portal and getting ready for a bowl. And so they'll be a part of the visits. Think that was really important of why we wanted to get coordinators hired before December 9, so the people that we are recruiting will be able to say, I'm playing this style of defense, is where I fit. I'm playing this style of offense, this is where I'm fit. And then I really wanted to give them an opportunity to evaluate our current roster, and so we practice tomorrow. They'll both be at practice, and I'm sure they'll be chomping at the bits to to help out anywhere. The biggest thing is them being able to evaluate our current players and where they fit into their system."
Any players tell you they're not playing in the bowl?
"Not yet. What we try to do is one, see what bowl we're in, our opponent, and then last week all our old guys didn't practice at all. All they did was lift and run. Tomorrow, the old guys will practice but it will be to knock off the rust a little bit. They'll be in for a quick special teams. They'll do Indy, and then we'll do some seven on seven, one on one, and then they'll I'll cut them loose to go lift, and we'll practice the young guys. So these first couple practices are really focused on our young sophomores, red shirt freshmen and freshmen development. That's one of the greatest things about bowl games as you're able to get so many more workouts."
Are you adding Garret (McGuire) to the staff?
"We're working on it. We are. He's not official yet, but we're working on it. Got some stuff to check off, as far as rules and everything like that, but, man, I'm hoping so. And he will bring a lot of energy. If you look at the rankings of the top recruiters in the nation, he'll rank as one of the top recruiters in the nation off of the class that they just signed, you know, and I'm hoping so, because it definitely will help us."
"He'll be on the offensive side of the ball. We've kind of going back and forth running backs. Tyler Schovanec is going to be Zach's (Kittley) special team's coordinator. Trent Vasey is going to be his quarterback coach, so you're losing a running back/special team's guy. If we can get him, when we can get everything worked out, I'm hoping that he's here and helping in those two positions. We'll kind of go from there."
Have the portal entrants changed your anticipated numbers to take?
"No. There's there's going to be some guys that are still trying to decide. So tomorrow it officially opens. So you're officially in the portal tomorrow, you can announce whenever. So you're officially in the portal tomorrow. You know, it's been my kind of policy the last couple years, is you've earned the right to play in this bowl game. You're trying to make a decision if you're going to stay at Texas Tech, if you're going to leave. And so we're going to have some guys practice tomorrow that have their name in the portal. You know, I go back last year and Loic caught a touchdown pass to help us beat Cal when he's in the portal. He earned the right to play in that game. And so these guys that are in there, if they choose to play in the game, I want them to, because guys I want to win. I want to beat Arkansas, and if one of those guys can help us in this moment, and then we figure out past this moment that who's going to be the roster, then that's the whole deal. To win this game and go 9-4 and 2024."
projecTT 806 is more than just a business; we're a tribute to the passion of Red Raider fans. Specializing in Tee Shirts, Polos, and Caps emblazoned with 806 branded logos and original prints, we offer something for every true supporter of the Red Raiders.
Join us in supporting our Red Raider passion and giving back to The Matador Club. Thank you all in advance for being part of this journey, and happy shopping!
Dave Curren and The ProjecTT 806 Team
@DiverTTU
Opening Statement:
"I am really fired up about this bowl and our opponent. I grew up a Razorback fan. I was actually telling the team whenever we knew who we're going to play...We had season tickets from for the Razorbacks almost my entire life. I have a lot of family there, I was born in Texarkana, all of my mom's sides in Arkansas, and so I grew up calling the hogs, and so I cannot wait to be playing Arkansas and hearing them call pig suey and we come back with some Raider Power. This is a throwback of Southwest Conference opponents, you know, a league that I grew up watching. And whenever I said that we get opportunity to go to the Liberty Bowl, one of the longest running bowls, and has such a storied history. I didn't get to coach in it the last time we were there. I was hired as the head coach but I wasn't coaching in it, so really excited to coach in this bowl. Our guys are really excited, excited to go to Memphis, excited for the opponent, and it's going to be a lot of fun, because I know Coach Pittman. I know his offensive line coach really well, Coach Mateos and I coached together and they're going to play with a lot of passion, and we're going to play with a lot of passion. So couldn't be any better. I told Kirby (Hocutt), I said, you made my day with this bowl and this matchup, I'm so excited. It's going to be good for us. We've already had a couple practices. It was just basic practices, and we're going to practice tomorrow. It won't be introducing them to Arkansas yet. We'll practice on Monday. We'll take Tuesday off, and then we'll come back Wednesday, and that'll be for Arkansas."
How important is it to win this one back in Memphis to have the longest bowl streak in program history?
"Yeah, it's making history. Number one, anytime you get to play in a bowl, it's important. We counted it out whenever we're talking about our young guys, we'll get 13 extra practices with our young guys. And so that's almost a full spring. So we're getting really an extra spring with a guy like Jacob Potton and Nick Fattig. I went back today and watched the last series with us on offense against West Virginia, and had those guys out there, and they were out there whenever Tahj got over 1500 yards and and when Will Hammond got into the end zone. So just for those guys, these practices are so valuable. I think it's, it's awesome to be able to send out a group of seniors that have done so much for this university on being in a bowl game, it's going to be a great atmosphere...few days that we're there in Memphis, and it is a big deal. We talked all season long, especially whenever we didn't reach the goals that we wanted to keep pushing this program forward. Got an opportunity to get a ninth win, and then we also have an opportunity to win four bowl games in a row, and that hasn't been done, so it's a big deal."
Could you touch on hiring OC Mack Leftwich and what he can bring to this program?
"Yeah, I'm excited. Mack is here, Shiel will be here tomorrow. So Mack got to meet the team tonight. You'll see it on social media. Our players got to move into the new football facility, the Womble Football Center. And so he got to meet the team tonight, and we'll start meetings and everything whenever to get to know the players that are coming back. You know, one thing that I told the players that was so exciting about him and why I was so interested in him is from the day that he started calling plays. He was the best in the country. I mean, if you go back to Incarnate Word, I think they were the number one offense in total yardage, their number one offense in total points. You know, this last year we were 10th overall in offense, and Texas State was sixth overall on offense. It also helps that he comes from, he doesn't come directly from the Mike Leach tree, but there's a branch somewhere connecting because Eric Morris was the guy that, you know, really got him started. It was a cool story of listening to, when I talked to Eric about hiring Mack, he said, well, also ask Clay (McGuire) too, because they spent three or four weeks at Washington State at an Airbnb together. He also credited as being a great quarterback evaluator. He's credited for the guy that found Cam Ward. I don't think anybody can argue that. Eric Morris is going to tell you that's who found him, and listen to the story whenever y'all get a chance. That's a be a great question to ask him, because it's a really good story of finding a guy that was a wing T offense, that probably at the time, was a little pudgy, that didn't look like the typical quarterback that would fit into this style of offense, and he saw something that nobody else did, and was able to really develop him. And so we're excited it's going to be a lot of the same whenever you're coming to tempo. And he's very creative. I think he's excited to work with Josh Cochran be back with Clay McGuire, because our run game, they were very, very good at running the football this year at Texas State. But our run game, adds some, you know, 12 personnel, creative stuff with a tight end, and so I know he's excited about that."
What's the plan for the coordinators for the bowl game?
"I want them to add in anything they can add to help us win. But the main thing with them is they're going to be around evaluating our current players, and then starting tomorrow, we'll have visits with people that are coming in the portal. December, it slows down a little bit. From the standpoint, we're not on the road, because last year we're on the road, we're recruiting the portal and getting ready for a bowl game. Now you're just recruiting the portal and getting ready for a bowl. And so they'll be a part of the visits. Think that was really important of why we wanted to get coordinators hired before December 9, so the people that we are recruiting will be able to say, I'm playing this style of defense, is where I fit. I'm playing this style of offense, this is where I'm fit. And then I really wanted to give them an opportunity to evaluate our current roster, and so we practice tomorrow. They'll both be at practice, and I'm sure they'll be chomping at the bits to to help out anywhere. The biggest thing is them being able to evaluate our current players and where they fit into their system."
Any players tell you they're not playing in the bowl?
"Not yet. What we try to do is one, see what bowl we're in, our opponent, and then last week all our old guys didn't practice at all. All they did was lift and run. Tomorrow, the old guys will practice but it will be to knock off the rust a little bit. They'll be in for a quick special teams. They'll do Indy, and then we'll do some seven on seven, one on one, and then they'll I'll cut them loose to go lift, and we'll practice the young guys. So these first couple practices are really focused on our young sophomores, red shirt freshmen and freshmen development. That's one of the greatest things about bowl games as you're able to get so many more workouts."
Are you adding Garret (McGuire) to the staff?
"We're working on it. We are. He's not official yet, but we're working on it. Got some stuff to check off, as far as rules and everything like that, but, man, I'm hoping so. And he will bring a lot of energy. If you look at the rankings of the top recruiters in the nation, he'll rank as one of the top recruiters in the nation off of the class that they just signed, you know, and I'm hoping so, because it definitely will help us."
"He'll be on the offensive side of the ball. We've kind of going back and forth running backs. Tyler Schovanec is going to be Zach's (Kittley) special team's coordinator. Trent Vasey is going to be his quarterback coach, so you're losing a running back/special team's guy. If we can get him, when we can get everything worked out, I'm hoping that he's here and helping in those two positions. We'll kind of go from there."
Have the portal entrants changed your anticipated numbers to take?
"No. There's there's going to be some guys that are still trying to decide. So tomorrow it officially opens. So you're officially in the portal tomorrow, you can announce whenever. So you're officially in the portal tomorrow. You know, it's been my kind of policy the last couple years, is you've earned the right to play in this bowl game. You're trying to make a decision if you're going to stay at Texas Tech, if you're going to leave. And so we're going to have some guys practice tomorrow that have their name in the portal. You know, I go back last year and Loic caught a touchdown pass to help us beat Cal when he's in the portal. He earned the right to play in that game. And so these guys that are in there, if they choose to play in the game, I want them to, because guys I want to win. I want to beat Arkansas, and if one of those guys can help us in this moment, and then we figure out past this moment that who's going to be the roster, then that's the whole deal. To win this game and go 9-4 and 2024."
projecTT 806 is more than just a business; we're a tribute to the passion of Red Raider fans. Specializing in Tee Shirts, Polos, and Caps emblazoned with 806 branded logos and original prints, we offer something for every true supporter of the Red Raiders.
Join us in supporting our Red Raider passion and giving back to The Matador Club. Thank you all in advance for being part of this journey, and happy shopping!
Dave Curren and The ProjecTT 806 Team
@DiverTTU
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