I'm scrambling a bit here so hang with me but this is what I know on what will go down as a crazy day/week for Texas Tech football. There is a lot to process for everyone associated with this program. I would also ask to please keep it classy here. With that, here is what I know:
… If the Kansas State loss opened the door to Texas Tech dismissing Matt Wells, the loss to TCU two weeks earlier turned the handle. Following the Horned Frogs’ blowout win, there was an understanding among the major stakeholders that the games against Kansas and Kansas State were going to be very important to the future of Matt Wells as the university’s head football coach.
… The early chatter, which spurred us to post our Sunday update, was that Wells’ dismissal would line up with the bye week, but that timeline was accelerated.
… Kirby Hocutt and Lawrence Schovanec met sometime on Sunday to discuss the situation and the final decision was made this morning.
… Per his contract, Wells will be owed 70 percent of the remaining base salary and rights fees for the next three calendar years. That amount, somewhere around $6.9 million, will be paid out in monthly installments beginning later this year. His contract includes offset language, which means Texas Tech’s financial obligation will be reduced by his future earnings.
… The top two candidates at this point are UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor and SMU head coach Sonny Dykes. If either has a slight advantage at this point, it’s probably Traylor. You will likely hear many names linked with this job but Texas Tech wants to act quickly and these two candidates have already been identified as potential fits here. Both will get interviews if they want them and I’d expect that to be the case.
… The search could end there or it could just be the beginning of it. This is what we know as of now. Mike Leach, Art Briles, Jeff Lebby, Graham Harrell, Sonny Cumbie and whatever other name you can think could factor in at some level if this search expands beyond Traylor and Dykes.
… While Baylor linebackers coach Joey McGuire is a popular name that has been linked to this job by fans and some media – don’t shoot the messenger here -- his lack of FBS head coaching and/or coordinator experience will hurt his chances at the position. I wouldn’t rule out Texas Tech targeting him for defensive coordinator under a new staff, as Texas Tech is prepared to pay big for coordinators and position coaches.
… Also, as an aside, there is a lot of chatter in coaching circles that McGuire and Harrell will be heavily in the mix for the North Texas head coaching job if Seth Littrell isn’t retained after the season.
… Traylor is viewed as someone who would have more of a blank-slate staff at Texas Tech, while Dykes would likely want to bring over a number of his coaches from SMU. Dykes’ staff is full of Power Five experienced or caliber assistants – Jim Leavitt, Trey Haverty and Ra’Shaad Samples, among others – while Traylor has been limited by UTSA’s $1.5 million salary pool for assistants.
… There will be a heavy push to keep Cumbie and, to a lesser extent, DeAndre Smith on the Texas Tech football staff. Cumbie is well liked and respected internally and is still under contract. Smith has done a very good job with the running back position over the last three seasons, and his son being a talented, young quarterback is a nice bonus, as well.
… Cumbie will be placed in charge of Texas Tech’s football program for the remainder of the season and you can expect him to put his best foot forward for his alma mater and do the best he can in a tough situation. Cumbie will lean heavily on former Ennis and Texas Tech wide receiver Jake Brown to help him with the offense going forward as he takes over a lot of the head coaching duties.
… You can expect a very small search committee to be in place soon, similar to the basketball coaching search where Kirby Hocutt, Dusty Womble, Tony Battie and a few others were largely in charge of deciding who would be offered the job. I expect a similar situation here and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Sammy Morris was the former player on the committee for this search. We’ll see.
… If the Kansas State loss opened the door to Texas Tech dismissing Matt Wells, the loss to TCU two weeks earlier turned the handle. Following the Horned Frogs’ blowout win, there was an understanding among the major stakeholders that the games against Kansas and Kansas State were going to be very important to the future of Matt Wells as the university’s head football coach.
… The early chatter, which spurred us to post our Sunday update, was that Wells’ dismissal would line up with the bye week, but that timeline was accelerated.
… Kirby Hocutt and Lawrence Schovanec met sometime on Sunday to discuss the situation and the final decision was made this morning.
… Per his contract, Wells will be owed 70 percent of the remaining base salary and rights fees for the next three calendar years. That amount, somewhere around $6.9 million, will be paid out in monthly installments beginning later this year. His contract includes offset language, which means Texas Tech’s financial obligation will be reduced by his future earnings.
… The top two candidates at this point are UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor and SMU head coach Sonny Dykes. If either has a slight advantage at this point, it’s probably Traylor. You will likely hear many names linked with this job but Texas Tech wants to act quickly and these two candidates have already been identified as potential fits here. Both will get interviews if they want them and I’d expect that to be the case.
… The search could end there or it could just be the beginning of it. This is what we know as of now. Mike Leach, Art Briles, Jeff Lebby, Graham Harrell, Sonny Cumbie and whatever other name you can think could factor in at some level if this search expands beyond Traylor and Dykes.
… While Baylor linebackers coach Joey McGuire is a popular name that has been linked to this job by fans and some media – don’t shoot the messenger here -- his lack of FBS head coaching and/or coordinator experience will hurt his chances at the position. I wouldn’t rule out Texas Tech targeting him for defensive coordinator under a new staff, as Texas Tech is prepared to pay big for coordinators and position coaches.
… Also, as an aside, there is a lot of chatter in coaching circles that McGuire and Harrell will be heavily in the mix for the North Texas head coaching job if Seth Littrell isn’t retained after the season.
… Traylor is viewed as someone who would have more of a blank-slate staff at Texas Tech, while Dykes would likely want to bring over a number of his coaches from SMU. Dykes’ staff is full of Power Five experienced or caliber assistants – Jim Leavitt, Trey Haverty and Ra’Shaad Samples, among others – while Traylor has been limited by UTSA’s $1.5 million salary pool for assistants.
… There will be a heavy push to keep Cumbie and, to a lesser extent, DeAndre Smith on the Texas Tech football staff. Cumbie is well liked and respected internally and is still under contract. Smith has done a very good job with the running back position over the last three seasons, and his son being a talented, young quarterback is a nice bonus, as well.
… Cumbie will be placed in charge of Texas Tech’s football program for the remainder of the season and you can expect him to put his best foot forward for his alma mater and do the best he can in a tough situation. Cumbie will lean heavily on former Ennis and Texas Tech wide receiver Jake Brown to help him with the offense going forward as he takes over a lot of the head coaching duties.
… You can expect a very small search committee to be in place soon, similar to the basketball coaching search where Kirby Hocutt, Dusty Womble, Tony Battie and a few others were largely in charge of deciding who would be offered the job. I expect a similar situation here and I wouldn’t be shocked at all if Sammy Morris was the former player on the committee for this search. We’ll see.
