Big 12 media day notes: Tech QBs a rare sight
IRVING – Former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach had not taken a quarterback to Big 12 Conference media days in several years. Then Tuesday, Tech coach Tommy Tuberville showed up with two – Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield.
The seniors are competing to be the starter, and Tuberville said Tuesday was just another level of evaluation.
“That’s the reason I brought both of them,’’ Tuberville said. “I wanted to see how they handled themselves in front of you (print reporters) and the TV cameras. Your quarterback is your team leader.’’
With that said, it’s still undetermined which of the two will get the job. Tuberville made it clear Tuesday there will not be a rotation. In a passing offense, he said, timing between quarterbacks and receivers gets fouled up if the passer changes from series to series.
Tuberville said he could envision “a scenario where we might put a quarterback in just to change the momentum of the game or change the different type of formations that they’ll run.’’
But there will be one clear-cut choice by the Sept. 5 opener against SMU. That means someone’s going to be let down.
“Both want to play,’’ Tuberville said, “and I’d be very disappointed if the guy that doesn’t get the starting position doesn’t get his feelings hurt.’’
Protecting his passers
Asked his ideal pass-run percentages, Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said 60-40, maybe 65-35 and, “if we get into a game and a find team that can’t cover anybody, we’re going to throw it a hundred.’’
Tuberville said he wants to keep defenses honest, though, partly to protect the quarterbacks. One way to do that is to mix in running plays.
“Me being a defensive coach, I love lining up on guys saying, ‘They’re not going to run, so somebody’s getting ready to get hit,’’’ Tuberville said. “’We want him hit every time he throws it, legally.’
Tuberville doesn’t want to subject his team’s quarterbacks to that.
“We look at how many times did he have to pick himself up off the ground after he completed a pass,’’ Tuberville said. “We want to protect the quarterback, so we want to slow down the defensive line. We don’t want him to be a target in the backfield.’’
Quarterback Taylor Potts is all for that. Potts said he felt defenses have been able to tee off on Tech quarterbacks at times in the past when they expected passes on every down.
“Being able to run the ball, it will put defenses on their heels a little bit,’’ he said. “It ought to be really beneficial.’’
New look for Cowboys
Year-in, year-out, Oklahoma State resisted the trend of football teams switching to the spread offense. You could always count on the Cowboys to line up with tight ends, fullbacks, a 20-carries-a-game tailback and a play-action passer at quarterback. You could expect them to be at or near the Big 12 Conference lead in rushing.
Well, forget all that.
Oklahoma State spent the spring installing a spread.
OSU coach Mike Gundy said the decision was based largely on player availability.
“I felt like the number of players we could recruit to fit this system was greater than for the system we had competed with in years before,” Gundy said. “For the (geographic) areas we recruit, most of the offenses have a number of wide receivers who can make plays and running backs. There’s not as many tight ends, (and) there’s not as many fullbacks to recruit.”
Gundy said this year is the best time to make the change, because the team will be breaking in a new quarterback and several new offensive linemen anyway.
One notable exception is at tailback, where the Cowboys still have Kendall Hunter, who won the conference rushing crown in 2008 with 1,555 yards.
“There won’t be as much downhill running as we’ve done in the past,” Gundy said. “But it shouldn’t change the number of times he touches the ball and has a chance to make plays.”
There will be a big change for Gundy: He’s handing over playcalling to new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, who used to work at Texas Tech.
“”I think it’s hard to do,” Gundy said, “but I think it’s the right thing to do. Let a guy have the opportunity to spend 20 hours a week and prepare and go out and do it. It gives me a chance as a head coach to spend time on some other things. But I thought it was the right time to do it, and so that’s why we made that move.”
Quarterback Brandon Weeden said he spent time in the spring picking Graham Harrell’s brain for tips on a system Harrell became familiar with at Tech.
The difference in the new offense, Weeden said, include four receivers, a shotgun formation, run screens and motion.
“It’s tough to defend,” Weeden said. “Playing against guys like Texas Tech, I saw what our defense had to go through. I remember my freshman year on scout team, just slinging it, my arm hurt every day because we were throwing so much. It’s the nature of college football right now. The Big 12 has been known for its offenses and now we’re doing it even more.”
Washington shapes up
Running back Derrick Washington slimmed down to 215 pounds in the offseason and is leaner and quicker, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.
Washington, who ran for 865 yards and 10 touchdowns a year ago, said he was one of 12 players the team required to trim down during the past six months.
“The dirty dozen,” Washington said. “I think all of us made it. We all had to be a certain weight by a certain date, and if we were a pound over, we’d have to get on the elliptical and do the work.”
Washington said his diet was the biggest factor in the weight loss.
The team recently put more emphasis on nutrition, Pinkel said, and players are eating properly.
“He’s a lot quicker guy than he was this past year,” Pinkel said. “And I expect that to help him play at a higher level.”
Compiled by Don Williams and David Just
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this koach like drama two!
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Is Leach going to Vanderbilt?
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“I wont rotate QBs but I might put a new quarterback in just to change the momentum of the game or change the different type of formations that they’ll run.” Two QB system. Allsome!
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Leach could go to Vanderbilt – probably would be a good fit. But I figuered he would be going to Colorado and take the Air Raid to the Pac whatever at season’s end when they run off Hawkins. With this stain on resume he is not starting over, but he aint starting at a top-of-the-line program either. I hope he has learned his lesson. Nice guy, but needs a little discipline and grooming still.
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OSU QB Weeden says he spent the Spring picking Harrell’s brain; that should have taken about 5 minutes! LMAO!!!!!
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flash lite: you mention a “strain” on leach’s resume. Is it not true, that tub and the stooges hired a trainer with a ‘strain” on his resume? A strain is subjective. Most folks with an ounce of common sense know that we regard and disregard our personal thoughts about a person without taking into account the evidence.
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Leach was a true coach. He promoted teamwork, not individualism. Unlike the former coaches and AD’s resulting in poor at best performances in prior coaches. Looks like we are getting back into the same rut resulting in individuals not the team taking the spotlight.
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Glad to see there are still a few team Lurch people out there. Look at it this way, next year you all will be OSU cowboys. Lurch was done after the UH game last year.
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Can’t stand the Tuber man. I saw him throw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers game last night and he can’t even throw a ball. He was almost worse than Obama. Tumor man nearly threw it over the catcher’s head and he was at the front of the mound! What a wimp we have as coach. He’s full of hot air. Whoever heard of a football coach that can’t throw a baseball?
All we have now is a figure-head coach. A politician. I’d still take Leach any day over this imposter. He couldn’t carry Leach’s jockstrap.
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Bleeding Red: I believe you may be right concerning Leach and OSU. Mike Leach has been hired as a consultant to Mr. Pickens and OSU. If Gundy gets the boot then Leach will be the next OSU coach.
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well if leach is hired at Okie Lite, Tech will be an empty shell and have a new rival. it sure would be cool to watch a Leach lead team kick the he** out of the RRs
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When is Gerald Byers going to retire? Geez, how much longer do we have to see this guy in Lubbock? Send him to Horseshoe Bay with Spike.
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Mrs Miyagi,
First thing, little fat drunk girls like Leech don’t use jockstraps. Second, Leech’s winning record is only 1 win better than Spikes. Third, Tommy’s record is better than both and he did most of it in 7 years not ten.
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boomer sooner: I don’t think anyone will kick the Red Raiders. But an OSU with Leach would start kicking the Sooners on a regular basis. Mike Leach knows how to beat OU that is for sure.
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Leach will end up in the PAC 10 at either Washington State or Colorado. CU boosters/alumni have been courting Leach for six months now. He was in Denver several months back and it wasn’t to snow ski. He is very much interested in CU. In fact, my connection to CU tells me Hawkins is gone unless he wins a National Championship. The CU AD is already postured to make the coaching move when they jump to the PAC 10.
Washington State alum have recently started a campaign to get him. They remember the days with Price who aired it out and believe that is their ticket back to winning. He’d be a good fit at either place.
I believe Leach at CU would be deadly for opposing defenses. At that altitude and the air raid, d-backs and LBs would be smoked by 1/2 time. Boulder is already a quirky city, so he would fit in perfectly. It is an all around good fit.
Let’s appreciate what Leach did for Tech and wish him the best. Let’s get behind Tubbs and hope he builds on the success and national exposure Leach brought Tech.
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“Let’s appreciate what Leach did for Tech and wish him the best. Let’s get behind Tubbs and hope he builds on the success and national exposure Leach brought Tech.”
Nope, never. It was a sinister series of events that brought the Tuberman here, and let there be no doubt, he was INVOLVED in those sinister events in shady deals before Leach was even gone.
Now, everyone wants us all to forgive and forget, join hands, and say everything’s great. Well everything is NOT great. We have a scheming, politicking weasel for a head coach, and Adam & Craig James are still on the scene, and they have colluded to make Tech unclean.
I will not support Texas Tech football as long as the deceitful Tub-man is here. Dittos for Gerald Myers and the other two nitwits that devised this scam.
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Hey watch out for those black helicopters, Mr. Miyagi.
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Mr. Miyagi,
There are many out there who feel your pain, and share your frustration.
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Adam James is listed as starting Tight End.
That should tell anybody whats going on.
Corruption at high levels at a taxpayer funded State University.
Thanks to Rick and Kent.
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After we beat tU all the Leech T-shirt fans will be back begging to see Tech football.
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Adam will contribute to the RR’s success this year….
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AJ will be a major contributor this year…. and Tommy will make you forget about the pirate.
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Gerald has been good for Tech……. for a long time… Hope you guys appreciate him.
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Sounds like Ok St is about 7 years late on this spread offense thing. Any Big12 fan would know the defenses are catching up to the play calling and speed the spread once dominated with. Once again Ok St is trying to “copy” the other programs instead of just finding and sticking with its own identity.
And on a side note, being an Alumni, and RRC member, the posts on this website are embarrassing and should be better monitored. You all need to grow up!
Wreck ‘Em Tech
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TechRed ’01
And on a side note, being an Alumni, and RRC member, the posts on this website are embarrassing and should be better monitored. You all need to grow up!
Yeah, yew right. Thats why they hired Tubville and fired Leach. No offense. Got to git that Alabamy offense in here.
They done caught up with that Spread an run it out of town. Jest like the triple option.
On a side note Mr. Alumanus RRC. Who died and made you King?
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I hope Tubs wins sixty in a row. I’ll root for him every time. But I won’t be rooting as hard as the Fat Rats, because if Tubs loses games Leach ALWAYS won with the lone exception of the inexplicable loss to AMC in Lubbock last year, the blame will fall on Hance, Myers, Sowell, White, Scovell, Grigg, and the rest of the Gang that Cheated Mike Leach.
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Let me see. Which coach in the universe would have won more games at Texas Tech
in the past decade, than Leach, (beach bum that he was).
also and furthermore; How many games would beach bum Leach have won IF he
had had top 10 recruits every year like Mackoff Brownnose or Blind Squirrel Stoopes
or Phony Soldiers U.
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