A little after the Texas Tech football team wrapped up a winter-conditioning workout on Monday, Tech coach Joey McGuire sent a text of appreciation to Howard Sampson, a hulking, 6-foot-8 offensive tackle.
One drill in particular was especially taxing on the big fellow, but he was sticking with it and exhorting his teammates. McGuire wanted the newcomer from North Carolina to know the effort didn’t go unnoticed.
“He sends me a text back,” McGuire said, “and goes, ‘Coach, I’ve never been part of a team that the best players on the team are challenging each other to be better.’ And he goes, ‘Man, I’m just so happy I’m here.’
“You have that feeling from all the guys. Now we’ve just got to go have a great spring.”
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Tech starts spring practice on Monday. The past two months and the next few ahead are an experiment perhaps unlike any other season the Red Raiders have experienced. McGuire and two new coordinators are mixing the returning personnel from an 8-5 bowl team with 17 newcomers from the NCAA transfer portal, most of whom were starters at their previous schools.
Part of the attraction was cash lavished legally by The Matador Club while donor collectives still can. Unrestrained bidding on transfers could be curbed if the House v. NCAA settlement proposal receives final consent. Another selling point to the new talent: The swanky Dustin R. Womble Football Center, just opened, interconnected with the Jones AT&T Stadium south end zone building that opened last season.
“These guys have been everywhere,” McGuire said. “When you’re talking about the transfers, you’re talking about the most sought-after guys in the country; there’s a number of them. They went other places, and they walk in and go, ‘Coach, this isn’t comparable. This is the best facility in the country.’ “
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Darcel McBath was a starting safety for the Red Raiders during the Mike Leach era and now has come back to coach cornerbacks.
“When we had our facilities when I played here, we didn’t feel like we were missing anything,” McBath said. “We had a hot tub. We had a cold tub. We had a shower and a locker. It was great. And then you walk in this thing, and you’re like, ‘Well. It does get better.’ “
McBath’s frame of reference includes four years playing in the NFL and seven years coaching in other power conferences.
“I’m just happy as an alumni to see what we are as a university and the trajectory that we’re on,” he said. “It’s cool to bring potential student-athletes on campus and show them this facility, and they (say), ‘Man, this is the best in the country.’ And our guys, who some have been other places, are saying the same thing. I’ve been other places, and I haven’t seen anything like it. It’s spectacular. It’s just a testament to where we’re headed as a university.”
Eleven players to miss Texas Tech football spring practice
Spring football for the Red Raiders will continue through April 19, the date of the annual spring game at Jones AT&T Stadium. McGuire said 11 players will miss spring recovering from surgeries. Eight had knee operations: Quarterback Lloyd Jones III, running back Cam’Ron Valdez, offensive linemen Vinny Sciury and Connor Carty, defensive linemen Dooda Banks and Dylan Spencer, linebacker Justin Horne and safety Chapman Lewis.
Three had shoulder surgeries: Quarterback Behren Morton, linebacker Bryce Ramirez and defensive back Devynn Cromwell. McGuire said all are progressing as expected.
Tech’s portal spree yielded five defensive backs, four defensive linemen and three offensive linemen. The influx of DBs will compete with returnees such as Lewis, A.J. McCarty and Brenden Jordan.
“I don’t know that we’ve had this much competition and the guys stepping up and understanding how much competition, since I’ve been here,” McGuire said of the secondary.
New offensive linemen Sampson, Nick Jados and Hunter Zambrano are thrown into a room with returning starters Sheridan Wilson, Davion Carter and Sciury. That’s effectively six starters for five spots, not to mention several young veterans.
“The biggest thing I told (offensive line coach) Clay (McGuire): We’ve got to find our best five guys and where they fit,” Joey McGuire said. “So he’s moved some guys around. … The O-line, that’s what I’m really, really excited about is seeing who’s going to sort out.”
Texas Tech football quick hits
Tech’s top three receivers in terms of production last season — Caleb Douglas, Coy Eakin and incoming transfer Reggie Virgil — are all outside receivers, so Eakin is moving to slot receiver to keep them all in the starting lineup, McGuire said. … Since the end of last season, OT Jacob Ponton has gone from 283 pounds to 308, McGuire said, defensive edge Ansel Nedore from 255 to 277, and cornerback Maurion Horn from 180 to 192.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Joey McGuire sets stage for new-era Texas Tech football spring practice
