State of the Program: A new chapter begins at Texas Tech, but the task remains the same

Editor’s note: Part of a continuing series examining the Power 5 and top Group of 5 teams for the 2019 college football season.

One of the first framed photos Matt Wells brought to his new office this offseason, before he really had time to decorate and renovate the place, is a picture of Robert De Niro.

It’s a shot from the 1995 film “Casino.” De Niro’s Ace Rothstein is standing in a kitchen holding blueberry muffins and lecturing his baker. He’s found a muffin that has too many blueberries and one that has too few.

“From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin,” Rothstein implores. “An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.”

The stunned baker replies: “Do you know how long that’s going to take?”

“I don’t care how long it takes. Put an equal amount in each muffin.”

Strength coach Dave Scholz got a photo from this scene framed for Wells, not because they love breakfast pastries but because they loved Rothstein’s message. He’s watching all the details all the time, and there’s not one single thing he won’t catch. They aspire to do the same in their organization.

“It’s about holding people to standards and being very detail-oriented,” Wells said. “Everything matters.”

That philosophy of rigorous attention to detail paid off in a big way at Utah State. And he knows it can work wonders at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders went 35-40 under former coach Kliff Kingsbury, with three bowl appearances in six years and seven losses in each of the past three seasons. Kingsbury has few peers as an offensive mind and his players loved playing for him, but they could never totally figure out how to put it all together and win at a high level.

Athletic director Kirby Hocutt set the bar high when he fired Kingsbury, declaring: “We will be elite in football again. I guarantee you we will be elite in football again. This program has been there before and we’ll get there again.” The reality is they’ve won 10 or more games once in the past 40 years. But fans understandably ran out of patience after six years of up-and-down play and only modest results. The split was a win for both parties. Kingsbury is much happier now coaching the Arizona Cardinals. And Hocutt got the proven head coach he sought in Wells, who won 10-plus twice in his six years in Logan, Utah.

This is a program and a fan base desperate for a big breakthrough. Chris Beard leading Texas Tech to a national championship game in men’s basketball offers validation that big things can happen here with the right coach, the right talent and the right mentality. Wells likes to say they are not rebuilding but reloading, and his assistants insist the cupboard is not bare. The first step in raising the standard is establishing Wells’ culture.

“I think that’s what we do well,” he said. “And I think it works. You can strike that from the record — I know it works. And I think it fits in Lubbock, Texas, and at Texas Tech.”

Biggest on-field question

How quickly will this team adapt to the coaching staff? Can they take the blueprint and run with it, or will this turn out more like a transitional season?

Wells can list a bunch of areas where he has question marks exiting spring. He’s curious how all their newcomers will adjust and how many can compete immediately. He has concerns about their depth in a few key areas — quarterback, tight end, offensive line, linebacker, specialists — that must get resolved throughout the summer and during August practices. But that process of installing the culture? That’s the day-by-day part of this process that determines how far these guys can go in Year 1.

Wells is clearly passionate about this part and is enjoying the challenge of teaching his philosophies to a new team. The messaging from day one has been about building accountability. He’s trying to make this a “we, us, our program” in which everyone is deeply invested in the program, dedicated to team goals over individual goals and holding each other to the standard. They talk often about the 10 things that require zero talent and how much they really matter.

“10 Things That Require Zero Talent” – @TTUCoachWells

1 Week From Today, It’s Go Time!! 🔥#Summer19 #WeUsOurProgram #WreckEm 🔴⚫️ pic.twitter.com/7vHykdMZBs

— Joey Bergles (@JoeyBergles) May 28, 2019

“I think we’re a developmental program,” Wells said. “And when I say that, we have to coach them really hard. We have to coach them really well. We’ve got to develop them physically, through our strength and conditioning program, through our nutrition program. We have to really develop them as a football player and as a young man. And I’m excited about doing that. That’s what we take great pride in as coaches and with our strength coaches. We’ve been very successful doing that. And I think it fits at Texas Tech.

“The bottom line is this, if you want to be developed, you come to Texas Tech. Because we’re going to develop you better than anybody else. And that’s what we believe.”

They were most successful at Utah State when they had true player-led accountability. At the end of April, the Red Raiders elected their 16-man leadership committee. It’s comprised of players from every class: five seniors, five juniors, three sophomores, even three redshirt freshmen. They have proven guys like Travis Bruffy, Jordyn Brooks and Eli Howard leading the charge, but they also have underclassmen on the committee like Erik Ezukanma and Xavier Benson who haven’t yet contributed on the field.

“These are guys that are leaders of their own age groups, in each classification, and I think that’s important when they’re elected by their peers,” Wells said. “That’s important that they have a say in how we do things. And I think they’re the voice of that age group and of that classification. For us as coaches to be able to invest in them and kind of invest in their leadership at an early age, I think, is important because eventually they’ll become the older leaders of this team.”

Red Raiders fans are used to scoring points, and so is new head coach Matt Wells. (Texas Tech Athletics)

They’ve laid out the long-term vision for what it’s going to take to turn the Red Raiders into consistent contenders. But there’s also so much to teach from a scheme standpoint.

On offense, David Yost’s system calls for an always-going-fast tempo, and it has some features that the group has picked up quickly and some they haven’t. He was encouraged by the results he saw in spring scrimmages and how frequently the Red Raider offense could get lined up and snap it within 30 seconds of a play ending.

“We talk about all the time: We’re gonna blitz the defense, they’re not gonna blitz us,” Yost said. “So that’s how we’re constantly doing it. How fast can we go and how much can we execute it?”

Yost said that during his first season at Utah State, the Aggies went fast tempo roughly 44 percent of the time. In 2018, with a more experienced group that kept building upon its progress, they were able to go tempo on nearly 60 percent of snaps and went from scoring 30 points per game to 47.5, which put them No. 2 nationally behind Oklahoma.

What’s the right speed for this offense? Yost said they’ll have a better sense of that in August, but he saw pleasant surprises this spring. They ran the ball more efficiently than he expected with their zone and gap schemes, and that needs to be the case this fall after Tech finished with the fewest rushing yards in the Big 12 last season. They have a veteran offensive line that can guide the way, a promising young quarterback to build around and young but promising skill talent. For Yost, there’s plenty to work with here.

As for Keith Patterson’s defense, it’s all about getting guys ready to play a more aggressive, attacking style. Utah State finished with 32 takeaways last season, tying for the national lead, and scored touchdowns on six of them. Pulling that off requires a lot of things coming together — confident players, smart calls, timely pressures, creating negative plays on early downs — and Patterson puts a major emphasis in practice on making their defenders more “ball conscious.”

“The game is all about the ball, man,” he said.

Patterson has no doubt they can bring that same mindset and production to the Big 12. He’s been a defensive coordinator in this conference in the past, and jokes he’s practically earned a doctorate in spread offense from his years working with Yost, Mike Norvell, Dana Holgorsen, Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris.

This Red Raider defense must stay healthy, he points out, or else it could get young in a hurry. The staff is asking a slew of transfers to come in and help right away, too, which could require patience. As he tries to figure out how all the puzzle pieces fit together, he acknowledges he’s not quite sure what the expectations should be for 2019.

“I have a blueprint for things that we measure and things that I want to see,” Patterson said. “I don’t know where we’re going to fall, I really don’t. Am I excited about the challenge of it? Yes I am.”

Depth chart analysis

Quarterbacks: A healthy Alan Bowman is one of Texas Tech’s most exciting pieces. The sophomore is healthy again after a partially collapsed lung cut short his debut season and has impressed Yost with how quickly he picks up concepts, how quickly he processes as a passer and how easily he can put the ball wherever he wants. “He’s an extremely bright guy,” Yost said.

Bowman was the nation’s leading passer before his initial injury last September and is eager to get back to putting up prolific numbers. The fact this offense isn’t a dramatic departure from what Bowman operated last year is a big plus for accelerating his development.

Alan Bowman has the skill set to match what offensive coordinator David Yost wants to do. (Brett Rojo / USA TODAY Sports)

Behind him, junior Jett Duffey made three starts in 2018 but was sidelined with a torn meniscus to end the season. He won a road start at TCU and showed his ability to scramble and make plays in the run game, with 80-plus yards in four appearances. But he needs to start playing with a lot more consistency.

McLane Carter electing to graduate transfer to Rutgers means they don’t have another veteran passer in the room. Wells and Yost were able to hold onto true freshman Maverick McIvor, who had initially pledged to Kingsbury and flirted with decommitting, and he’ll need to catch up quickly during fall camp.

Running backs: The Red Raiders were a bit thin here during the spring after the departure of Da’Leon Ward and two seniors, but the staff likes its options. Ta’Zhawn Henry, an undersized speedster at 5-foot-7 and 170 pounds, was productive as a true freshman with 486 total yards and nine touchdowns. SaRodorick Thompson rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns in four games before redshirting. Those second-year backs benefitted from all the carries they received this spring. Yost was pleasantly surprised by how Henry finishes runs for his size and quickness and by Thompson’s knack for busting explosive runs.

To go along with that duo, they landed Utah graduate transfer Armand Shyne, who overcame injuries early in his career to rush for 512 yards and five TDs last season, including a 174-yard performance against Oregon. “I think he’s tough. I think he’s physical,” Wells said. “He’s got a little bit more wiggle than you think, and he’s had success at a high level at Utah in the Pac-12 and he’s done a nice job. He’ll come in here and compete pretty quickly.”

Texas Tech also is adding Alante Brown, a freshman athlete from Chicago who’s capable of playing running back, lining up in the slot or returning kicks.

Wide receivers/tight ends: The Red Raiders have an intriguing collection of wideouts to work with, but this group was a bit beaten up by injuries during the spring. The leader of the group is T.J. Vasher, a 6-foot-6 junior who can make plenty of highlight-reel plays but needs to take his game to another level. They bring back another veteran in Seth Collins, a former Oregon State transfer who caught 32 passes last season and can play inside or outside, and KeSean Carter — one of the Big 12’s fastest wideouts — played in every game last year as a true freshman. Beyond them, the Red Raiders’ returning receivers are young and relatively unproven.

Redshirt freshman Erik Ezukanma didn’t miss a snap this spring and made a big impression. Don’t be surprised if he’s a breakout player at X receiver. “You could see a huge growth in the type of player he was,” Yost said, “to the point where, by the end of spring, the other players were going, ‘Oh, he’s a guy. He makes plays.’ ” Dalton Rigdon is another wideout who made the most of his spring reps and put himself in the mix at H receiver. Fellow second-year wideouts Myller Royals, Caden Leggett and Sterling Galban got lots of reps, too, to show what they could do.

The big addition is transfer McLane Mannix, who put up big numbers (107 catches for 1,653 yards and 13 touchdowns) in two seasons at Nevada and earned Freshman All-America honors in 2017. He received a waiver for immediate eligibility and will make an immediate impact at H receiver. Wells is expecting Louisiana Monroe grad transfer R.J. Turner to contribute right away, too, and incoming freshman Trey Cleveland could also be a factor.

The tight end position takes on a greater importance in Yost’s offense. Senior Donta Thompson is the top option there, and he embraced his opportunity this spring after catching just three passes in three years. He’s a critical piece in terms of what he allows the Red Raiders to do, and they’re going to play to his strengths. “The difference for him is instead of playing 10 to 15 snaps a game, now he’s doing it 10 to 15 snaps a drive,” Yost said. “That was a change for him in how much more we’ll be leaning on him.”

Junior college transfer Travis Koontz and sophomore Tyler Carr will need to play, too. The staff thinks freshman Simon Gonzalez has a bright future after what he showed as an early enrollee this spring, but he’ll need to make big strides to get into the rotation in his first year.

Offensive line: Texas Tech’s line has the most returning starts in the Big 12 with 116, even after losing senior center Paul Stawarz. They ranked No. 3 in the conference in sacks allowed (25) last season despite such inexperienced quarterback play. Right guard Jack Anderson, a second-team All-Big 12 pick as a sophomore, has started every game of his career. The tackle duo of Terence Steele and Travis Bruffy should be one of the conference’s best. They switched roles this spring, with Steele playing left tackle and Bruffy on the right side. Senior left guard Madison Akamnonu gives them four returning starters with 20-plus career starts.

Dawson Deaton appears to be the favorite for the vacant center spot, but Yost says there’s still a competition for that job exiting spring with Will Farrar, Bailey Smith and Clayton Franks all in the mix. It’s an important enough position to the staff that it could also play Anderson there. Besides Smith, the reserves are mostly young. But Yost notes they were pretty much three-deep on the line this spring with scholarship players, which is pretty rare.

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Defensive line: At defensive end, Eli Howard can become one of Big 12’s best pass rushers. He’s recorded 15 quarterback hurries and nine sacks in two seasons and is still just a junior. Patterson can’t help but gush about him and what he means to the Red Raiders’ defense.

“Eli is Texas Tech Red Raider football,” he said. “You look at him and you go, man, he plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. He has a lot more athletic than you’d think. You can’t judge a book by its cover, and he is a prime example. That guy’s got pass rush skills. It’s not a fluke. He is a talented pass rusher and a tough kid. Everything West Texas is all about, that’s Eli.”

Defensive tackle Broderick Washington Jr. is another leader up front, and Patterson is expecting a great senior season from him. He’s quickly bought into what they’re doing from a scheme standpoint. Junior Nick McCann should step into the starting nose tackle spot next to him this fall with Preston Gordon and Joe Wallace moving on. Howard’s top backup, Nelson Mbanasor, showed growth this spring and Jaylon Hutchings, Houston Miller and Quentin Yontz are the top reserves in the middle.

Patterson’s defense relies on a “Raider” boundary linebacker/defensive end hybrid on the edge, and redshirt freshman Xavier Benson emerged as potentially the top option there. Wells says he still needs to gain more weight and strength, but he flashed a lot of athleticism this spring and has senior Lonzell Gilmore pushing him for that job.

Now a junior, Eli Howard isn’t going anywhere except the opponent’s backfield. (Michael C. Johnson / USA TODAY Sports)

Linebackers: The Red Raiders lost one of their captains here in Dakota Allen, a seventh-round NFL draft pick, but the staff feels really good about the returning duo of senior Jordyn Brooks and junior Riko Jeffers. Brooks is now one of the Big 12’s most experienced linebackers with his 34 career starts. Brayden Stringer and Patrick Curley will provide depth here, and they found a late addition from the junior college ranks in Kosi Eldridge, who has three seasons of eligibility and looks like a nice fit for the scheme.

The “Spur” position in Patterson’s defense is a hybrid safety/linebacker, and they can utilize several different body types here. Patterson is excited about what Cal grad transfer Evan Rambo will bring to this spot. He’s 6-5 and 225 pounds, understands coverage concepts and can make plays in space. Minnesota transfer Adam Beck also got reps at “Spur” in the spring but will likely end up playing safety this fall.

Defensive backs: The new staff used this spring to cross-train its defensive backs in a variety of roles, which gives Texas Tech a chance to tinker with lineups and get its best on the field together. As Patterson put it: “Where they all fit, I don’t know.”

They do have returning experience at cornerback with Desmon Smith and Adrian Frye. Smith, a senior, is going into his third season as a starter. Frye garnered Freshman All-America honors after grabbing five interceptions and logging 13 pass breakups as a redshirt freshman despite starting just four games. Wells noted Frye played safety for the majority of the spring, so he’s one of many who could be on the move.

Penn State grad transfer Zech McPhearson gives the Red Raiders another veteran cover man. He’s played in 24 games over the last two seasons. John Davis Jr. will factor in here too, and Jaylon Lane is back on the roster as well. Patterson believes incoming freshmen Alex Hogan and Dequan Watts have the right mindset to come in and contribute right away. But Octavious Morgan is a key loss. Patterson said Morgan had made “incredible” progress in coming back from the leg injury that forced him to miss last season, but on June 28 the Red Raiders announced that Morgan would be medically retiring while continuing to rehabilitate his knee.

At safety, Texas Tech lost a valuable playmaker and senior leader in Jah’Shawn Johnson plus three more seniors in Vaughnte Dorsey, John Bonney and Kisean Allen. Who steps up here? Douglas Coleman III can play anywhere in the secondary and could be one answer. Thomas Leggett has a chance to earn a starting job as well and will have Quincy Addison and Beck pushing him. DaMarcus Fields is another one of those defenders who could play all over. The 23-game starter at cornerback served a brief suspension during the spring and may need to prove his versatility at safety. They’ll all keep competing to earn their spot in August, and the upside here is they’ll be better prepared to adjust when injuries occur.

Special teams: Texas Tech is truly starting from scratch with no experienced specialists. The staff is asking junior college transfer Jonathan Garibay and freshman Austin McNamara to come in ready to compete for starting jobs immediately. Both have big legs and were highly recruited. Wells sums up his feelings on that big question mark thusly: “Scary and confident at the same time. Scary only in that they haven’t done it on game day at this level. Confident because they’re really talented young men that we’ve seen do it live and we have a great belief in their abilities.”

Gone, too, is top returner De’Quan Bowman. Adrian Frye and Ta’Zhawn Henry got chances in the spring but expect an open competition for kick and punt return duties during fall camp.

How the Red Raiders have recruited from 2016-19

Using 247Sports’ Composite rankings, here is how Texas Tech’s recruiting classes have fared nationally and within the Big 12 over the past four years:

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Kingsbury and his staff weren’t too concerned about chasing star ratings in their final years on the job and developed a much better sense for evaluating who fits Texas Tech and their schemes. The head coach was as good as it gets at evaluating quarterbacks, and former defensive coordinator David Gibbs came in and rescued their abject disaster of a defense with smart evaluations and steady development. And the resulting classes were typically middle-of-the-pack for the Big 12 in terms of hype. During Kingsbury’s six years as head coach, they actually signed just 10 players who earned four-star grades in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

The 2018 class was ranked as the Big 12’s worst but yielded Alan Bowman and a ton of their offensive skill talent for this season and beyond. Recruiting wasn’t too easy last year with the hot seat talk hanging over Kingsbury, and programs like Baylor were able to come in and win out for some talented West Texas players. Wells knows the coaches need to start by owning their backyard, and they’ve been well received as they’ve hit the road.

“You get one chance to make a first impression. I think our staff, our assistants, have done a really good job,” Wells said. “We’ve been everywhere. We’ve crisscrossed this state, maximized our evaluations over the spring but in January as well. I’ve been in as many high schools as I could’ve been in December and January, especially in West Texas. And I think that’s the area first and foremost you’re gonna start in, Lubbock and West Texas. And then we’re going to branch out over the state. Probably 80 percent of our players will be from the state of Texas. And the ability to continue — not start — but continue the relationships we’ve had with coaches over many years, I think, is imperative.”

That was a big draw for Wells in taking this job. He’s been recruiting in Texas and Oklahoma for a long time, and so have his assistants. They’re no strangers in these parts. Recruiting well in Lubbock requires leveraging those relationships to find gems throughout the region and doing a great job of evaluating them before they have offers from everybody else.

One area where this staff has excelled early on: Few Power 5 programs have been more productive on the transfer market this offseason. They landed Shyne, Mannix, Turner, McPhearson, Rambo, and long snapper Geno Albini from the portal, and they’re likely not done yet with adding talent for the 2019 team.

Their recruiting approach in December helped set up the portal shopping spree. They focused on building relationships with the commits they inherited and were very selective about their late takes, only chasing kids they had connections to and not panicking if they didn’t get the few they targeted. They ended up signing 19, banked the rest of their scholarships and later added a lot more transfer players who will help immediately.

“It’s been the best and smartest decision we’ve made since we’ve been here,” Patterson said.

Impact of coaching changes

Eight of Wells’ assistants at Texas Tech worked with him at Utah State, and that’s a huge plus during this transition. He brought Yost, Patterson, Scholz, tight ends/inside receivers coach Luke Wells, offensive line coach Steve Farmer, cornerbacks coach Julius Brown and running backs coach DeAndre Smith with him from Logan, and special teams coordinator Mark Tommerdahl was on the Aggies’ staff in 2017.

“Just very fortunate that Kirby Hocutt allowed me to bring the guys that had invested in me and our staff,” Matt Wells said. “Keith Patterson and David Yost, in my opinion, are some of the best in the country. Mark Tommerdahl is a veteran at special teams, one of the best at his craft and that’s widely known. Dave Scholz, our strength and conditioning coordinator, had been with me the whole time at Utah State. Those four guys, they’re the generals.”

New safeties coach Kerry Cooks brings extensive Big 12 experience after spending the last four years coaching Oklahoma’s secondary. Defensive line coach Paul Randolph worked with Patterson at Arizona State. Outside receivers coach Joel Filani was one of the best wideouts in Texas Tech history. Wells likes how this staff came together and especially the level of familiarity they share.

“It’s been easy as far as getting adjusted and getting everybody on the same page,” Yost said. “It’s nice not having to teach coaches before you teach the players. That was a real positive.”

Schedule analysis

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The path to starting 2-0 should not be too treacherous, but it gets tough quickly from there. Can they build up enough positive momentum early on to pull off a road win against Arizona on Sept. 14? That one feels like a toss-up game. There are a bunch of games on the schedule that feel that way, really.

The October slate after the first off week is going to be a brutal stretch: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Iowa State in a row. And the meeting with the Bears won’t be a neutral-site game at AT&T Stadium in Dallas this season. The Red Raiders instead are traveling down to Waco for the first time since 2007.

The Texas game has loomed large for Texas Tech’s bowl hopes in recent seasons, and this year’s game in Austin on Nov. 29 might be no different. There are winnable games in the schedule’s final month against fellow new coaches in the conference. The Red Raiders will just need to stay healthy enough to capitalize late in the year. For Wells, there’s one other obvious priority when he looks at the schedule for Year 1.

“I know this, we need to win at Jones Stadium. We need to win at home,” he said. “We need to make that one of the hardest places to play in the Big 12 Conference. The atmosphere there, the way we play at home, will be extremely important to me every single year. And it’ll always dictate how your season goes, I believe.”

Final assessment

Texas Tech should have won a lot more than five games last year. That doesn’t mean they will easily do so this season, because regime changes are tough no matter how much talent you inherit. Wells and his staff are asking so many newcomers to play valued roles on this team, and time will tell how quickly that pays off.

A big step backward would be a bit surprising, though there’s enough parity in the conference to suggest the Red Raiders will end up in a bunch of tight ballgames. If they can stay healthy at quarterback, they should be able to get to a bowl in Wells’ debut season. They still have a long way to go before they get to September, so the new head coach isn’t ready to make any predictions just yet.

“I truly believe we’re gonna win here,” Wells said. “How much and how often, I don’t know yet. The buy-in from the players, the chemistry from the players over the summer and through training camp, and the first once or twice that we hit adversity will probably directly correlate with how many wins we have in Year 1.”

(Top photo of Texas Tech RB Ta’Zhawn Henry: John Weast / Getty Images)