The Morning Stake | 2017.12.21

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Texas Tech Signed Who They Thought Would Sign. It appears taht Texas Tech signed exactly who they wanted to sign in the new December National Signing Day. There were no surprises, either good or bad. Texas Tech has signed everyone that they thought they would sign, which is 11 offensive players and just 1 defensive player. It is pretty obvious that the coaching staff will need to focus on defensive players moving forward.

I’ll be honest, I worry a bit about how this is all going to round out in the end for the defensive coaches. I’d also add that this December signing day felt a little bit anti-climatic for me personally. Perhaps that’s because I’ve got so much other stuff happening that I can’t just focus on NSD, I’ve also got the bowl game coverage and basketball to worry about.

The official site has the official signings of each of these players with bios on each of them as well. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury had this to say about the class all the way from Alabama:

“We’re thrilled to have a great start to this year’s signing class,” Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “We’ll add several more talented players in February, which will provide even greater depth to our roster. Our coaching staff has done a tremendous job putting this class together and we looking forward to each of them arriving on campus.”

As of December 17th through January 11, 2018, all college programs are in a dead period (PDF) which means that there is no face-to-face contact, but they can call and write during the dead period. This essentially gives coaches a bit of a vacation for the holiday (and the players too).

Bowling. In what looked like a lot of fun, Texas Tech and South Florida had a bowl-off yesterday evening and Texas Tech ended up winning. Looked like fun stuff.

Practice Report. Both Don Williams and Carlos Silva, Jr. are in Birmingham for the game and A-J Media’s Don Williams has the report from practice, where they practiced at famed Hoover High School.

In terms of actual news, Kingsbury said that Kevin Moore will move from free safety to linebacker starting next year:

“We really like what we see from Kevin,” Kingsbury said. “I think he’ll have a pretty prominent role next year. He’s a sure tackler, a heady football player in the box, very aggressive and he’s really progressed on and off the field. Those coaches on the defensive side are really excited about him this spring.”

Interestingly, I think that technically, Justus Parker is listed as a weakside linebacker, so I don’t know if that’s what they have in store for Moore, but I could definitely see something like that, an outside linebacker position.

Also of note is that transfer Xavier Castille, an inside receiver who transferred from SMU is no longer on the roster.

Civil Rights Museum. Via A-J Media’s Don Williams, has how the taem visited the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute after practice yesterday:

“You learn about the history whenever you’re in high school,” Tech receiver Cameron Batson said before the visit to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. “To actually get to come out to the museum and see the facilities, it’ll be nice.”

Coutee’s NFL Decision. Also via A-J Media’s Don Williams, inside receiver Keke Coutee has a decision as to whether or not to declare for the NFL Draft. Kingsbury has said that they’ve already asked for the grade and have tried to educate him as much as possible.

“We’re going to go through the process and try and do what’s best for him as a player, as a person, and see what his grade is and what he needs to do to get better,” Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said this week. “If it’s time for him to go, based upon information we gather, he’ll go and if it’s not, we’d love to have him come back and get his degree and get bigger, stronger, faster and try to up his status.”

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