Finally able to get to the non-transcript from Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire’s media scrum from Sunday evening. Also some other transfer notes below.
Head Coach Joey McGuire
- Just landed from recruiting and was fired up, got to play in the Texas Bowl in 2018, excited to play in that bowl, treat players right and great atmosphere, going to be good for recruiting and good for our fans. Be shocked if we don’t sell out our ticket allotment, will play a great opponent, they have a good young and old running back. Got to watch them in the Egg Bowl, think a lot of Lane Kiffin, think his humor and what he brings is much needed, we take ourselves too serious. Offensively he is one of the best minds in the country. Excited to play Ole Miss.
- It is big for us, because we’re going into an area where we’ve had good recruits, Bradford, Frye, Wolff, guys who are committed to us, some of those recruits will get to watch us practice. Exciting to go to Houston, played in NRG in 2018, great atmosphere. The rodeo before, really enjoyed and my son appreciated how he was treated.
- I’ve had 3 kids play at Ole miss, never met Coach Kiffin, never came through Cedar Hill when I was there. He was a coach’s kid, his dad was phenomenal, he did a lot for college football and the Tamp 2. He does a great job at Ole Miss.
- I think it is really good from the standpoint where coaches change and before, the players were locked in and the coach left for a better job, it is an opportunity for the players. A stat that had 19,000 that entered the portal and only 7,000 that found jobs [Ed. note: not sure if I have those figures correct, but generally speaking a lot of players do enter the portal and not all of them find scholarships or other programs to play football]. We’re going to be slow, lot of players back, 10 players back on offense and 7 starters on defense, need to make sure we re slow and doing our homework.
- Shough has a decision to make, he’s played well, before he got hurt he would have declared. If he plays well he might declare. Tyler will be the starter. Behren isn’t 100% he took snaps last week and we had him out there and throw, still not 100%, expect Tyler to be the starter. Can’t hand jobs out.
- Bradford has to make a decision, he will get to go back and play in front of his hometown fans. Frye needs to get ready for our pro-day, the travel day it is convenient, I do think we will have a huge group of Red Raiders in NRG.
- We’ve already got it planned out, Kittley break down opponents. We’ll practice short practices on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we’ll work on us and then we go into finals. Then when we come back, I want our guys to be excited about playing. Want to be fresh. Try to get a normal week and they will be fresh and ready to go.
- Tomorrow we will do a shorter practice, going to take advantage of young guys
- Ole Miss is tempo, tempo on offense, 10 or 11 personnel. Defense is an odd stack, we’ve seen a lot this year. Physical group. I don’t know enough about them, at one point they were 7-0, that’s the time I expect to play.
- Our guys are really excited, we are ready to go, any time you can finish, and become bowl eligible, doing things that have never been done. This team and and coaching staff are excited about what we’re doing.
- SaRodorick would have been ready last week. It was a bone bruise, he ran and lifted last week, he’ll be 100% tomorrow.
- Getting 8 wins and then I’ll take a breath. It will be tough to do, after that bowl game. Really proud of our team and staff. I was talking to a parent, they asked about frustrations. Being frustrated after playing Oklahoma State and Kansas State. If you have a team like we have, you have to find a way to win that game. Shows a lot about our staff and players.
- James Blanchard has told a lot of people “no”. I told him that we need to figure out how he needs to figure out how he doesn’t have to tell other people no. I think he is the best evaluator in college football. Can talk to players and parents. If I could find him, he is likely be on the phone right now. He has two gifts, eye for talent and how he connects and build relationships. He has it all. They were throwing all kinds of money at him, his title is a Red Raider and he’s fired up about being here
- Matt Rhule, great for college football and Nebraska. I think he flip Nebraska a lot quicker, knowing coach I was worried he would sit out. He is a ball of energy. I’m really excited for him and Nebraska would be cool to play against him.
It was announced, discovered (not sure of the correct verb) that Texas Tech quarterback Donovan Smith has entered the transfer portal.
Texas Tech QB Donovan Smith has entered the transfer portal, @247SportsPortal has learned. Smith threw for 1,505 yards and 12 TDs this year.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) December 5, 2022
I hope Smith does great wherever he lands, I am sure he will. And he’s really got options considering his father is the running backs coach with the New York Giants, he’s originally from Las Vegas, and has so many connections with Big 12 teams.
This brings up the topic of asking how to track the players entering the transfer portal.
- 24/7 Sports has a tracker and I’ve toggled the filters to do “Texas Tech” and “2023”. This is giving me the results that not only is Smith in the portal, but so is linebacker Derrick Lewis.
- On3 with the same filters. This is just showing Smith.
- Rivals with the similar filters and also says that defensive back Tavares Elson will enter the portal.
That’s at least 3 reference points for you to bookmark if that’s something that you intend on checking.