The Ruffian and the Riverboat Gambler

Texas Tech University has been in the media spotlight for number of reasons in the last three weeks. The Mike Leach-James Family fiasco is common knowledge at this point. The underlying tension between the Texas Tech Administration and former head coach Mike Leach is also common knowledge for most of us as well. The Pirate is off to chase treasure elsewhere and in court against his former employer, while life goes on.

 

Tommy Tuberville was hired as the next head man in Lubbock, but I don’t agree with this move for several reasons. First and foremost, Ruffin McNeill deserved the job more than Tuberville. Secondly, I do not believe Tuberville is a good fit in the Big 12. Third, McNeil Led Tech to a 41-31 win in the Alamo Bowl against a good Michigan State team. Lastly, Ruffin McNeill deserved the damn job. I really believe that Tech dropped the ball not hiring McNeill, but hey in my opinion they have been screwing up a lot of decisions here recently.

I did not come to this conclusion just because Ruffin McNeill is Black, husky, or has a definitive Southern drawl. I came to this conclusion because when I watched the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2, I saw a guy who never had been a head coach in his life at any level I care to mention, lead a team with moxy that is reserved for the Urbans, Sabans, and Stoops of the world, not a guy who came to Tech in 2000 and had just recently (2007) become the Defensive Coordinator for the Red Raiders.

Let’s face it,  this was the best Tech defense in some time, as stopping the opponent has never a calling card for Raiders. If the admin at Tech wanted a “Riverboat Gambler” they should have reviewed the 4th  quarter film of the Alamo Bowl. Ruffin and Lincoln Riley who called the plays during the bowl game repeatedly laid it on the line converting numerous fourth downs in a furious comeback win.

Moreover, I think Tech found the quarterback of the future in Steven “Sticks” Sheffield. The Red Raider roster needed it after what was quite frankly a very “shitty” week. The players rallied behind McNeill in the game and you could feel it, it was a great thing to watch. You can say what you want about Ruffin McNeil, but here is what one player said a few days after the game. Tech linebacker Brian Duncan endorsed McNeil as the head coach.

"I can speak for the entire team," Duncan said. "It showed not only before this incident, but every time Coach Ruff would get up to speak. All eyes are on him. All mouths are closed. And after he speaks, things change. "Bowl week, he completely took over. We had a different atmosphere in practice. It was just fun to be around him. He lit up the whole team, and it showed in the bowl game."

Even though university president Guy Bailey said "He's (McNeill) going to have strong consideration, no doubt about that," Tuberville got the job. End of story.

Tommy Tuberville does bring instant credibility and a damn good resume (especially defensively) to Lubbock. However, there are some issues that irk me about his hiring.

Is Tuberville not the same guy who got himself fired trying to switch to a spread offense in 2008 with the help of one of the best offensive coordinators in college football Gus Malzan? Is Tuberville not the same guy who has made his offensive living with two backs, ground pounding, ball control, play-action offensives his whole career? Is Tuberville not the same guy who scrapped operation spread offense late in his last season on the plains to “get back to Auburn football?”

I think Tech is in trouble, if you have followed this program enough you know that they are not the biggest draw in the state or their conference recruiting wise. Tech wins games because they recruit well, but not great Texas talent, and coach’em up damn good. They have this thing called, Air Raid DUH! Remember the best player in recent memory at Texas Tech was Michael Crabtree and he was a two-star recruit coming out of high school.

This is the main reason the Tech defense has never really been superior regardless of how good the coaches recruit and how hard the players work, you need supreme athletes to be successful on defense at the college level. Lubbock has never been a draw the Rolando McLain’s and Sergio Kindle’s of the world, hence outscore the bastards and that is exactly what Tech has done for the most part since Leach had arrived on campus.

Tuberville, then immediately dropped the ball hiring Troy offensive coordinator, Neal Brown, instead of retaining Lincoln Riley, which at least would have maintained some continuity with the offense and recruiting since more than likely Ruffin will not return. If you want to run the ball more hire a “run game coordinator” like Oklahoma had done in the years past. Troy was third in the FBS in total offense last year so all hope is not lost with the 29-year-old Brown.  The question is will Brown have his quarterbacks lead the nation in passing in eight of the next ten years like Leach has done in the previous decade? The answer is a definitive and emphatic hell no. Will the best recruiting class Tech had put together in recent memory stay on board? Who knows?

In ending,  I think that Tech had the best they will ever have in Mike Leach, but the past is the past. There are issues that surround Tech that are going to be hard overcome no matter who was hired as head coach. However, I think hiring McNeill would have done wonders for a program that needed a character statement and not somebody that publicly admits he has a “gambling” problem. But hell what do I know, the last coach was a pirate. Best wishes to both Ruffin McNeill and Tommy Tuberville, I hope we don’t look back at this in a few years and wonder “what if”.