Texas Tech Football: Tuberville, Patience, and the Painful Reality of Change

There is nothing quite like waking up to the disturbing, stark reality of a 52-38 loss to Iowa State.

It doesn’t matter that Iowa State has a solid team and that they have one of the most difficult schedules in college football; all that matters is that you spotted the Cyclones 24 points in the second quarter and allowed another 28 in the fourth.

And please don’t mention that you pulled within a touchdown with just minutes left on the game clock and attempted an onside kick that resulted in yet another Cyclone touchdown....who ever heard of that happening?

After five weeks of play in 2010 Texas Tech is 2-2 with a close win over SMU, an unconvincing victory at New Mexico followed by an offensively anemic loss to Texas in Lubbock.  Week 4 fortuitously brought a bye week but next was the unsavory, unfathomable Week 5 beating at the hands of Iowa State in Ames.

The Red Raiders are 0-2 in the Big 12 and looking down the barrel at six consecutive conference opponents who will be ready to further inflict pain upon the only Big 12 program to be bowl eligible in every year of the conference’s short life span.

Suddenly the stretch vs. Baylor (at the Cotton Bowl) at home vs. Oklahoma State in Lubbock and at Colorado (who knocked off Georgia on Saturday) has gone from a “favorable conference schedule” to a “daunting, scary task.”

And so, the message boards across the landscape of the internet are abuzz with the Red Raider nation calling for Tommy Tuberville’s head, bemoaning the loss of the offensive Pirate man, screaming for answers and prematurely mourning the complete loss of the 2010 schedule.

Indeed, what has become of our offensive prowess, the promise of defense, balance, conditioning, fewer mistakes, and championships?

But before we throw the season on the coals and declare that the successful fortunes of Red Raider football are gone and the return to the days of mediocrity and gnashing of teeth are upon us let’s step back from the trees to consider the forest.

Tommy Tuberville and his staff have coached the Red Raider football team in four football contests.  That’s 16 quarters, 240 minutes, and 14,400 ticks of the game clock. 

Though it hasn’t been pretty it’s hardly the amount of time required to build a resume’ and establish a realistic gauge for how Texas Tech will play with Tuberville at the helm.

This observation is far more than obtuse, unbridled optimism, and the hopeful languishing of a Red Raider fan; this line of reasoning is actually logic based reality.

To illustrate this point let us look briefly back at the career stats of five of college football’s most successful current coaches and calculate how long it took these gentlemen to lead their respective programs to the gridiron “promised land”.

Nick Saban, Alabama

In his most recent college football exploits Saban took over at Alabama in 2007.  The Crimson Tide went 6-7 in 2006 under Mike Shula (without taking into account all six wins being disallowed due to rules infractions).

Alabama went only 7-6 (again not taking into account the disallowed victories) under Saban in 2007 (including an embarrassing loss to Louisiana-Monroe) and since then have gone 31-2 and have won both an SEC and BCS National Championship.

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

Brian Kelly took over a Cincinnati program in 2007 that had gone 4-7 in 2005 and then 8-5 in 2006 under Mark Dantonio (now at Michigan State).  He took the Bearcats to 10-3 in 2007 and finally won Big East Championships and BCS bids in 2008 and 2009 with a total record of 23-4.

Brian Kelly, one of the hottest coaching commodities in recent years, took the Fighting Irish program over in 2010 from Charlie Weis, whose Irish only managed a 6-6 record in 2009.

Thus far Kelly and Notre Dame are 2-3 which begs asking the question “is it time to give up on the Brian Kelly experiment in South Bend?”

Absolutely not.

Pete Carroll, USC

Pete Carroll, amid a swirl of NCAA sanctions, has left USC for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks but prior to this sudden move racked up some very impressive numbers at the helm of the Trojan football program.

Carroll took over the USC program in 2001 after the Trojans went 5-7 in 2000 under Paul Hackett.  The Trojans were only 6-6 in 2001 but then improved to 11-2 in 2002 taking share of a Pac-10 championship.

Pete Carroll went on to amass an 83-19 record at USC including two BCS National Titles and six conference crowns.

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma

Bob Stoops took over a Sooner team that had gone 12-22 from 1996-1998 under Coach John Blake.

The Sooners improved to 7-5 under Stoops in 1999 winning the BCS national championship in 2000 and have gone 117-28 overall under his command.  Stoops has also amassed six Big 12 titles during his time at Oklahoma.

Jim Tressel, Ohio State

Jim Tressel began his successful tenure at Ohio State in 2001.  The Buckeyes were a respectable 8-4 in 2000 under long time coach John Cooper but dropped to 7-5 in Tressel’s first year in Columbus.

Tressel led the Buckeyes to a national title in 2002 and has gone on to amass a 99-21 record at Ohio State including six Big Ten crowns.

Comparing Tuberville

In comparison, Tommy Tuberville took over at Auburn in 1999 after Terry Bowden who had gone 10-3 and won a SEC-West title in 1997 and dropped to 3-8 in 1998.

Tuberville went only 5-6 in his first season with the Tigers in 1999 but went on to amass a 85-40 record including five SEC-west titles, one SEC crown, undefeated record and Sugar Bowl victory in 2004.

Now, one might argue that Tuberville took over a more successful program at Texas Tech than did some of these other coaching greats, but, let us remember that first 2010 was slated (especially in terms of the offensive line and defense) to be a bit of a “rebuilding” year at Tech regardless of coaching.  

Add to this the fact that Tuberville has been completely up front of his intentions to transform Red Raider football (running the ball, defensively, etc.) and move it away from its foundation established in the past decade and it is obvious that these changes will take time.

The Bottom Line

Though not every member of the Red Raider nation may be ready to hit the panic button and call for Tuberville’s head on a platter, most Tech fans must be admittedly experiencing some football discomfort and angst.

Thus far this is not what “we signed up for,” anticipated or expected. 

Even though we knew the coaching change might be difficult we didn’t foresee this degree of ugliness.

However, that said, are we guilty, as a football people, of being unrealistic and wanting and expecting too much too soon?

And are we willing to give Tommy Tuberville a fair chance to bring glory, victory, and possibly championships to Texas Tech University?

The truth is it may get even more unpleasant before it gets better. 

The program, the coaches, and the players need an opportunity to properly digest the changes that have occurred at Texas Tech.  Logically, this will take time, sacrifice, and more than likely more than a few dreadful Saturday afternoons.

But, what if the fans and then administration at schools like Alabama, Cincinnati, Oklahoma, USC, and Ohio State had gotten impatient and not allowed their new coaches time to establish their systems, build successful championship caliber programs, and ultimately win big?

Well, they wouldn’t have won conference titles, earned BCS bids, and National Championships.  That is a fact.

Regardless of how Texas Tech’s coaching change transpired, I for one, am not willing to jump ship quite yet. I’m ready to hold tight and see what happens next.

The new question in Lubbock regards patience.

Indeed, how much of this commodity does the Red Raider nation have and how much are they willing to expend?

For the good of Red Raider football let’s hope the answer to both is “an abundance.”