Texas Tech

[Cooke County Kid]

I do not know what the total might be but I would bet more than half of our new coaching staff has some, actually a strong tie to Texas Tech.  Particularly it seems to have a Mike Leach/Air raid flavor. If they can catch lightning in a bottle, hold on!

[southsideguy]

you have get the players here now.

[Cooke County Kid]

I believe that just might happen, I am hoping anyway!

[KingDL1]

Maybe someone spiked my green Kool-Aid, but this hire of Morris feels really different than any of the other Head Coach hires I can remember.   I mean completely different, the way the staff as been assembled, the Texas ties, the energy, the hunger I am feeling from them to win, the extra staff, the emphases on recruiting and more. 

[El Paso Eagle]

50 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

Maybe someone spiked my green Kool-Aid, but this hire of Morris feels really different than any of the other Head Coach hires I can remember.   I mean completely different, the way the staff as been assembled, the Texas ties, the energy, the hunger I am feeling from them to win, the extra staff, the emphases on recruiting and more. 

The commitment to the off the field staffing is very encouraging 

[UNT 90 Grad]

This video gets me a little excited about the direction we are heading under the new leadership.  A few good name drops in here too.  

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by UNT 90 Grad

[emmitt01]

I really like the Morris hire, and I am confident we will see improvement in both record and the absence of demoralizing blowout losses.  
 

With that said, why is having Texas Tech ties an intrinsically good thing?  Yes, Tech has run a highly potent offense for a while now…with no conference titles or other big time hardware to speak of.  
 

All I’m saying is, I hope we don’t find ourselves setting offensive records and scoring 40 points a game only to give up 45.

[Glory to the Green]

48 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I really like the Morris hire, and I am confident we will see improvement in both record and the absence of demoralizing blowout losses.  
 

With that said, why is having Texas Tech ties an intrinsically good thing?  Yes, Tech has run a highly potent offense for a while now…with no conference titles or other big time hardware to speak of.  
 

All I’m saying is, I hope we don’t find ourselves setting offensive records and scoring 40 points a game only to give up 45.

This is just from the 2005 team. There are some other big names that aren’t listed here. Aranda comes to mind. 

[greenminer]

57 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I really like the Morris hire, and I am confident we will see improvement in both record and the absence of demoralizing blowout losses.  
 

With that said, why is having Texas Tech ties an intrinsically good thing?  Yes, Tech has run a highly potent offense for a while now…with no conference titles or other big time hardware to speak of.  
 

All I’m saying is, I hope we don’t find ourselves setting offensive records and scoring 40 points a game only to give up 45.

You're trying to grapple with something here that the rest of the CFB world wrestles with, too: lots of love for the Leach system.  endearing personality, too, but ultimately not a ton of hardware.

It's an innovate system that has a ton of positives (and excitement) but, in the B12 and SEC, the offensive system struggled when facing any secondary with elite speed.

not sure what that's going to mean for us in the AAC.

Edited January 1, 2023 by greenminer

[Mike Jackson]

1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

With that said, why is having Texas Tech ties an intrinsically good thing?  Yes, Tech has run a highly potent offense for a while now…with no conference titles or other big time hardware to speak of.  

I definitely understand the skepticism however, Texas Tech not having significant hardware since 1994 besides Bowl game wins isn’t a fair criticism imo.  Being the 3-5 best brand in your Divison or Conference is a hell of a disadvantage to overcome in college football.  And the gulf between Longhorns, Sooners and even the Aggies (to a lessor extent) is massive.   Programs like TCU and KSU are the anomalies that got lucky with a TON of stability and great decisions along the way.  
 

@greenminer said “not sure what that's going to mean for us in the AAC.”

So at North Texas coming into the AAC without even a perennial top 25 program in the conference, I believe having a average defense will be sufficient to win a conference title with stellar offense.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Mike Jackson

[NT80]

3 hours ago, KingDL1 said:

Maybe someone spiked my green Kool-Aid, but this hire of Morris feels really different than any of the other Head Coach hires I can remember.   I mean completely different, the way the staff as been assembled, the Texas ties, the energy, the hunger I am feeling from them to win, the extra staff, the emphases on recruiting and more. 

This is the fresh start many of us have been calling for.  Sometimes a change just needs to be made to revive a fan base or try to step out of a culture of .500.

[Side.Show.Joe]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

You're trying to grapple with something here that the rest of the CFB world wrestles with, too: lots of love for the Leach system.  endearing personality, too, but ultimately not a ton of hardware.

It's an innovate system that has a ton of positives (and excitement) but, in the B12 and SEC, the offensive system struggled when facing any secondary with elite speed.

not sure what that's going to mean for us in the AAC.

I think we see variations of the Leach system all around college football. I think the best versions are still adaptable enough to put their offense in a Power I and fight for a yard. Also, a lot of the failures of the Leach system come from undervaluing the importance of defense. 

Morris spoke in his introductory press conference about his adaptability, and even taking plays from high school systems. So, he's willing to adapt his system to improve on the results. That is a good sign. I think Caponi's defense will be rooted in 21 century schemes, so I'm hopeful for next season. Not saying I think we will win the AAC, but if we can post a 6-6 record in year one under a new coach, that would be a win in my book. 

[El Paso Eagle]

33 minutes ago, Mike Jackson said:

I believe having a average defense will be sufficient to win a conference title with stellar offense.

I think this is the killer for many of the Air Raid systems. The mentality that they can outscore the other team doesn't seem to work in the big games.

[greenminer]

27 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I think this is the killer for many of the Air Raid systems. The mentality that they can outscore the other team doesn't seem to work in the big games.

I wish we could talk about the defensive struggles more constructively.

I don't think any coach in their right mind thinks or says, "average defense will be good enough."

So, let us ask ourselves, why do some coaches struggle to get good defenses? Did Leach never try to get a good DC? Can Eric Morris try and hire the best DC available, or is he thinking "whatever" when it comes to this phase?

Last thought: thinking of the 1999 LA Rams, the media mouths were saying the defense was sub-par simply because it was exhausted after being on the field too much.  Those Rams just scored too quickly.  Is that what we are really talking about here with Morris and Co? A system that scores too fast, and the defense just suffers because of TOP?

[emmitt01]

6 minutes ago, greenminer said:

I wish we could talk about the defensive struggles more constructively.

I don't think any coach in their right mind thinks or says, "average defense will be good enough."

So, let us ask ourselves, why do some coaches struggle to get good defenses? Did Leach never try to get a good DC? Can Eric Morris try and hire the best DC available, or is he thinking "whatever" when it comes to this phase?

Last thought: thinking of the 1999 LA Rams, the media mouths were saying the defense was sub-par simply because it was exhausted after being on the field too much.  Those Rams just scored too quickly.  Is that what we are really talking about here with Morris and Co? A system that scores too fast, and the defense just suffers because of TOP?

I think the answer to all of your questions is “yes”.

I don’t think any air raid coach has ever said that they didn’t want a good defense, I just think that being a premier offensive mind leaves you thinking far more about one side of the ball than the other and leaving the defense to someone else.  The problem with that I think is that you don’t look for the balance in your team and you don’t take into account how much conditioning (and recruiting attention) your defense has to have to keep up with a lightning quick offense.  
 

I will truly rest easy when the high 3 ⭐️  and occasional four ⭐️ recruits we pull in are at the cornerback or linebacker position and not wide receiver.

[Mike Jackson]

6 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

I think this is the killer for many of the Air Raid systems. The mentality that they can outscore the other team doesn't seem to work in the big games.

So Bowl games [created before 2010; Holiday Bowl Insight (Copper) Bowl and Meineke Car Care Meinicke(Texas) Bowl] aren’t big games?  How about beating the Longhorns knocking them out of the national championship picture and grabbing a share of Big 12 South Division title?  If Tech was the biggest brand out of UT, OU and Tech they would have went to the Big 12 title game that year.  Hawaii rode the Air Raid - (referring to it being pass happy not the Leach system) to an undefeated regular season beating 17th ranked Boise State and Pac 10 Washington along the way.  You definitely can't be lax on defense but you don't have to be great either.   Hell look at the playoff games yesterday.   TCU's defense was probably the best performing defense yesterday and they gave up over 30 points even if you don't count points coming from drives of less that 45 yards.  Georgia gave up 41 points and won.  (And they really didn't stop OSU from getting FG attempt within their kicker's range to win the game).  We aren't on that level but looking at Hawaii did and lack of intimidating defenses in FBS holding team under 24 points per game this year the Air Raid formula for G5 level success can absolutely work.

I acknowledge this while I would prefer a more pro-style offense with a top 25 defense if the end result win/loss record being the same.  That formula would probably work better if we want to knock off ranked P5 teams on the road.  But while upsets like that are great they mean very little without winning your conference in the same season, the season that precedes it or the season follows it.  On top of that you have no control of what the P5 you beat does the rest of the year to make the upset look less or more impressive.

Edited January 2, 2023 by Mike Jackson

[Cr1028]

16 hours ago, Cooke County Kid said:

I do not know what the total might be but I would bet more than half of our new coaching staff has some, actually a strong tie to Texas Tech.  Particularly it seems to have a Mike Leach/Air raid flavor. If they can catch lightning in a bottle, hold on!

Seth’s first staff with Harrell, Filani, and Mainord had to have been close to the same.

[greenminer]

3 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

How about beating the Longhorns knocking them out of the national championship picture and grabbing a share of Big 12 South Division title?  If Tech was the biggest brand out of UT, OU and Tech they would have went to the Big 12 title game that year.

As TTech coach, Leach faced UT 10 times.  He lost 8 of them by an average score of 43.1 - 25.

 

Quote

Hawaii rode the Air Raid to an undefeated regular season beating 17th ranked Boise State and Pac 10 Washington along the way.

June Jones ran the run-and-shoot offense.  It was invented by Glenn "Tiger" Ellison and then popularized by Mouse Davis.  I've never heard of any connection between JJ and Leach, or run-and-shoot to Air Raid.
 

Quote

You definitely can't be lax on defense but you don't have to be great either.

You don't need an elite defense.  I just brought up the stigma that the Leach tree doesn't seem to think it is important.

I can understand every coach has their strengths, but if you're a HC with an offensive mind does that stop you from hiring a defense staff that can coach defense at an elite level?

[Mike Jackson]

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

June Jones ran the run-and-shoot offense.  It was invented by Glenn "Tiger" Ellison and then popularized by Mouse Davis.  I've never heard of any connection between JJ and Leach, or run-and-shoot to Air Raid.

I more so meant a pass happy quick scoring spread formation offense than the Leach Air Raid.   Because regardless of the differences between those systems keepna time of possession advantage is not a strength of either offense.  Ironically it appears that Eric Morris had the unique experience of installing Air Raid on a team that had ran the Run & Shoot the previous season.  The link below  was the first hit on a Google search of Air Raid vs Run & Shoot.  Nick left Hawaii to take the job at WSU in 2020. 

WSU's new Head Coach Installing Run & Shoot (2020)

[FirefightnRick]

7 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

 I just think that being a premier offensive mind leaves you thinking far more about one side of the ball than the other and leaving the defense to someone else.  The problem with that I think is that you don’t look for the balance in your team……

It can affect play calling that hamstrings your defense as well.  
 

Rick 

Edited January 2, 2023 by FirefightnRick

[cousin oliver]

10 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

It can affect play calling that hamstrings your defense as well.  
 

Rick 

I really feel like Bennett was a huge disappointment for us on defense for this exact reason.

[NT80]

On 1/1/2023 at 12:01 PM, UNT 90 Grad said:

This video gets me a little excited about the direction we are heading under the new leadership.  A few good name drops in here too.  

 

Nice video.  Shows him position coaching while discussing the units overall.