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2026 Texas Tech Football Preview - Defense/Special Teams · Talkin' Tech

• 0:39
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome in, everybody, to the Talking Tech podcast.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_04: I am your host, Steven Rodriguez.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_04: My co-host, Tristan McGonagall, is here.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_04: This is part two of the Texas Tech 2026 football previews.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: We're talking defense and special teams today.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan, what's up, man?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, I'm just happy to be back on this incredibly consistent.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: I brutalized that word, podcast.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Good start here at Texas Tech, great start on our second episode of the reboot.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, dude, here we are.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Talking about defense at a defense for school.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_04: Always had this for me.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_04: Always will be.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: Our frustrations typically come from the offensive side of the ball at Texas Tech.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_04: Ever since I've been a fan.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: If Cliff Kingsbury could have only figured out offense, I think we could have been like really threatening the status quo of college football a lot earlier than we are now.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, dude, here we are, man.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: The part two.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: So deep it's it's kind of crazy that defense is truly what won you a Big 12 championship last year and took you to your first big postseason appearance in God knows how long, probably ever.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: So it's gonna be fun talking about this again, but kind of disappointing.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: In a way, in the way that you're like you're not just like getting your team that you had last year again, just because they are just that dang good.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_04: The it's it's complicated because I think there's a happy medium that we can come to between losing six elite defensive players from last year's team to the NFL, plus several more that just out of eligibility, depth pieces, that type.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_04: And also continuing to believe that we are going to have the best defense in the Big 12 by a good margin because that's where I'm at.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_04: The 2026 defense will have to replace a ton of production.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um Tristan, you want to hear a few stats?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: Because I got a few written down here.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: Are the numbers really big?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_04: The numbers are really big.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: They're really big.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_04: So you lost six players to the NFL draft.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_04: David Bailey, second overall pick, Jacob Rodriguez, Lee Hunter, Romelo Haidt, Skylar Gilhoward, and Cole Wasnitsky who got taken in the seventh round there.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um their total stats combined, just those six guys last year.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_04: 350 tackles, 65 tackles for loss, 29.5 sacks, 15 force fumbles, and five interceptions between just those six uh players.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_04: That is 38% of your total tackles, 58% of your total tackles for loss, 72% of your sacks, 65% of your force fumbles, and 30% of your interceptions, again, just with those six guys.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: So are you saying that we're losing production?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'd say uh I yeah, I'd say on your defense you are losing production from last season, and you are replacing said production with what is supposed to be and predicted to be, one of the better transfer portal classes, just like we did last year.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of those guys that I just named were one-year players for Texas Tech.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_04: Actually, five of those six were one-year players for Texas Tech.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_04: So it's it's not unfair to say, hey, you know, I kind of trust the recruiting staff at this point to bring in replacements for these guys, but also we shouldn't be expecting what we had last year because last year is a defense that comes around once in a blue moon.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think I don't think it's a stretch to say that you'll never see a defense like that ever again.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like, truly.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: That was that was our that was one of the best defenses in the entire country.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: That's excellent.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_04: So you gave up you gave up 11 total touchdowns in nine conference games last year.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_04: 11.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_04: 11 touchdowns.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: You were yeah, 11.1 points per game.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_04: We held opponents to 100 total points in nine Big 12 games last year.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_04: That's how dominant the defense was.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_04: You also saw it in both BYU games, the Utah game, and the Oregon game.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_04: Like we talked last week about how the offense didn't show up for the Oregon game.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_04: The defense sure as hell did show up for that Oregon game, and honestly kept us in a good position to actually win if the offense gave us literally anything.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it wouldn't be fair for me to not point this out.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh a big theme of our last episode was was our offense any good or did the Big 12 just stink?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think any of that can ever reapply here?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_04: I I do think the Big 12 had a down year last year.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: I I do think there were several bad teams that we played, just like we said on the offense episode.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_04: But the difference was when you played that elite competition, you really showed up and showed who you were as a defense last year.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_04: Again, in those both those BYU games, the Utah game and the Oregon game later on in the season, which which I take, I take those four games more than anything.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_04: Even the Houston game last year, you saw we kept them to I think seven points in that one.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_04: So it was it was a rare occasion when a football team scored more than 10 points on you, which is utterly ridiculous with how high powered offenses are in 2026.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: It's insane.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, whatever I'm looking at the scores from last year, you only let one team score more than 20 points on you, and they won that game.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that was Arizona State.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: They scored 26 points.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the defense didn't lose you that game, really.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, except for kind of letting up that slip up at the end.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: But of course, our offense could have been more productive.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_04: The offense could have woken up before the fourth quarter than that one.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, they they they delivered you what two Big 12 shutouts, and you hadn't had a shutout at Texas Tech since the what early 2000s at that point.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: So you get two of them, and one of them is against one of your more uh bitter historic rivals in Oklahoma State.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: So that feels that feels pretty good.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: So arguably.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_04: It feels good.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_04: Oklahoma State was dog shit last year.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_04: They were so just so we understand.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, we they they were, but if the shoe was on the other foot, Oklahoma State would be doing the exact same thing to us because we've seen in the past where they have done that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I had no qualms with just laying it on the pokes this past season.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, well, last year, the last couple years might have been our best chance at it because I think they have a really good thing going, but we could talk about that when uh when when we'll get to it.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but shout out to that too.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_04: For sure.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_04: This defense was utterly insane last year.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_04: I think if you look at the 2025 Texas Tech team, the only reason people were giving us even a snowball's chance of winning that game in the college football playoff because they didn't want to believe that a Texas Tech team could just go in and do this thing, much like you know, we all didn't believe in Indiana before they actually did it.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, not having the historical part of this and night in and night out from everybody, national, local, whoever watched this team in any capacity, could tell you that this defense was utterly ridiculous last year and was a I I think you have a solid argument for best defense in the entire country.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_04: I think you really have to do absolutely.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: I think you do too.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because whenever you look at these, this different rank is like rushing defense, number one in the nation, uh, total defense number three, scoring defense number three, third down defense number seven, takeaways number one.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like you could obviously make a strong argument that that is indeed the best team in the country.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, because I'm sure if you you cross-reference that against the other top team uh defenses, you probably wouldn't see as high of numbers across the board like that.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: So I I I haven't dug in the numbers.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not a nerd about that.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: So but it's I think it's safe to say that Dextech truly did have uh the best, arguably the best uh uh defense of the country, and of course, importantly, the best in the Big 12, which got us our first hardware in that category, which is just absurd to re it's still hard to wrap your head around that as a Red Raider fan, that your defense, not your offense, that has, you know, which is we there was a meme where we'll score a billion, but the other team will score a billion in one, and it's just how it'll go every single every single game with TechSteck.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: So I wonder if the uh the ethos that we're out with the national conversation about tech has shifted.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder if people are still gonna look at it as like the offensive meme, or people are gonna start realizing that tech's actually a complete team these days.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think I think I think way what you'll find before I get your response on that is the casuals will probably still be like the Big 12 is all offense.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: If that's the case, you haven't turned on TV in 10 years, but I think the people that know what they're talking about will actually start to come around that TechStech's actually a very complete team these days.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, if uh like I said, if you watched Texas Tech in any capacity last year, you would know that the defense is what carried that team.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and yes, things have changed.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_04: Uh the whole landscape of the sport has shifted, including how Texas Tech approaches it approaches their sport, approaches getting guys spending money in the right places.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, one of the first things that Joey McGuire said is we need to get bigger.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_04: We need to get big people.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_04: And part of our defensive success is that we have upgraded size-wise at every single position.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we're getting, you know, obviously the NIL factor does play into this.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_04: We all know you got to pay big money to get big people, but also, you know, making that your emphasis and filling in a round is something that Joey and the team have have done a great job of uh just in terms of roster building.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_04: So they did the they had the same mindset going into this year with the transfers as they picked up, heavy in the defensive line, heavy in the uh the offensive line.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_04: You know, they they had to replace the the winner of let me see, I wrote it down here.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_04: Um, the Bednarik, the Butkiss, the Lombardi, and the Narguski award winner, Jacob Rodriguez.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_04: They had to replace him at linebacker.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_04: You had to replace some some pieces in your secondary.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_04: You also had a lot of returners in your secondary, and we'll get to all this, but for sure.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um I think I think they had a strong portal outreach this year on what they needed to replace, who they needed to replace it with, who they potentially needed to grab for later years as well.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_04: So I I just think this team's done a great job in the offseason of uh roster building.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh before we start like getting into the position groups here, I want to get these couple questions out while they're still in my brain and before it disappears forever, because I'm a goldfish.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um two things.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: Do you think we're gonna repeat once again the best defense of the Big Twelve?
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like just right out of the gate here.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I I do.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_04: I think you have the preseason Big 12 defensive player of the year.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_04: You have plenty of return, you have your leading interception lockdown cornerback, you have uh Ben Roberts, who was the you know defensive player of the uh Big 12 championship, John Curry's back at the linebacking core.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_04: You brought in guys like Austin Romain, Trey White, um, Adam Trick, all these high-level type athletes that I think will allow you to succeed, maybe not at quite the level you did in 2025, but I think you definitely have the potential to have the best defense in the Big 12 still.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Which uh which is great news for that repeat.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: But then the second question coming up then here is do I kind of read a a bit of a repeat question here.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do you think once again that this big the that this big twelve this defense at X Tech will once again outperform the offensive side of the ball?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you think the offense is gonna catch up?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_04: I do think the offense is gonna catch up this year, especially with the the mentality and who you know at the running back position, your personnel that you know that you have.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, Will Hammond is a question mark right now, the wide receivers are a question mark, but Terrence Carter, you've seen what he can do, an improved offensive line.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_04: I I think this offense is set up to be better than they were last year, and then I'm projecting this defense to be slightly worse than what we were last year, but still competing at the top.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_04: Uh definitely at the Big 12, if not the nation.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: So you want to go ahead and get into the units?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's do it.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go ahead and kick it off with the big boys in the middle.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go ahead and kick it off with the defensive tackles.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so you lost a ton here.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_02: You already mentioned the the the the players you locked in lost, you know, which you're okay with in the NFL draft.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: Really helps your recruiting boosting there with Lee Hunter and Skyle Gill Howard there.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but whenever you look at this this roster, the first name that sticks out to you here is AJ Holmes, of course.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_02: He is probably gonna be your go-to guy at that position, and you're gonna probably build around him from there.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: So if you you look at him and you put him in the primary spot there, who do you think is around him?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's some other names that kind of come up that we won't be too familiar with as opposed to last year.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: So AJ Holmes, I want to talk about him first because coming in being the preseason Big 12 defensive player of the year, not even a starter at the beginning of last season and still somehow managing to become an all-American, all Big 12 type of talent after the Skylar Gil Howard unfortunate injury that that had him out from, I believe it was like week five or week six on through the rest of the season.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um, he really had to step up, and he stepped up in in a huge way and honestly might have outperformed Skylar Gil Howard if he were to remain in.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_04: So I you obviously, you know, you wish, and Skylar had a great start to the year.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_04: He had a great six games that he was going in, um, and then unfortunately went down.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_04: But um that opened up the opportunity for for a guy like AJ Holmes to really shine, and he did.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um, everybody, national media, everybody is saying that AJ Holmes is one of the, if not the best, defensive tackle in the entire country going into his junior season here.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and he's phenomenal.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I just think what he had to do last year from coming off the bench accepting that role as more of a depth piece, and then to really take advantage of the opportunity that presented to him and become one of the best defensive players of the country, um, I think is really notable and you love having that guy back.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um, replacing Lee Hunter is not gonna be easy.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_04: He he did so much for you.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_04: And those nose tackle, defensive tackle types, the real big, true big boys in the middle, I mean, their their stats are never gonna pop out to you.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_04: You just have to watch them on film.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_04: And you need a uh a guy, a guy who's 300 plus pounds, but also agile and also quick on his feet, and also willing to bull rush every single play that he is on the field.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_04: And Lee Hunter man was that dude, and that's why he was a third-round pick in the NFL.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: And probably uh, I know he's fighting for a starting spot on the Panthers this year, but he he's probably be there soon enough.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um the fridge anymore, and that's you don't have the fridge, you don't have the fridge, but you do have some massive human beings that you brought in from the transfer portal.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_04: See, I think tech had a very similar approach in the wide receiver room that they did the defensive line unit because they brought on a stud in Matina Rigba.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I think that's how you say it, but from Wake Forest, he's transferred.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think that's how you say it.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, if not, I'll get it throughout the year.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, he's kind of the guy that you're hoping will take on the majority of the Lee Hunter production um from the inside there.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_04: He obviously from Wake Forest, not on a very good team last year, but definitely shined as an individual player um coming in.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I I know Wake is great.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Wake is great, dude.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_04: We are a Wake Forest pro-Wake Forest podcast.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're probably our number two team.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_04: I've said it for years.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so you bring him in, you bring in Bryce Butler from Washington, another senior transfer that's played at the Power Four level.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: Jojo Johnson, junior transfer from Oregon State, actually, last year, who you played.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, again, not a great team that he was on, but uh you look at the individual stuff for him and just he needed more around him to be successful.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_04: And then uh you also brought in senior transfer from Akron, Julian Leventure.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_04: So um I think between those four, you're really hoping to replace the kind of production that you got from Lee Hunter, from Duda Banks that's not on the team anymore, you know, the Chetto Feely types and those that that transferred out.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_04: Um so I think you have a lot of options.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm glad you I'm glad you dished it out like that.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you were talking about pretty much exclusively uh transfers there too.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: So like you said, it's kind of like this kitchen sink approach where we're just gonna throw a whole bunch of stuff at the board and and see what's actually going to stick.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I you know, I think I think the while that might be kind of confusing and lead to some mystery at that position, I think one thing you can at least bank on with that kind of listing you just provided is uh depth.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: Is there's a good chance you got depth at that position.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: So in in case one doesn't stand out, maybe the next guy will, maybe the next guy will, or at least you have a long list of dudes to fill in if you have another uh Gil Howard situation.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: So it's good to see that we have a long list of dudes, large human beings, yeah, at that position ready to go.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_04: And one more guy before we move on to a different position group is uh Jaden Cofield.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_04: So been a really key contributor for Texas Tech, especially he hasn't started, but he's been a great depth piece and really came on at the end of last year.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_04: He did he has an Achilles injury, it's not a full Achilles tear, um, but he uh he injured it in the Orange Bowl against Oregon last year.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_04: So um, according to Joey, probably not gonna be back until like October-ish.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_04: But uh a piece if he comes back to be uh, because I think he was set to be a starter this year, if not for the injury that he suffered late last season.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: So um if we see him, you know, hopefully by midseason, maybe if he can get in, I think it's gonna be kind of depending on how good these transfers are that you brought in to see if you need to bring in Cofield, kind of a Will Hammond situation to where, hey, we kind of need you.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_04: You know, say say three out of the four of these transfers don't work out, or there's a bunch of injuries or something, you may have to bring him in later on in the year and hope that he can um, you know, come up with some some solid production coming off the Achilles injury.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_04: But um, no, I think you have a really solid group here um filling in for Lee Hunter.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you do have a different coach at uh at your defensive line, uh first year coach Amarjay Albury.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um came come from the NFL ranks, so that's awesome.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_04: But uh replaces Zarnell Fitch, who was with uh Joey since he took over.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_04: Um obviously there was odd situation.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: Odd situation there, but uh and and tech I think did a pretty good job of keeping it kind of under wraps a little bit.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_04: Not that it's like you know the biggest headline or whatever that you're replacing a defensive line coach.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_04: No, but um no, but I I I mean, you know, it's definitely worth bringing up considering this was the defensive line coach that that coached all these guys so well last year and all and really has done a pretty good job since he arrived in Lubbock.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_04: But um, so something to note.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: I I don't think there's gonna be a massive drop-off from the coaching, but um, you know, something to point out.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, dude.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go ahead and stay on the line here.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um we'll start with the edge shape, the edge edge rushing group here.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: So would you have said that this was the premier position at Texas Tech last year?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like this was the dudes.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_04: Not I mean that that are the linebacking core, I think you can argue.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but no, you had the number two overall pick in the NFL draft, and you had a and you had a third rounder that went to San Francisco who's probably gonna compete for a starting gig over there.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, uh you it's hard to replace uh two guys like David Bailey and Romello Height.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_04: Those are that's what 24 and a half sacks last year from just those two guys.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_04: It's crazy.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was about to say, like, this unlike the defensive line, uh the I mean the D-tackles, here you are actually having to replace both.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like both of your starters here.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: You're not even getting a one veteran like you were able to nab at uh defensive tackle here.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about two brand new guys.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about uh we're talking about Trey White and Adam Trick, like really coming in and having to immediately uh take over that starting position.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, Trey White being the premier transfer from San Diego State, uh, all all Mountain West selection there.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but of course the Big 12 is a different game.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: This is a different defensive unit.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: A lot more is gonna be expected of you there.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So it's this these are enormous shoes to fill at the edge position.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: And what do you think about these two guys?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, the guys that are falling in after them.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean I I I there's obviously been a lot of hype going uh into from the coaching staff and from uh you know just the the job that we did at Texas Tech last year at this unit specifically, edge rushing outside linebacker, whatever you want to call it.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but you get two guys that I think can can absolutely fill up the production um that David Bailey and Romello Hyde brought, but not to the same level.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: And they're different actually types of rushers.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it it's a every once in a while you're gonna get a specimen like David Bailey.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, even from his Stanford days, you you didn't look at David Bailey and see what he did at Texas Tech last year.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_04: I think people were hyped up about David Bailey.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_04: He clearly he had some good numbers and everything, but if you said David Bailey was Going to go number two in the NFL draft after he transferred from Stanford to Texas Tech.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think a lot would have believed you.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, that's a testament to the coaching staff and what we did here to really open up the opportunity for them.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_04: Before I talk about the players, this is another position group that you lose your coach.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_04: CJIU was coaching this unit the past three seasons, three, four seasons, and uh has been really an elite guy uh at this coaching position and did leave for the Pittsburgh Steelers to be their outside linebackers coach.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know, clearly, clearly moving on to the NFL ranks, good for him.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_04: But um, you know, he's done a great job with this unit, and now you're gonna have to rely on Jock Smith to um coach up these guys.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_04: And I think again, the compare just compared comparing the the David Bailey Romello Height to the Trey White Adam trick.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_04: Bailey and Height were both at power four level programs their entire careers.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, Stanford is what it is, but it's still a powerful power four program.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_04: You're still playing elite teams.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Romelo Height, same thing.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_04: Started a USC, went to Georgia Tech.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_04: So he's been in this atmosphere, at least playing these good teams.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, whereas Trey White comes from San Diego State, Adam Trick comes from Miami of Ohio.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_04: So definitely a lower division that these guys are gonna have to, you know, jump uh uh that level.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm not saying that's impossible.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's actually very possible.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_04: Skyler Gale Howard did it, Cole Wisinski did it.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_04: There's a lot of guys that have jumped to the higher ranks and been a guy.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_04: So um I think that's the first thing that pops out to me is are it are they going to jump to the next level and and not have an issue there?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean that's that's that's the big burning question, and it's a huge ask for them to do so.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously, you don't have to be number two in the NFL draft good to make this defense extremely successful.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you you just have to be another guy that can step up and really fill in the space there.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah, man, I I I I it's hard to say too much more just because we haven't seen the seen much uh in a Texas Tech uniform with them yet.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Anything else to say about the edge rushers here?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I wanted to point out the five-star freshman Ledamian Guiden.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_04: He reclassed uh to the class of 26 now.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_04: So he officially hopped on Tex Campus and started practicing with the team, I believe, a week or two ago.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_04: Um, true five-star freshman with the reclass.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_04: He's kind of he was originally the 2027 class, and I believe he was the number one mayor.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_04: But since he reclassed, I think he went down the list a little bit, but still uh by ESPN rankings, he was the number six player in the country going into this even after the reclass, has all the tangibles that you want from an edge rush type of player.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_04: But the one thing that I don't want fans to do with him is the same thing that we did with Micah Hudson of expecting the world from a true freshman.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_04: And I think bringing in Trey White, Adam Trick, even some of these other guys like Ansel Nadore, Charles Anderson, Jamon Mathis, Amari Fleming, a lot of like more depth pieces, you will you will have the opportunity to ease Guyton in for seven.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_04: I I think he's gonna play a good bit this year, whether that be on special teams, whether that just be for you know uh throwing him in at the end of quarters, end of halves, or something like that.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_04: Like he's going to be a guy that gets some snaps this year, but this way and with this unit and how we're built out, you don't have to throw him in and actually rely on him very much this year.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean that's that's what we want to have our our incoming freshman anyway, right?
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Is is you keep we we want them to be able to develop, get get their uh earn their dues so they can become a contributing member of the team whenever the time comes to step up.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um so just just kind of uh to recap this unit, you talked about earlier about how a big focus of Joe McGuire and his coaching staff was to grow the team.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well grow the team in size, like physically.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_02: Not obviously not numbers, it's that's not how it works.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so your defensive tackles average six foot two, two hundred and ninety-two pounds.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: Big boys.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Your edges six foot three, two hundred and forty-two pounds, and the total line is uh six foot two, six hundred and seventy, I mean two hundred and seventy pounds, like on average.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: So you got some big humans in there, like ready to stop the ball.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I I really I really feel good about replacing the loss here.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it's it would be asking too much to completely repeat what we did last year, but dude, I take solace in this group.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: I this doesn't concern me.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't even have any sort of knot in my stomach about this group say we taking a big enough step back to for really for us to notice too much.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Any uh final thoughts on the unit?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think we may this may affect our play calling a little bit going into this year, just with the amount of talent that we had on that defensive line.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we I think I saw a stat where we blitzed 17% of the time on defense, and forgetting the amount of sacks and pressure that we naturally got just from having really, really good players is ridiculous.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_04: So I think you may have to up that ratio a little bit.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: You may throw in a few more blitzes this year just to you know try to get to the quarterback and get some pressure on him because you don't have the necessarily the um you know quick speed of a David Bailey, Romelo Haidt, Lee Hunter getting off the line, maybe a little slower in that aspect.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_04: So you may see a little bit of different play calling um coming down the pike from uh from the coaching staff this year.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was I'm I'm glad you brought that up because I I was gonna ask you if you thought you were gonna see a more conservative or aggressive wood this year with the new unit.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that answers that question.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: You expect to see more aggression on our defense defensive side of the ball?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: A little hungrier for the ball.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_04: From the play calling perspective for sure.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I think these players are always gonna bring it naturally, but it's just do you have the talent to have to, you know, have to throw in blitzes here or there, have to get the linebackers involved a little bit in more of a pass rush scenario.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_04: I think what helped us out a lot last year is that you could leave Jacob Rodriguez, Ben Roberts, and John Curry kind of in the middle there, kind of just roaming, and that's what led to a lot of our turnovers that we got.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_04: So um, you know, obviously if you have to rush those guys more, they're gonna be not put in the best of positions to cause turnovers, and that's obviously a big emphasis for for Joey McGuire and his staff.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_04: So just something to watch out for.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: Watch us lose our minds whenever like three teams score more than 20 on us.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_04: At this point, we'd be like 21 points?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_04: That's ridiculous.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Final score was 50 to 21.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_04: So that's it.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_04: Clean it up.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_04: We're starting over.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: Alright, dude.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: I I'm glad I'm glad you brought up them boys right behind them because this has been a staple in the Texas Tech defense for years now.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: Even before we were good at defense, this has been a good position at Texas Tech University for quite some time.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: And y'all know I'm talking about the linebackers here.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and thankfully, a position group, as you already pointed out, you get some veterans back, you get some familiar faces uh on the uh on the linebacking core here.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, you already brought up Ben Roberts and John Curry, but perhaps one of the most lightning rod transfers for Texas Tech was Austin Romain.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Because obviously a big coupe from stealing Kansas State's best player onto your team that really um rustled some Jimmies over up there in Manhattan, Kansas.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, dude, I think with that three rotating core of Ben Roberts, Austin Romaine, and John Curry, I golly man, I really think that this is a position group.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, I know, of course, you lose Jacob Rodriguez perhaps your best uh linebacker you've ever had.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's a hot take to throw out there like that with the with the pedigree we've had, but the guy's outstanding.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, um I really don't think you take a step back there.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: I I I know it's you you can't just replace a man like that, but of all the position groups on defense, I think this is the one you see that remains the most consistent, like beat to beat from last year.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think?
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think similar starting off with Romain and the Jacob Rodriguez replacement part of this, it's very similar to the David Bailey, Romelo Height, Trey White, Adam Trick conversation.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I don't think you're going to get a one-for-one replacement here.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's going you're going to be take.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_04: What's that?
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: How insane was my take?
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: Of the best linebacker we've had.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_04: No, not in he won every major award.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I know, but like what do you have Zach Thomas on the fifth in the Heisman?
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh, there's nobody else that had a you're he had 128 tackles, one sack, seven force fumbles, and four interceptions in 2025.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you're not going to replace that with one person.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I think Austin Romain was a great pickup.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_04: I'm very glad that we have him, but he is not a one-for-one replacement.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_04: He is not a Jacob Rodriguez.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_04: He is a very good player, though, and he's going to be a solid, solid player, along with what you're hoping is another upgrade from Ben Roberts, another upgrade season from John Curry.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_04: Those guys showed a lot of stuff last year, but that was as the number two and number three linebacker.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_04: Now you're kind of asking Ben to maybe step into that number one role.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe Romaine takes the one role.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_04: You know, Curry's gonna kind of stay in that three, and he's uh he's like the hybrid safety linebacker position anyway.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_04: But um you're really you're really excited that you have Robertson Curry back, first and foremost, just from a locker room standpoint, bringing Romain into the picture is just an another boost for you.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you have guys like Corey Platt, the Houston transfer, who could be a dept piece for you.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_04: Brad Golwas, who's gonna be coming in playing more of an actual linebacker role.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_04: He played for bits and pieces last year, but more of a special teams guy.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_04: I think he'll kind of step into a few more snaps uh right here at this inside linebacker position.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_04: But um no, I mean there's no replacing J-Rodd, but you have a really, really, really veteran and solid group of guys to do it here.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_04: And I think between the three of them, um Roberts Curry and Romain, I think you're gonna get an outstanding um year.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so this, I think this, I think honestly, I think this group is uh really easy to talk about.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have anything else to say about it, do you?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_04: No, I mean, uh Romaine, if you go back and watch the Kansas State game last year, I mean you'll know who he is.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_04: He's got he had the big club on uh at that point, number 45.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_04: So uh he didn't play, he only played nine games last year because he dealt with some injuries, so um something to watch out for, but still 66 tackles, half a second interception in 2025 for for Austin Romain at K-State.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_04: So um uh outstanding linebacker.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh that is one the Wildcats are not too happy about.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: So let's go ahead and push past them there.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_02: Uh let's go ahead and talk about our backs here and our safeties.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, obviously the conversation starts starts here with Bryce Pollock.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, a guy we thought that perhaps can go into the NFL draft but decides to return for another year at Texas Tech.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we definitely needed that continuity at a position that uh Texas Tech fans know well that we get burned on quite often.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um really, I I it's you know, I look at the rest of this list and it gets difficult to discuss who's gonna fill what role.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_02: Just because it's it, you know, these positions are all over the place and their names that we're not too familiar with uh in different positions here.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: But obviously, I mean Bryce Pollock's that guy.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's that man, he had a great year.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you also have a guy uh coming in here with with Brendan Jordan, another veteran that's gonna be stepping up.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but outside of that, dude, it gets kind of tricky to discuss.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: What is your analysis of the group?
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the secondary is the most questionable group on the defense right now.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um, when you look at corners and safeties separately, corners I feel a little better about with having Polak, who led your team in interceptions last year, all Big 12 level type player, projected to be one of the better corners in uh all of college football this year.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_04: So obviously, you have your one guy you can put on the wide receiver one and feel pretty good about yourself.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Amir Boyd is also a guy who was on your team last year, played a lot of snaps.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_04: He's gonna be lining up at that second corner position.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_04: So you're really happy with your one-two.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_04: After that, though, it gets a little dicey.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_04: You lost Mohorn to the uh to the transfer portal, so now you have to replace him.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um maybe you're looking at a guy like Davin Martin, who you got from UTSA, uh kind of a more experienced player, actually played a lot of snaps in college football.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_04: So you're hoping that that um is is helpful for the depth of this.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_04: Tarion Grant is another guy who played limited snaps last year, but was on Texas Tech's team.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_04: You hope he kind of upgrades um now that he's going into his sophomore season.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe Ashton Hampton, maybe it's one of these freshmen that are coming in.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like uh you have options.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure if they're the more experienced options.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_04: So you're happy with Paulak and Boyd after that at the corner.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_04: It gets a little dicey, and uh, you hope somebody steps up, one of the young guys at least.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um as for safeties, uh, this is the position that I'm the most concerned about.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_04: I I like Brendan Jordan.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_04: I think he's uh a solid player.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: There were definitely moments that he got beat last year um on the defense, um, long balls, especially, but he was also Cole Wisneski was playing his position last year, so now he's gonna be transferring over to that safety position, and then you're throwing in a young guy, um, a guy who's either been on your roster for one, two seasons, maybe played a lot of special teams, but hasn't played a lot of true safety snaps.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_04: And you're gonna rely on a Peyton Morgan, you're gonna rely on an Oliver Miles, maybe when Mike Hill Dingle, if he gets back healthy.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Malika Scaram, Michael Harrison Pilot, you know, Marcus Ramon Edwards, these guys like haven't played a lot of snaps outside of special teams.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_04: So you're hoping that they can come in and fill that role.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you have options.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know if you have a guaranteed, you know, player that's going to be as good as Brendan Jordan was in that safety position or Cole Wisneski.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: Big soft spot for uh Harrison pilot.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: Worked with his dad, knew him in high school.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: So it's uh I really it'd be really cool to see him uh take a big step up.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: It'd be a big uh full circle moment for me.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: But dude, I mean it's really it sounds really lazy to say because it's something we say every single season, but this is the unit that makes me the most nervous.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um because it just it really is the one where Tech's tech fans hold their breath, you know, whenever a big bomb gets tossed up.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I don't know if that's unique to tech fans, but it's just something that, you know, as a fan base, we've we've really had kicking behind with with uh for a few decades in this group.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I man, the obviously this this but it's really fun to talk about the side of the ball now because just of how much progress this has this has made over the years, plus you know, with our resources as TechSteck University with our NIL ability, our development elability, uh our uh facilities, we've really seen this unit really take a big step up, which is awesome to see.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um any final notes here?
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um, no, I mean I think the only thing I would point out from this unit is, you know, you uh and again, this is going back to replacing all the guys that you lost on the draft, but um, you know, part of the coverage in the secondary you didn't have to you didn't have to cover for very long because they had a pass rush in their face uh, you know, really quick.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_04: So you're hoping Trey White, Adam Trick, and that team can um, you know, equate the same production, if not, you know, a little bit less, but still solid.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but there is gonna be more time uh that these guys are gonna have to spend covering the ball, and you hope that uh you hope that they can handle it.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_04: Um one other guy that we brought in real late in the uh transfer portal from D2 Pit State is uh Jordan Rogers.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_04: Uh just a more experienced player that I think from the timing of actually acquiring him in the transfer portal, maybe the coaching staff went and saw them early on and said, Hey, maybe we do need a little more help, a little more veterancy in in this group.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_04: Um so I think you're relying a lot on Peyton Morgan and Oliver Miles here to uh to step in and be a guy.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: Quick Steven, where's Pitts State?
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: Go.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_04: Pitts State?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_04: Pittsburgh.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_04: It's Pittsburgh State.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_04: No?
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's not.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's in Kansas.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_04: What?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's in Kansas.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_04: Pittsburgh State in Kansas?
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_02: It's Pitts State, isn't it?
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_04: I thought it was Pittsburgh State.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's the gorilla one, isn't it?
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: I think so.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_02: In Pittsburgh, Kansas.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_02: It is Pittsburgh State.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_04: Really?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, it is.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_04: Well, the more you know, uh, at least this man's a good old Midwestern boy from Pittsburgh, Kansas.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_02: All right, dude.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: So this is what everyone oh and I mean, just obviously I I think you and I on this podcast can't say, and I'm sure all the fan base would reverberate this, is we can't say good enough things about Shield Wood.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what a what an addition that man has been.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: I can't wait to see him dismantle Houston once again, this time in front of the the home crowd.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um you expect him to just improve in a year two, correct?
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean, I I think if you've watched Shield Wood throughout his entire career, um, you would know that he's damn good at his job.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_04: This is also his first time returning to the same university since 2020.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_04: Well, since 2020, when he was in Army, uh, he returned as the co-defensive coordinator there that year.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_04: But since 2021, he's been in a new place every single year, and then finally he's returning, you know, uh gonna be in the same place for this year.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, had some had some definite, you know, probably some big name universities reaching out to him after uh what he did at Texas Tech last year.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, you'd love to get Shield back.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: He he's gonna be head coach Shield soon enough.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so let's just enjoy the years we have with him.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um all right, so dude, let's go ahead and move on to the the the unit that everyone likes to talk about.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's what everyone's here for, it's what people turn on the TV to see, and that is special teams.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: Okay?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so special teams, man.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really funny.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to start in punting, it's not something we did a lot last year, dude.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like it wasn't necessary.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_02: No, so it and we're going back to back with the Aussie boys, huh?
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going to the landown under.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we had Jack Burgess's last year, and you know, whenever he was punting, it was great.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_02: No complaints, hard to complain.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_02: And now we got Will Carroll.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so and he's coming in from the from the Big Ten, huh?
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: Where where'd he transfer in from?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_04: UCLA.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_04: UCLA.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_04: Big Ten Powerhouse UCLA.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_04: Los Angeles, California.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: So it'll be really it'll be really interesting to see if he can flip the field.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, obviously, it's we haven't been too disappointed with that, with that yet.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_02: Any anything to say about the punting, Steven?
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_04: Well, he's an Aussi, so that's always a good uh a good thing for you.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_04: You've had a lot of good Aussies come through this program and um been on the punting side of things.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_04: But um, what state in Australia is Will Carroll from?
• 40:59
  SPEAKER_02: What state, huh?
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm you know, there's like nine of them, I think.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_04: There's nine of them in Australia.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_02: They're called provinces.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_04: No, I think they're states.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna state.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_04: I think uh Google doesn't.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like everything in the UK really is it states?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like everything in the in the Commonwealth, UK Commonwealth is a province.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_02: Well then let's we'll we'll have to double check that.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: But since you're saying that, I'm gonna guess Western Australia then, because it's like incorrect.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_04: He's from, of course, New South Wales in Australia, which Sydney is located in.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_04: So Okay.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what this means.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know what this means.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_04: What is that?
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_04: I thought it was interesting.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_04: He's from he's from Australia.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_04: I'm trying to, you know, inform the people about Australian culture.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_04: We were talking about culture right before this podcast.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_04: I I like to do New South Wales.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_02: I I appreciate that.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'd tell Steven where Becca was.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he knows now.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_04: I know now, but we got it now.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: Um no, I mean Western Australia, which is a state or province.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_04: So it's a state.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_04: It's okay to call it a state.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_02: While you go on a rant, I'm gonna have to look this up.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_04: Will Carroll, senior transfer.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_04: So obviously you have to replace Jack Bird, just like he said, but um he was at two lane for a couple years and then he was at UCLA, so he's been familiar with the ball.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_04: I'm sure every punter that walks in to Lubbock, Texas, and and sees that wind, they're like, oh man, we could go for a for a 70-yarder here.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_04: So I think he's gonna enjoy it.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, you obviously love those guys from Australia.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: You were correct.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: They are states, dude.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they are good good for you, homie.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: There's six states in Australia here on Talkin' Aussies.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_02: We just want to make sure that we have our uh uh is that Australian wine?
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_04: This is not, it's not a glass of Australian wine, but uh famous emu war.
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_04: If you haven't heard of it, look it up.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_04: We had an episode on that a few years back.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's the sore subject for the Australians.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um anyway.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: So I think we've said enough on the booting.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's go ahead and start talking about za kicking.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: So he gets a return Stone Harrington.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's you don't have a lot to complain with him last night.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he he converts last night, last season.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm sure he was fine last night too.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, he converts 81% of his of his of his kicks, and um he was 14th nationally.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I guess I guess you know there's not much to else to say.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_02: He does his job, he does great.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_02: He was an all Big 12 first teamer.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_04: He was a first teamer, all Big 12.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_04: Like Stone Harrington had a great year last year.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm disrespecting the the special teams here, and it's not cool because this is a special teams first podcast, and he he gave us 148 points.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean that's no, he didn't, he did not.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: The total unit did.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: I misread my notes.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: My bad.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_04: He so what I'll say about Stone, first and foremost, it was a kicking competition going into last year between him and Up and Upton Bell and Pont and By the end of the year, it was Stone Harrington's job.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_04: Upton Bellafont was not going out there, he wasn't even kicking extra points.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_04: But the one thing that Kenny Perry said, which by the way, love Kenny Perry, he's great.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_04: So glad to have him back.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_04: He's obviously been here since Joey has, and he's uh one of his good buddies, but he's also one of the best special teams coaches in the country.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: He's number two, dude.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I mean he's he's phenomenal, and and he's definitely had his fair share of um head coaching opportunities, I'm sure.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_04: He's interviewed with a lot of different schools, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a head coaching job here in the next couple of years.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_04: But um back to Stone, um ice in his veins, long range.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_04: He's got that, he's got a hell of a hell of a foot, man.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_04: He hit uh what was it, 58 yarder, 56 yarder last year?
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like hit some real bombs for you.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_04: Um what Kenny Perry said though, when we were uh they had the intro press conference to this football season this fall, and he was talking, he actually got into a lot of detail about some special team stuff that you or I would never have known otherwise.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but he's clearly very well versed in it.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_04: But um, for Stone to take over the job like he did and also kick as much as he did last year, because he was doing kickoffs and field goals and extra points by the end of last season, what Coach Perry wants to do a little better is to maybe spread the love a little bit more on kickoffs, to where Stone is just the guy you throw out there when you need a field goal extra point, and then maybe you have Ian Hershey or Jacob Hand, this uh Stephen F.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_04: Austin transfer, uh, maybe even Will Carroll if he's um you know got a big enough leg on the kickoff.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you can maybe spread the love a little bit to those guys on the kickoffs, have them just kick it out to the end zone because that's what you should do every time, and then have Stone come in there and just be a guy on your field goal.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_04: So um I think they'll look to do like not utilize Stone less, but utilize him more efficiently.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_02: Stone cold.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, all right.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to talk about uh kick returns at all here?
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, kick it button returns.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_04: Let's do it.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um so um, do you think we're just gonna see more Jacoby Williams get out there?
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, with this, it's just it's so up in the air with this position because yeah, you just don't really know who they're gonna trot out until they you start getting consistent in the season there.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: Do you do you see anybody stepping up like a Kenny Johnson and Malcolm Sims Simmons?
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_02: Any, or you just see like Jacoby Williams just really taking over that role.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_04: No, I'm because I think you want to utilize Jacoby a good amount on your actual offense.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_04: So I don't know if he'll be necessarily your your top returner if you're choosing.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um obviously Micah Hudson's done it in the past.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure if you're gonna continue to use him in the return game, especially considering you're hoping he takes a real leap as the wide receiver one potentially, or even the two.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_04: But um you're gonna see Kenny Johnson back there, you're gonna see Malcolm Simmons back there, you're gonna see Jacoby, you're gonna see Coy maybe at times.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_04: I know Coy returned a good amount of punts last year.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: So um I yeah, I think it's what you said.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_04: They're gonna kind of see how it all plays out.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_04: They'll throw out the guys in the first couple games of the year, see how it works.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe if a guy messes up, maybe he loses an opportunity, um, and kind of see how it plays out throughout the season.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_04: I think this is gonna be a continually uh fluid kind of role that we'll see from our from our return game.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but you have dudes.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, Jacoby Williams returned to kickoff for a touchdown last year.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think he had some really big returns.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Malcolm Simmons did at Auburn.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um, Kenny Johnson had a good amount of return snaps at uh at Pitt last year.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_04: So um again, you you got guys, you got options.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's just is one of these guys gonna overtake and and become the dude.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Right, absolutely, dude.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: Well, man, I mean that wraps up special teams too.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: I know, I know this is special teams first podcast, but I don't know if I have too much more to add in this subject.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_02: Do you?
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_04: No, no, I think you're you're hoping for the same production that you had last year.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_04: I thought the special teams um was really, really good uh in certain areas.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_04: You did give up a couple.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I think there was a fake punt in the Oregon game that you maybe fell short on.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, some some big moments, and that's where you need to step up and be a guy um in those in those big moments.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_04: But I'm I'm really happy Stone's back.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_04: I think he's gonna be um you know just as automatic as he was last year.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um and if for some reason, you know, the mental game gets to him, I think you have a few solid options behind him.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like we're saying, dude.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_02: All right, man.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I'd we have wrapped up the offense and the defensive side of the ball for what should be another outstanding year of Texas Tech football.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think you and I will get more into the predictions and schedule breakdowns of the next episode or uh upcoming episodes.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll save our thoughts, our deep thoughts about all that for then.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, do you have any like key points to throw into this podcast before we start right into the sunset?
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_04: No, I mean, I uh again, I would just stress to all tech fans listening, hey, you know, you're not gonna replace Jacob Rodriguez, David Bailey, Ramelo Hyde, Lee Hunter in one go.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_04: Like it's gonna have to be a team and a depth effort to where so if maybe we're not as good as we were last year, I think that's gonna be just okay.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_04: Like I don't I think we're gonna be just fine with not having the same level of defense that we had last year.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but also this transfer portal class allows for a lot of excitement, and you should be looking at guys like Trey White and Adam Trick and being really excited about them being in a red raider uniform next year.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, so you just hope that their production can be, you know, 80% of what we had last year from those six guys.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, we'll we'll we'll ride into it, and uh, I think you'll have another phenomenal defense.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really good point, dude, because we're getting shown time and time again that the eye for talent in the transfer portal that this coaching staff has is outstanding.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_02: We keep getting these transfers that just blow the doors off of the off the national media and in these football games.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that we're gonna we we have really good chances that some more breakout dudes were gonna have like defining seasons of their career at Tex Tech again and launch them up the NFL uh draft page, dude.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_02: So that's that's that's really exciting stuff.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I know you said that Tex Tech fans uh maybe don't need to expect what we had last year, but I think the good thing is I hope that we have this growing cushion on offense where it doesn't even have to be where the offense the offensive lethality just completely offsets any sort of stepbacks the defense may take.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_02: So I I feel so good about this season, dude.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um I I obviously sp uh a spoiler, I do think we're gonna win the Big 12 again, and I think it's going to be off the uh more or less off the back of the defense once again.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, I think that's a that's a very fair assessment, but also I I think you could see a much more high-powered offense from the Red Raiders this year, and uh, and you could really see us shine on that end of the field um in moments that we maybe just didn't all the way finish with all of our red zone woes and everything um that we talked about in last year's episode or last week's episode.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, man, very excited for this year, very excited to to have defense at Texas Tech.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's really so much fun, and it's kind of wild.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_04: You were we were you were saying that at the beginning of the year, uh, or beginning of the year, beginning of the episode, of just how Texas Tech did not have any sort of defense for so many years, and it's just like what why did it take Joey Maguire to come in here and be like, hey, we need to get bigger?
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what was Matt Wells doing?
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_04: What was Cliff doing?
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I that's there's you know, we're not in the locker room, we're not in the administration, we don't really know what the fallbacks were.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_02: We could just speculate from frustrated fans' per point of view, right?
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_02: But I really think that it's we we touched on this last time.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's so much of it is alignment where you get your priorities straight about what really matters whenever you're recruiting or evaluating transfer talent.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I think if you prioritize and push your resources and recruiting time into focusing on those uh missing pieces, I think you get better fruit in the end.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I I I just I think in the past, perhaps uh coaching staff was just just thought that maybe adequacy was good enough at those positions, and you spend your time trying to find the breakout stars that say quarterback, receiver, what have you, instead, thinking that that's maybe going to win you a football game instead.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_02: But I think Joe McGuire comes from this very grassroots lunch pail mentality of where football game is actually one in the trenches.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's one where the football game is the ugliest and least exciting.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's not necessarily one through the uh high flying flying air and and star plays.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, there's a commonality in all of the uh college football national champions in that they have big players on their lines, uh consistent, consistent play from their lines.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_04: So um that it's a pretty easy, it's a pretty easy thing for me uh to kind of say, hey, you know, just go get a big line.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, it's more difficult than that, but uh it was very necessary and the and the guys are doing a good job uh in Lubbock.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, dude.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_02: You can't say good uh enough, good enough things here.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go ahead and uh wrap it up, dude, unless you got any other further thoughts.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's it.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_04: We will finish off with a song of the week, as we always do.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan, go ahead.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_02: Dude, I'm gonna go with a classic.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna go with an old school Texas Country song.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_02: I know doing a Texas country song is out of the uh typical zone for Tristan's pick.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I'm gonna roll with it anyway.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um I'm gonna go with a local legend here in the Hill Country.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a Robert Earl Keen song, one of the few good Aggies ever out there.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and a very famous song from him, but I really love the the attitude that the song captures.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's you know, whenever you whenever you go through those phases in life where you're feeling down or unsure of yourself, and sometimes you just have a few things going good for you, and you're like, you know what, I'm starting to feel good again.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like things I think are going right for me right now, and I'm I'm feeling just good at good again.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that's literally the name of the song.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_02: The song is Feeling Good Again by Robert Earl Keen.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_04: We are on the same wavelength right now.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_04: That's crazy.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have that song too?
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_04: No, I literally have the same title though.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_04: And I don't know if this was a cover of maybe Robert.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's they covered a song.
• 54:32
  SPEAKER_02: There's no way you picked this up.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_04: Literally, that was my song of the week.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, we'll keep it.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_04: We'll keep it.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um, yeah, though.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_04: So now you've informed me of something that this was a cover.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so my song of the week.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_04: Very similar to yours.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_04: Very similar to yours, same title, same lyrics.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_04: Same song.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_04: Same song, different artist.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, my song of the week is feeling good again, turned by Troubadours and Sierra Hall, uh, which I guess recently covered uh this Robert Earl Keane song.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_04: So um you've taught me some today, and uh that's that's awesome.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_02: What a talking tech first, dude.
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's hilarious.
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_04: We're on the same page, man.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_04: So uh tell us which one you like more.
• 55:32
  SPEAKER_04: You like the OG more, or you like the new cover uh from Turnpike, but uh that's so funny, dude.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: All right, man.
• 55:40
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go ahead and leave them with those two bangers of a song of the same song and take us home.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_04: Different renditions.
• 55:46
  SPEAKER_04: You we we like a cover here on this podcast.
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, we we love a we love a cover.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um, all right, everybody.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_04: You can follow both of us on Twitter.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_04: Tristan's at Tristy Mick.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_04: I'm at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_04: Pod is on Twitter at talk at Tech Pod, Instagram, and Facebook.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_04: Songs Week playlist, Spotify, Apple Music.
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, we appreciate you guys listening.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, we're what four Saturdays away?
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_04: Three Saturdays away?
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_04: We're ready, man.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_04: September 5th, the countdown is on.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_04: We appreciate all y'all listening.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_04: Always rec'em tech.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_02: Wreck'em tech.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh wow, first of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_03: This is wild.
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_03: When I walked in and I knew this would be an awesome podcast, and these guys have been tremendous.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_03: I love you, and I can't wait for this journey.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_03: I would like to thank uh Stephen and Tristan.
• 56:41
  SPEAKER_03: This is incredible.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_03: These guys have a passion and a love for this school.