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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 4, 2015Kliff KingsburyTHE MODERATOR: Coach will start off with an opening statement. COACH KINGSBURY: I'm going to let the coordinators discuss each prospect individually. But excited about this class obviously. Signed 20 players total, including the two early enrollees. Addressed some needs we felt like on offensive and defensive line and wide receiver with depth overall with I believe nine starters back on offense and 12 guys that have started on defense. Lots of guys that have played coming back, but need some guys to come in and replace them and be ready to play immediately. Think we have some of them in this class. Excited to get them on campus. Questions. Q. Did you talk with your recruits during the season about what's coming with the facility? COACH KINGSBURY: Definitely. That was a constant throughout the recruitment, then on their visits, you know, Kirby would speak about that, all the changes. That's definitely a huge selling point for us. Q. Do you feel like this class are guys that just want to be here? COACH KINGSBURY: When you have a down year, you have guys that still believe in you, believe in your vision, what you're about, that means a lot to you as a staff. We're excited about a bunch of these kids who committed early, hung with us through a tough year. That shows they really want to be here. That means a lot to us. Q. This group of receivers seems pretty dynamic, with a lot of skill sets. COACH KINGSBURY: I think numbers‑wise with what we had on campus, we knew we needed a big class at that position. Went after some bigger guys, which we don't have on our roster, some taller guys. But got some fast guys as well. A lot of play‑makers in that group, guys that are going to need to come in and play right away. Q. No quarterback. COACH KINGSBURY: No quarterback. That's a position I take a lot of pride in recruiting and I wanted to make sure we got it right. We'll wait till 2016 and try to find a big‑time guy then. Q. Is that something you think is becoming a trend, don't necessarily need to have a quarterback every class? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I'm not sure. The transfer deal has become very popular in college football for quarterback. That's why the Ohio State situation is so refreshing to see that kid come in and do what he did. You'd like to take one every year, but when it gets that close to Signing Day, you don't want to screw that deal up. We decided to ante up for '16 and recruit a great one in that class. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: We'll see. I hope not. We'll see. There's one more out there, see how that goes. Q. Anything that you can do differently going forward to avoid what happened with the quarterback and that really good receiver? COACH KINGSBURY: No, that's part of this whole process. You look at every team out there. I mean, everybody goes through that. It is what it is. You got to worry about the ones you get and don't worry about the ones you don't get. Q. How much did the down season impact recruiting? COACH KINGSBURY: You know, I heard a long time ago that by February a lot of kids forget about your record anyways. Obviously it doesn't help to go 4‑8. We need to show much improvement this year to take that next step. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of these kids were committed before the season started. For them to stick with us through a rough year, it meant a lot to us as a staff. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: You just keep recruiting till the end. You keep trying to find players that will improve your roster. Had a couple big‑time players late that got onboard. Q. (Question regarding Coach Jones.) COACH KINGSBURY: He's big in the player personnel side of things, mentorship role. He'll help on the offensive side as well. His main deal is a mentorship role. When you look at what he did at South Oak Cliff, going deep into the playoffs. Incredible mentor. Very well respected in that area. We're lucky to have him on our staff. I didn't know where that would go. I think it shows the level of respect they have for him, that they wanted to be around him. Q. 19 or 20 seem a little light to you? COACH KINGSBURY: No, it doesn't. I think we made mistakes the past two years of reaching on some guys late. That really has hurt us. So obviously we would have liked a couple more, but it didn't fall that way. We weren't going to reach and get some guys that can't play at this level. That leaves you some leeway to put some guys on moving forward. There's always transfers that are looking for a place. It gives you some flexibility moving forward. Q. What does this group bring from your perspective? COACH KINGSBURY: Hopefully the ability to play right away. Once again, we'll be going through spring with a light roster when it comes to offensive linemen. These kids need to be able to come in and be backups at best and hopefully starters. So we'll see where it goes. It's a good group. A couple of those guys committed early and hung with us, have the ability to play right away. Q. How do you feel about the linebackers? COACH KINGSBURY: Excited. It was a young group. I think you add Mike Mitchell, Dakota Allen, guys that redshirted. Probably could have helped us last year. Those two and D'Vonta Hinton was a guy that was a little undersized or else probably would have went anywhere in the country as far as offer‑wise. Is a tackling machine. Look forward to working with him. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: He did a great job. He's a guy who has so much credibility based upon his résumé, where he's been, who he coached. I felt like in the short amount of time he had to build relationships, he did a phenomenal job, got a lot of guys we were after. Q. This might be a reach for you, who do you think your best recruit is? COACH KINGSBURY: I think they're all great, yeah (laughter). Q. Couple guys you can plug in right away. COACH KINGSBURY: The one that jumps out is Braden. Being here in the spring really gives him a leg up. But all those guys, we recruited them all to play. They're all filling needs that we need right away. Hopefully they can all come in and contribute right away. We'd love to not redshirt any of them if possible. Q. What is more stressful, the night before a huge game or last night? COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, you know, I don't stress too much either way. I think this deal, you put in all the work, this is a culmination of three years' work when you start recruiting these kids as sophomores or even freshmen. It's more of a celebration. You're excited about who you get. Once again, you can't worry about the guys you don't. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: I don't know if there really were any surprises. We had a pretty good feel going into it who we were going to get. We felt like we had a good grasp on what was going to go on there. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: It's just ever changing. There's no telling what can change a 17‑ or 18‑year‑old's mind on where they want to go to school. You do the best you can on building relationships. You meet some incredible kids, incredible parents. At the end of the day they may make some choices that you may not. You don't hold it against them. They're just doing what they feel is best for them. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: We have an experienced group, four starters on our offensive line. These guys need to come in and back them up and push them right away. It's a tough group. Very proud of this university already. That means a lot to us. Q. Did you say nine on offense and 12‑‑ COACH KINGSBURY: 12 that had started last year. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: I think it was good. Like I said, his résumé speaks for itself. When you talk to those guys kids having Coach Champ Bailey, being an NFL coach for nine years, what he did at the University of Houston, leading the country in takeaways, that resonates with them. They're excited to have the opportunity to work with him. Q. You don't think the time it took to hire him, get a defensive coordinator hired, impacted it? COACH KINGSBURY: No, not at all. Q. How important was it to keep Coach Smith have some familiarity? COACH KINGSBURY: Very important. He's a guy who loves Texas Tech. Wants to raise his family here. Wants to be here. He's a proud Red Raider. He'll do a tremendous job with the defensive line. I think he's going to infuse some real energy into that group, get them playing at their high level. Q. Is there a position group where you feel you didn't get the numbers you wanted with this class? COACH KINGSBURY: I think defensive line‑wise we have some real quality coming in. I think with the number of seniors in that group, next year we'll have to have another big group come in. Q. (Question regarding Braden.) COACH KINGSBURY: I'd say work ethic and maturity, the way he handles himself. When he interacts with coaches, other players, professors, a mature young man. He lives in the weight room. Wants to be great. Sometimes those are things you can't teach. We're excited about that. It will be a great leadership role for us moving forward with that freshman class. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: He has a great grasp of the offense. Has the same credibility of the NFL, having played that position, really maximizing his potential as a player. We felt he could help us in that regard. And Coach Morris will still oversee the receivers. But that will be Coach Chev's room. I think it will help in recruiting, as well. Q. He'll be outside more? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes. Q. A lot more receivers than runningbacks. Are you going to go back to more passing? COACH KINGSBURY: We want to run it. With DeAndre coming back, tremendous year, Justin Stockton. Q White is a guy me continues to impress me. Bringing in Corey, one of the fastest kids in the country, we felt like we needed one runningback in this class with all the youth we have at that position. Q. You're still aiming to run more? COACH KINGSBURY: Yes, ma'am. We'd love to keep handing it off. Q. (No microphone.) COACH KINGSBURY: Yeah, I think relationships count for more than anything else. I think if you start building at an early age, regardless of how the record goes, if they believe in you, believe what you're about, you can still sign kids. Q. Did you get more depth at defensive back? Short on those last season. You brought people over from offense. Do you feel like some of these people might be able to step into the starting role right away? COACH KINGSBURY: We do. I think Jamile Johnson is a kid that physically he'll be able to do it, tough player, has a nose for the football. I think he'll be able to come in and compete right away for a starting position. Q. With the O‑line you have returning, do you see redshirting most of the guys on the offensive line in this class? COACH KINGSBURY: I doubt it. I think we're going to need a two‑deep. These guys need to step up and be ready for this role. We'd like not to redshirt any of them, have them playing. We'd like to be able to get those guys some time where last year we weren't good enough to get any of those guys much time so we ended up redshirting guys. Thank you. Appreciate it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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