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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 30, 2019

Matt Wells

Lubbock, Texas

COACH WELLS: Coming off that weekend, obviously not the result that I or any of the players or coaches wanted, but Oklahoma is a good team, really good team, good coaches, and they played extremely well. We didn't play as well as we would have liked.

What it causes you to do is you start to look internal, and you start to look at what you're doing, how you're doing it, who you're doing it with, the messaging, how you're messaging. Causes you to do everything, and we're certainly doing that. We're accountable for that, and it's led right here by me first and foremost.

So I do know this: We have a bunch of players and coaches that -- they want to make it right. They've got to continue to work and to strain and to, I think, just continue to hear the message, to send the right messaging, the work, the accountability, the coaching and teaching we've got to do.

We're all in this together, and we all know that. That wasn't the result we wanted to begin Big 12 Conference play. It wasn't the start we wanted at the beginning of the game, and we own it, and I own it as the head coach.

Anyway, we're committed to moving forward, I know that, and to learning from it. And when I say moving forward, I mean you've got an Oklahoma State team that's extremely talented coming in this weekend here at home. It's a chance to be in front of our home crowd and play in Jones Stadium. And we all know that what that means to us and what they want to do at home. And we have to protect our home field, and we understand that that will be a challenge. But I can't wait to watch our guys do it, and I mean that, because we're all in this thing together and I'm leading it.

Moving forward, Jett Duffey will be our quarterback moving forward. We've got to play good around him. The guys going around him have got to play better. We've got to play better and coach better. We've got to put Jett in the right positions from an individual standpoint that give us the best chance to win.

This team does not revolve around one position, we all know that. We've got to play better on defense. That's what we're committed to doing.

In saying all that, I'll go ahead and open it up for questions.

Q. What did you see from Jett to kind of give him the opportunity to lead this team?
COACH WELLS: I saw it in the game first and then video confirmed it. I thought he was aggressive. I thought he made some good plays. Room for improvement, just like me and the rest of them, but I think he gives us the best chance to win.

Q. Coach, you mentioned you have to reevaluate a lot of what you guys are doing after this game. Is that the same as every other game, or is it something different?
COACH WELLS: Yes. It's a lot easier when you don't get the result you want in the way that it came about to have a whole lot more intent and focus, but, yes, we do, obviously. We do after wins.

Q. Coach, you're big on preparation throughout the week in practice, and it was kind of different from the players with previous coaching staffs. How do you feel they're adjusting to the way you want to prepare each week going into the game?
COACH WELLS: I think -- I'm not sure what they've been exposed to before, but I think the preparation is something that I think is essential to your performance on Saturday. The way you prepare, the way you go about your week, organizing your week -- I think that it's all reflective on Saturday.

And how you prepare, how you practice, the discipline and accountability in your life, I try to preach it first and foremost to myself and make sure I'm doing that during the week, but I think it's an essential component of winning games on Saturday is your preparation. It's a great question, and I think that's so important.

Q. Why do you think it's so important to name a starting quarterback and get Jett those reps consistently with the ones in practice?
COACH ALLEN: Yeah, I mean, contrast it to last week, and we were still deciding. I've decided he's going to be our starter moving forward. He'll get all the reps with the ones. The guys around him, in terms of receivers and the running backs, we rotate them in pretty frequently, but it's really the five guys in front of him and him going with the ones together. So, yeah, it's important.

Q. Where do you want to see improvement from Jett this week?
COACH WELLS: Taking the play to the signal to the call, consistency. He can be better at that. We can be better for him. Just in terms of what we're trying to do in the passing game, which some of that will change because you've got a new opponent and new schemes in the back end.

Q. And based on Saturday, how bought in are the rest of the players to Jett?
COACH WELLS: I don't know. You'll have to ask them. But I think the message, too, is we're bought in in us -- it's we, us and our and how we're doing things. Our core values are playing to win -- our preparation, going back to your question, that's us.

It's a quarterback's job to elevate the other 10 guys around him. Whether you're the guy that started the year or not, that's his job and to play well and to do that, but it's guys around him, it's their job that they're preparing and they're playing to their best because that helps him play better with the guys around him.

So it's not everybody's job around him. It's his job. It's our job.

Q. Coach, you mentioned the defense needed to have better effort against Oklahoma. Is that (indiscernible) tackling with the amount of missed tackles that you guys had?
COACH WELLS: I think there were certainly a few missed tackles, and let's credit them. They've got really good skill guys, really good, some of the best in the country. I would have liked us to tackle better. There was certainly a lot of yards after contact that we can improve on.

But when I talk about improvement, it's not just the effort -- you know, your effort. I think maybe you meant more the outcome. We all want that better outcome.

The effort to the ball at times was really, really good. There's other times it wasn't, not to our level, but that's evident in wins as well. It's alignment, assignment, and then tackling certainly.

Certainly, when you don't tackle well against an elite skill team like Oklahoma, they'll make you pay a lot quicker, as was the case.

Q. Chuba is the nation's leading rusher coming in now. What makes a guy like that so dynamic and electric?
COACH WELLS: He's patient. I like what they're doing on offense with him. And I haven't seen it all as of right now, just trying to go through three phases quickly. But he's patient. They do a lot of schemes where he's able to read, and then he's strong and physical. I mean, 180-some yards rushing a game or whatever that number is, he's a talented young man and certainly a big challenge for our defense.

Q. And how much does going up a guy like CeeDee Lamb now prepare you for going up against a guy like Tylan Wallace, one of their receivers?
COACH WELLS: Similar. Elite, two of the best in this league. CeeDee and Wallace, every time they touch the ball, they've got home run ability. They can make you pay if you don't tackle well. And making plays on the ball becomes paramount when you play elite talent like that, and those two guys are.

Q. You mentioned a moment ago when you were asked how Jett can improve, you mentioned getting the signal -- getting the call, getting the signal. You were talking a lot about presnap.
COACH WELLS: Some presnap, some post snap. He's no different than a lot of our other guys. We've got guys up front that we made mistakes as coaches presnap, but we had O-linemen making snaps, calls presnap again, whether that's a verbal call, it's a first step. Jett definitely is no different. His first step on drops can be cleaner and better. His decision-making off the pulls can be better to throw the screen or not throw the screen.

But I was mentioning that it's not just post snap, it's -- there's room for improvement for that young man, and hopefully that will come with increased reps this week, and then he'll be better next week after this week.

Q. Considering tempo is a big component of your offense, to what extent does that inhibit what you want to do and what you would like to do? (No microphone).
COACH WELLS: Actually, it's harder. The faster you go, the harder it is. You've got to see a signal fast, and you've got to see a lot of signals and a lot of things faster. So when you slow it down, you ought to be a little bit better.

Q. Later in the game, it seemed like -- I don't know if you were trying to get the defense rest, but you did hurry up time and then stand down a little bit such as immediately snapping; what was the thought process? (Indiscernible)
COACH WELLS: We actually started the first series of the game. Yeah, I think it was a planned component to try to reduce the amount of snaps that Jalen Hurts was going to play, and that worked. Now, the flipside of it was if you don't get first downs and you don't get explosives on offense, does it matter if you're going fast or you're slowing it down? It doesn't because you're putting the ball right back in their hands. 17 seconds off the clock or 1:30 off the clock -- I mean, we've got to play better on offense.

Whether it was slowing it down or playing it fast, whatever our plan is moving forward will be absolutely, in my opinion, we will do everything we can to allow our offense and our defense, our team, the best chance. That was our opinion going into the game against Jalen because of the kind of weapon he was, and we didn't play good enough on offense for that plan to even come more to fruition, but it did. I mean, 13 possessions -- I think they had 13. Took a knee on one.

Q. What do you see when you look at the Oklahoma State defense?
COACH WELLS: Multiple coverages in secondary, talented skill kills. I see a lot of D linemen that are fresh up front because they play a lot of guys up front, but they're dynamic and unique in terms of their skill on defense. They create a lot of issues, create a lot of, I think, confusion for receivers or quarterbacks. So how can we -- what have we got to do for our guys to give them the best possible opportunity to play well. But they do a great job of disguising a lot of stuff on the back end with the five DBs.

Q. Does that mean the offensive line needs to elevate their play even more with those fresh defensive linemen?
COACH WELLS: We all do.

Q. Can you use that tempo to benefit your defense as well to avoid getting as many fresh defensive linemen in there? You know what I'm saying? Get up to the line fresh, don't sub. Is that part of that as well?
COACH WELLS: It is if you're making first downs and explosives. It works beautiful. My point was, kind of going back, if you don't make first downs and explosives, it doesn't matter what you're doing, guys. Let's be real. It doesn't matter what you're doing. In terms of fast as you can go or slowing it down.

Q. California implementing a lot of allowing athletes to get paid for endorsements. I just wanted to get your thought on that. It was just signed a few days ago.
COACH WELLS: Has it come down through the NCAA yet? No, it hasn't. Honestly, I've seen it. I've heard it. There's a difference between listening and hearing. Listening, you have an intent to learn and actively. Until that comes down, yeah, I mean -- yeah, I know about it. I don't have a great comment for you because I'm trying to get ready for Oklahoma last week when that came out and Oklahoma State. I'm not trying to dodge it one bit. If it becomes something that we're all in, I'll have a good view on it. But until then, I really don't know a whole lot about it.

Q. I know you have a small sample size on Sanders, but what are your thoughts on him as quarterback this year?
COACH WELLS: The guy gives you a chance to win. He's dynamic. Pocket breaks down, he's dynamic. Got to have eyes on him. Plays break down, man. That makes you a better play caller because he can really hurt you. He's accurate with the football, redshirt freshman, young kid. I think he's got a bright future.

Q. How do you move forward as a defensive unit when you're still trying to address things like proper tackling technique and cutting down on missed tackles?
COACH WELLS: It's coaching, man. It's coaching. We do it every week. Every team in the country does it. We address things -- alignment, assignment, preparation throughout the week, your tackling, fundamentals. We don't quit tackling because it's Game 5. We're going to go tackling tomorrow on Wednesday, whether we would have won or lost. When you say how do you address it, I just say consistently.

Q. When you step back and look at Jett Duffey, what do you see as his strengths that you look to enhance on Saturday?
COACH WELLS: Similar to what I was just mentioning about Sanders. When he pulls it down, he can run. He's a dual threat. He is able to escape. He throws the ball well when he throws it on time. He's got to continue to, as he learns this week's game plan and what we're doing and he gains confidence in it, the more you know, the more confident, then your talent comes out, and I think it's a lot more efficient.

Jett's care factor is high, and I respect that. I appreciate that, but I think he does have some talent.

Q. During the season, where do you see which position group has made the most improvement?
COACH WELLS: Made the most improvement since the start of the season? I think our tight ends have played well, our Hs, our inside guys -- Rigdon, Mannix, Donta Thompson -- I've seen them improve. I've seen Xavier Benson improve a lot. He's a young redshirt freshman outside backer, kind of playing to the field and to the boundary.

I've seen Des Smith improve. There's a guy that I respect as a senior. He didn't start the, whatever, the first game or two. He got benched out of the nickel personnel group. Never gave up. Never gave in. Got prepared and played very well against Oklahoma. Guy's got a great sack if we do what we're supposed to on the back side of it. It's a phenomenal effort to even chase down the quarterback.

Those are some of the guys that come to mind.

Another one, because of the unknown that I have mentioned a couple of times here, is just the kickers and the specialists. That's an improvement because it came from an unknown. Just had no idea because of the game experience. And they've all held up and done well.

Q. How do you maximize Jett's big play ability while also telling him, hey, you don't have to make every throw?
COACH WELLS: It's a learned skill and a developed skill that you know, when something's breaking down, that you can throw it in the third row of the stands and live to play another down versus I'm going to scramble and make what I can. There's a time and a place for both.

Q. Matt, on Saturday, is there anything wrong with Armand Shyne later in the game, or did you just stick with SaRodorick more because you liked what you were seeing from him?
COACH WELLS: Probably a little of both. Armand kind of went down with an ankle, kind of tweaked it. SaRodorick was doing well. So it was kind of a combination of both.

Q. (No microphone)?
COACH WELLS: He's day to day.

Q. (No microphone)?
COACH WELLS: What was the D and D? Where were we at? Let's talk about it specifically. Fourth and six on the 6? Percentages of converting that aren't very good, whether it's me, my gut, my analytics -- everything says kick it.

Yeah, I could have thrown it in at least another shot. I mean, which ones are they? There's times that you went for it on fourth and short, a couple times, knowing that you had to have touchdowns.

Where were you exactly in the game on? On the one field goal, I'm not sure if there were enough possessions even if they were touchdowns left in the ball game. And it was a distance, a down and distance that would have been a lot harder -- I mean, it wasn't fourth and short.

So I think each one of them carry a story or a decision in its own, and I'm certainly open to being asked about each one. I get all that. But you make the decision as you go between the gut and analytics as well as the scoreboard and the situation of where you're at in the game.

Q. You mentioned last week of Xavier Martin being the emergency quarterback. Is he going to stay with the quarterback group and work with them the rest of the year?
COACH WELLS: Yeah, for right now, yes, sir.

Q. When you look at your offensive line, what can you do as coaches or how do you talk with them or work with them to get them to improve and, as you say, play better, not necessarily play harder?
COACH WELLS: I think it's -- Chuck, I think it's daily fundamentals as well as communication. How you're communicating, how you're targeted, how you're ID'd. One guy's off, that looks bad. We all know that, right, with O-line play because you've got to play in unison.

It's also when you face an extremely talented D-line, similar to my question about tackling, I mean, they can expose you real quick when you're off with the footwork or a step or a fundamental. So I think you've got to go back to the basics, and you've got to have both of those for an O-line.

Q. Has that been a little bit of a surprise for you that that's been a little bit off?
COACH WELLS: No, I mean, because I would hesitate to call it a surprise. I wish we'd have played better on the O-line. I wish I'd have coached better. Saturday was tough all the way around, not just on one position group.

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