Texas Tech enters its second season under head coach Joey McGuire, who led the Red Raiders to a memorable debut that featured eight wins for the first time since 2013, its most Big 12 wins since 2009, and a victory over Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl.
The Red Raiders officially open spring practices Tuesday afternoon with a two-hour workout at the Football Training Facility. It will be the first of 15 practices this spring for the Red Raiders, who will wrap their second spring under McGuire on April 22 with the annual Spring Game held this year at Lowrey Field at PlainsCapital Park due to ongoing construction at Jones AT&T Stadium.
McGuire became only the fifth head coach in program history to win at least eight games in his debut season and the third to do so while also winning a bowl game, joining both Tommy Tuberville (2010) and Kliff Kingsbury (2013) on that list. Neither Tuberville nor Kingsbury was able to post five Big 12 wins in their debut season, however.
Due to the ongoing construction project, Texas Tech will move its annual Spring Game to Lowrey Field at PlainsCapital Park, the home to Lubbock ISD football games. The spring game will take place on April 22 with a 12 p.m. start with television coverage provided via Big 12 Now on ESPN+. Texas Tech will offer free admission for all fans to PlainsCapital Park, the home of Lubbock ISD football. It will be the lone open practice surrounding Texas Tech’s spring schedule as Jones AT&T Stadium will be unavailable until closer to the 2023 season.
In between the action on the field, Texas Tech will resume one tradition at halftime of the Spring Game with the unveiling of its team awards from the 2022 season. Texas Tech’s team awards.
Below is a rundown of news and notes regarding the Red Raiders heading into spring ball:
THE RED RAIDERS RETURN 16 STARTERS ON BOTH SIDES
- Joey McGuire will return the bulk of his production on both sides of the ball this spring as Texas Tech boasts 16 returning starters, including 10 on offense and an additional six on defense. The list of returnees also features a pair of specialists as well in long snapper Jackson Knotts, a two-year starter, and punter Austin McNamara, who will enter 2023 on pace to easily snap the Texas Tech career punting average record.
- As a team, Texas Tech’s list of returners accounts for 322 career starts between both sides of the ball (165 offense, 157 defense). That total is boosted by 13 different Red Raiders with at least 10 career starts, a list led by defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings with 46 over the past four seasons. Behind Hutchings, the list also features offensive lineman Caleb Rogers (29), defensive lineman Tony Bradford Jr. (25), defensive backs Rayshad Williams (24) and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (24) as well as wide receiver Myles Price (21).
- Offensive coordinator Zach Kittley will benefit from the return of two quarterbacks senior Tyler Shough and sophomore Behren Morton, who will battle for the starting job throughout spring practices. shough, the starter out of preseason camp last August, was a perfect 5-0 in starts a year ago after leading the Red Raiders to four consecutive wins to end the season. Morton, meanwhile, showed the promise that made him Texas Tech’s highest-rated quarterback signing in school history after starting in four Big 12 contests where he threw for 1,117 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for two more.
- The quarterback room, regardless of who wins the starting job, will definitely benefit from a much more experienced wide receiver room as Texas Tech returns each of its top-five receivers from a year ago, including sophomore Jerand Bradley, who earned second-team Freshman All-America honors this past season after catching 51 passes for 744 yards and six touchdowns. Texas Tech, as a team, brings back 87.8 percent of its receiving production from a year ago with fellow returners such as Myles Price, Xavier White, Loic Fouonji, and Nehemiah Martinez I. Those five names represent the Red Raiders’ top five leading receivers from this past season.
- Defensively, despite the loss of regulars such as Tyree Wilson, Krishon Merriweather, and Marquis Waters, the Red Raiders still bring back plenty of experience, especially up front with the likes of Hutchings and Bradford, who have combined for 71 starts up front between the two. In addition to upfront, the Red Raiders return three mainstays in the secondary, including both cornerbacks in Williams and Malik Dunlap as well as safety Taylor-Demerson. Dunlap was an All-Big 12 second-team honoree a year ago by the conference coaches.
