In a press conference Wednesday before his first spring practice as Texas Tech's head coach, Joey McGuire brought out the stick by which he'll measure his team over the following 15 practices, beginning March 22.
"What I want out of spring is, Practice 1 and Practice 15 on the offensive side of the ball, whenever I turn on the ball, whatever our run play is -- let's say it's counter -- I want the first day of counter and day 15 to look dramatically different in the confidence when we run that play. When the offensive line comes off the ball, from Day 1 to Day 15, no matter who we line up, no matter what defense they give us, I want to be confident that we're coming off the ball very aggressively and very physical," he said.
Hired Nov. 8, McGuire has had ample time (relatively speaking) to prepare for this moment. Offensive coordinator Zach Kittley and defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter were both in place within a month of McGuire's hiring, giving Texas Tech's new braintrust three full months to introduce their systems before the pads came on for the first time. McGuire said most of Kittley's and DeRutyer's systems have been introduced on the whiteboard, and he wants those systems to evolve from understood to absorbed by the time the April 23 spring game rolls around.
He wants Texas Tech to speed up from a jog to a sprint by the spring game, an appropriate goal considering he was hired to revamp, not rebuild, a Red Raider team that went a respectable 7-6 in 2021.
McGuire's standard is at once subjective and objective, and one that's appropriate for the zero-sum game that is spring ball. Subjective, because he could've said he wanted each counter run to average 4.5 yards per carry by Practice 15. Objective, because the depth of knowledge required to produce 4.5 yards per carry, if his goal is achieved, will be evident to anyone who turns on the film.
"On the defensive side of the ball, from Practice 1 to Practice 15, the way we run to the football, there should be a distinct and dramatic difference," McGuire said.
McGuire said his goal is to play "at least" 22 defenders in the Red Raiders' opener against Murray State on Sept. 3.
"I want that many people running with all out effort when we play defense," he said. "That's what I want to see. Coach Kittley wants to see deep balls and Coach DeRuyter wants to see us defend deep balls. Those are the two things I want to see when we come out of spring."