Scott Roussel recently spent a few days in Lubbock this past week with full

access to the Texas Tech football program and coaching staff. Roussel owns and

operates FootballScoop.com and has

been reporting on both college and professional coaching personnel news for the

past six years.

I spoke with Scott yesterday afternoon to get his feedback on the visit to the

South Plains and thoughts on the Red Raiders.

Scott, you alluded to visiting Lubbock previously on your site, when was

your last trip to Lubbock before this past week?

SR: "I was in Lubbock about three years ago. I flew into town

and rented a car on my way to a coaching clinic in San Angelo. I took my time

and drove through the city, the campus, but nothing too extensive. I could still

tell things looked a lot better this time around. You hear negative recruiting

about Tech, 'It's a dust bowl in the middle of nowhere,' but I have to say that

Lubbock is a very nice town that continues to improve."

So take me through your visit to Lubbock, when did you arrive and what all

did you do?

SR: "I was in town on Tuesday afternoon and left early Thursday

afternoon. We started at the football training facility, the team had just

finished practice that afternoon. Kenny Bell, Tech's Chief of Staff, showed me

around the facilities for a while and we grabbed dinner.

"On Wednesday, Kliff is the first guy in the building around 4:00 a.m. Most of

the staff arrived before 5:00 a.m., but the whole staff was there by 6:00 a.m. I

say that because it's early to have the full staff on hand at that time. I spent

probably an hour, hour and a half with the defensive staff room. We started to

catch up on a few things, but the entire staff had this state-mandated training

or something. I think it was along the lines of sexual awareness, now law to go

through training as a result of stuff like Sandusky.

"I went to have lunch at the club level of the stadium with a few folks, then

spent some time with Kingsbury and Morris while they were running over some new

offensive ideas on the whiteboard. I like Leach a lot and when Kliff got the job

he called me and told me that Morris was headed to Tech. Leach told me that

Morris understands the offense, he also mentioned that Morris and Kingsbury work

very well together.

"That really shined while I was there, they were going over some new formations

that Kingsbury had received from Chip Kelly in Philadelphia during a recent

visit. They started to experiment with new plays and formations on the board,

then Morris would say, 'Oh yeah, we could do this and that' and 'Think about

this!' It was like two kids in a candy store.

"The team meetings started around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, the coaches

addressed the team and then they broke out into positional meetings for about an

hour, hour and a half. I rejoined Wallerstedt and Smith again to watch the room

while they spoke to the defensive players.

"I really didn't get into much scheme or Xs & Os with them, but rather spent

some time getting to know them a little more. I did not know much about either

coach before this trip, but have some friends in the profession that just rave

about these guys.

"Wallerstedt adds a lot of credibility to this staff for the players. He knows

what he is doing and is the leader in the room. In year two, they are working on

making the defense easier for the players to hear the call and react, more

adjustable and more attackable overall. Both coaches feel like the players all

have a better understanding of where to be on the field now.

"Smith is 100 percent genuine and hardcore, they all love him. As I mentioned,

many of my friends in the coaching profession think very highly of Smith. The

Ryans think so much of him, Rex even traveled to Lubbock last year in an attempt

to recruit Smith back to the Jets with a higher salary. Many of the front office

personnel for the Jets still rave about Smith, they all love him. He really

likes the setup at Tech and is all about changing the identity or perception of

the defense in Lubbock.

"The defense was playing short, meaning they lacked depth at a few keys

positions, namely the defensive line. The coaches are pretty excited about the

guys joining from the JUCO ranks later in June. Both said the players on the way

are game-changers and will impact their defense immediately."

"That ended my day on Wednesday, Kliff and I headed to dinner that evening after

the coaches all finished meetings for the day."

Tell me about dinner with Kingsbury, what all did you guys talk about?

SR: "I started the conversation by telling him how impressed I

was with Eric Morris. He had the receivers listening to every single word he had

to say, it was a very good room. Kliff told me that Morris knows this offense

more than anybody else and he hopes they can keep him at Tech. He thinks it's

very realistic that people start to notice how well Morris knows the offense and

believes other opportunities will come for him. Kliff is trying to stay ahead of

them and mentioned naming Morris as the offensive coordinator as a way to stay

ahead of such interest.

"We also talked about the team and his quarterback in particular. I was

impressed with what I saw from Webb and it looks like he has progressed a lot

from last season. Kliff believes in him and feels that it's all coming together

for that kid. He is excited with how Webb is throwing the ball and playing

within the offense so far this offseason. I have to say, I was watching film

from the practice and Webb has got 'it'. The coaches are all very happy with his

progression and excited about what he can do with the offense in year two.

"Other than that, we really spent most of our time getting to know one another

and talked about the team, his coaching staff."

You mentioned spending some one-on-one time with some of the Tech coaches,

can you give me your thoughts on some of the other coaches you haven't mentioned

so far?

SR: "I went up to the football facilities around the same time

the next morning, same thing, all the coaches were there bright and early to

start the day. I was able to watch their meetings that morning, then spend some

one-on-one time with each one of the Tech coaches.

"With Haverty, I think it's really cool and quite impressive that he stepped out

of TCU to come over and coach at Tech. That type of move really adds to your

resume as a coach, but more so speaks to who you really are as a coach. Trey is

a guy that used to actually call plays and coordinate defenses at the DIII

level, it's a big shift to go from calling plays to figuring out your role as a

position coach within the defense. How your role fits into what the defense is

trying to accomplish, etc. Very impressed with Haverty, another impressive part

of the Tech coaching staff.

"With Curtis, he and Kliff are completely on the same page. They are great

friends and you can tell they really respect one another a lot. We didn't really

get to watch a lot of film together, but you could see that the players really

like him. He is also known as a very good recruiter and I could see why, Curtis

is an extremely likable guy.

"Chiaverini is the newest coach at Tech. He's a high energy guy who has been

there and done that before. Chev did well in the Pac-12 and played in the NFL

for a few years. He knows the California JUCO world very well and the California

recruiting landscape in general. I feel that he has a strong ability to bring in

the right fits there, and that adds real value at a school like Texas Tech.

"I'm a firm believer in having a special teams coordinator and he's big into

that. Chev controls the room, it's fun, but also accountable. We didn't talk

specific players, but he has been happy with the overall buy-in from the players

so far. They do have to worry about numbers for a little bit until the summer.

Depth issues have effected the special teams in the spring, but the staff has

been busy churning the roster and have several players on the way to fill

spots."

Our focus at RRS is mainly the recruiting aspect of the Tech program, did

the topic of recruiting come up during your visit?

SR: "I sat through a meeting with the offensive staff and they

spent about an hour looking through some prospect highlights. They all like to

watch highlights together, evaluate and share their thoughts with each other. I

don't think that I can technically talk specifics, but all the coaches worked

well together while sharing notes and thoughts on each prospect's film.

"The entire staff feels they can get the right kids to come visit, then fall in

love with the program. I feel strongly they can get them there and keep them

there. They are trying new things, traveling around -- California, other states

-- and Kliff does a lot to promote Texas Tech. It is his program, it's him, he's

the long term guy at Tech. A few more wins and there will be a Top 10 team in

Lubbock. That will really get things going quickly, he just needs some dominant

big men and that team will be hard to beat.

"I can tell you that Kliff believes the team will break out this upcoming season

and that the talent will come. He is telling his staff to aim high, then cash in

later."

OK, last question, what did you learn about Kingsbury during your trip and

what are your thoughts on the Texas Tech football program moving forward?

SR: "Kliff is one of the rising stars in the profession, he

just gets it. He has the vibe and mentally, Kliff is very focused on improving

the Tech program. Many people say, 'Can a young guy do it?' and, after spending

a few days with him, I feel he clearly knows how to run a program. I think Tech

will score a lot of points and have that break out year this season.

"Kliff had the respect of the whole room, players and fellow coaches the entire

time. He is very driven, very competitive. Kliff is there to win and win big, he

believes they can compete for national championships at Texas Tech. As I

mentioned earlier, he believes this team will have a break out season and that

more wins will bring more talent to Lubbock.

"On the future of the program, I'm just a big believer in Kliff and his offense.

I watched him pretty closely, but it doesn't matter that I'm a big believer

because it was obvious that the kids are all buying into what the coaching staff

is doing there at Tech. From what I watched of the quarterback and receivers

last week, I can see them having a very good season this year.

"I see progress, progress, progress moving forward for Texas Tech football."