LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech safety John White has spent summers working on cotton farms. His father, Jay, put in days at the local plumbing company and then hauled square bails until dark.

When he was in middle school, White and his father started a swine operation, raising show pigs that won grand championships in country shows; more than a few swine were sold at the bigger, statewide shows.

He smiles at the idea of a Hunt Brother’s Pizza outpost coming to the convenience store in his one-stoplight hometown of Bremond, Texas — it’s just a blinking stoplight, not one of the traditional red-yellow-green variety — because residents can now say the following: We have a restaurant.

TWO WEEKS IN TEXAS: The series so far

Yeah, you wouldn’t confuse White for anything but what he is: a small-town Texan. He’s also a really great story.

As a senior at Bremond High School, White was set to play at Mary Hardin-Baylor, an in-state Division III power, before getting a call from then-Texas Tech defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow just weeks before graduation. Glasgow asked White to join the Red Raiders’ program as a preferred walk-on.

White didn’t have major on-field goals: It’ll be worth it my senior year if I got to play in one game on special teams, White thought as a freshman.

“I never really looked at the future of it,” he said.

Now on scholarship, White is an important part of Texas Tech’s defensive backfield. He proved himself in a conference matchup against Iowa State last November: With the Red Raiders thin at the position due to injuries, White was inserted into the lineup late in the game with the Cyclones advancing downfield for the potential winning touchdown.

Despite being hobbled by a knee injury — he barely remembers jogging along the sideline to work out the kinks — White helped break up a pass in the end zone late in the fourth quarter, helping secure a 34-31 victory.

“I really couldn’t do anything but thank God for the opportunity,” he said.

That White would play at Texas Tech seemed preordained. His uncle, a Texas A&M graduate, was “always talking trash” about the Red Raiders, White said. One day, fed up, White’s grandfather turned to his uncle with a prediction: You keep talking that mess, one of these days your nephew’s going to be a Red Raider.

“When I got the chance, I ran,” said White. “It’s a dream come true.”

Here’s the best part: In the summer of 2012, after completing his true freshman season, White picked up a part-time gig as an electrical engineer — with part of his duties installing wiring in the video board inside Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium.

He spent mornings and afternoons inside the stadium; he’d then cross the parking lot to the Red Raiders’ football facilities and practice with the team.

Three years later, White finds himself featured on the same video board he helped install. He’s been fortunate to play under Texas Tech Coach Kliff Kingsbury, who has placed a stronger emphasis on what local walk-ons can bring to the program than the Red Raiders’ previous staff did, White said.

“I’m grateful that these coaches came in. When they got here, I was in a dark place in my athletic career. Before Kingsbury came in, it was rough. The old staff, they didn’t appreciate the walk-ons.”