ROSTER MOVES | First things first, the official site had a press release yesterday which included the updated roster (PDF) and a spring prospectus (PDF). LAJ's Don Williams was the first to note that a handful of players have left the program:

Williams notes that Barr is having to end his career due to knee injuries, as is Martin, who never saw the field and apparently had injury issues since 2010. Williams also notes that Washington just stopped working out with the team about two-thirds of the way through the season. That's weird. I know that Durham, Chidozie and Polk were not likely going to play considering how the roster was shaking out, so I'm not surprised that they left. This is also the reason why when I do position previews and reviews, it's good to wait until after the spring because there are almost invariable situations where players leave due to lack of playing time. I'm not discouraged with the players leaving because most likely they were not going to break the rotation, so I don't consider them leaving to be a reason for success or failure in 2012.

GEEZ, INSERT CLEVER SUBJECT LINE ABOUT A COACH LEAVING HERE | Per the TAMU Scout site and Coaching Search, it appears that defensive line coach has accepted the same position with Texas A&M. If you are at all curious about a possible replacement, Coaching Search has this:

Texas Tech: With the departure of Terry Price to Texas A&M, don't be surprised if Tuberville turns to former Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix or former Tulane defensive line / special teams coordinator John Hendrick.

I've got nothing. It's cray-cray how this is going down and I somewhat understood offensive line coach Jim Turner leaving Texas Tech to go to the Dolphins, but this seems like poor form on Price, but this, again, makes head coach Tommy Tuberville look not so good. TAMU is Price's alma mater so I guess that's part of the equation, but still, this is a bit discouraging. I wasn't going to mention it, but I wonder if this is something that happens often with other schools and as an example, former Red Raider Mike Smith was set to take the West Virginia defensive coordinator job and I think he ended up going back to the NY Jets (he flip-flopped a couple of times, but eventually went back to NYJ). At this point I don't know if WVU has a defensive coordinator so in my mind, I have to tell myself that this happens at other schools, but I don't know if it makes me feel any better.

More after the jump.

And as to Price's replacement, I'd be ecstatic with Nix, who I think was being considered for the defensive coordinator spot, but I'm guessing this spot needs to be filled by Friday. If you want to learn a bit more about Hendricks or Nix then click either of those links. I'd also say that I'm happy with Tuberville's replacement for Turner, ACU's Chris Thomsen, so I'm hoping that I'm pleasantly surprised with the new hire, I'm just incredibly frustrated (as I would guess Tuberville might be) with the timing.

DEFENSIVE BACK PREVIEW | LAJ's Don Williams has his position preview for defensive back. One other reason why I don't do positional reviews and previews is because I don't have access so I could make guesses, but it's usually better to wait until the spring shakes out so I don't waste a ton of time writing about players that aren't at Texas Tech. You can click on over for a look at the depth chart, but this is one position group where I think we'd be wasting our time trying to predict who is going to play in the secondary. I cannot imagine a situation where the JUCO guys, like S Austin Stewart and CB Thierry Nguema getting immediate looks because they are already on campus, but players like CB Olaoluwa Falemi and CB Bruce Jones to have opportunities in the fall. If guys like CB Jeremy Reynolds and CB Urell Johnson are going to make a move, they better make a move this spring. Williams also notes that Shawn Corker and J.J. Gaines are moving to safety.