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This is the offseason.
A smattering of articles here and there, without much content. Whatever I can find, I'll post it here, one way or another. You'll also note that I'm changing up the format a bit. The problem with posting something that's ugly is that it's going to be there for an entire day, but the best way for me to know if something doesn't look right is to actually post it and then go from there. In any event, if you have any complaints, let me know in the comment section or feel free to shoot me an email (always at the very bottom of the page).
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The big news from last night was the Mike Leach interview with 60 Minutes. Personally, I thought it was just about right. The mentions that Texas Tech does get the leftover recruits doesn't bother me, especially since that for a long time this was absolutely true. The tide is certainly beginning to change a bit on the recruiting front and I'm not sure that statement will be entirely true in the near future. As far as Leach is concerned, I thought he was certainly himself and we've seen most of that before. Perhaps the thing that I enjoyed the most was Michael Lewis, who wrote Moneyball, the 2005 NY Times article on Leach and a more recent look back at that Leach from this year, affirming that Leach is still one hell of a coach. It's good to be reminded by people a little bit further from the situation that Leach absolutely does more with less than any coach in the country. Yes, I absolutely believe that.
When Lewis was asked about why Leach has never won a conference championship or a national championship, this was his response:
"I’d say, first, he’s young," Lewis said. "Just wait."I’d say also, God help you if he gets hold of the sort of athletes they get at Texas or Oklahoma or USC. Nobody else will stand a chance."
Both ESPN's Tim Griffin and FWST's Dwain Price had articles on the 60 Minutes profile and you'll note that the entire piece is embedded below for those of you who didn't see it last night.
13. Taylor Potts will throw for 4,000 yards at Texas Tech
The Red Raiders won't be national-championship contenders after losing quarterback Graham Harrell and receiver Michael Crabtree, but they'll still be a tough out in the Big 12 South. In his first year as the starter, Potts, currently a sophomore, won't miss a beat in Mike Leach's spread offense, and will throw for more than 4,000 yards. Leach will spend most of his summer trying to figure out who shot J.R.
If Potts is only throwing for 4,000 yards, hopefully that means that Baron Batch and/or Harrison Jeffers and/or Aaron Crawford are receiving a healthy dose of touches. That would be fine by me.
ESPN's Todd McShay says that Graham Harrell is the top-rated senior quarterback in April's 2009 NFL draft, but doesn't expect him to be drafted in the first three rounds:
No senior quarterback will be drafted in the first three rounds in 2009. Cullen Harper of Clemson and Curtis Painter of Purdue were the top senior signal-callers entering the season, but they bombed in 2008 and were passed on the draft board by a group of six draft-eligible underclassmen (Bradford, Stafford, Davis, Freeman, USC's Mark Sanchez and Florida's Tim Tebow. Texas Tech's Graham Harrell is the top-rated senior at this point, just ahead of Sam Houston State's Rhett Bomar, who transferred from Oklahoma before the 2006 season.
SAEN's Mike Finger writes Texas Tech's top five offseason storylines.
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Yahoo! Sports' Texas Tech team report is a decent substitute for the DTN Basketball Report until I get around to it on Thursday, right before conference play starts on Saturday, in Waco, against Baylor. There is one non-conference game left, which is TCU on Tuesday night, in Lubbock, and is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip on TTTN.