Cumbie Promoted: LAJ's Don Williams writes that former graduate assistant Sonny Cumbie has been promoted to inside receivers coach. I think this move has been inevitable, especially after I'd read snipets about how Cumbie is out on recruiting visits. I don't think he would have been out recruiting as hard as he was as a graduate assistant, without some thought that he would be promoted in some form or fashion.
Although Lincoln Riley has received quite a bit of credit for the way the offense ran against Michigan St. in the Alamo Bowl, I think it deserves mention again that Cumbie was in the booth helping Riley make the right calls. Cumbie may have only been a graduate assistant, but I still think that his life experiences are fairly unique in the sense that he's a former Air Raid quarterback, played professionally, albeit in the arena leagues, and was also a coach/player of one of those arena teams. Cumbie has had to work for whatever success he's had and I like that sort of effort in a coach.
De-Commitment: As posted in FanPost by theta12 and reported by LAJ's Don Williams, Javius Townsend has de-committed from Texas Tech and committed to Oklahoma St. For those of you who are worried that there just aren't enough linemen in this year's class, you're may be right, but this is probably one of those situations where we put pen to paper.
Offensive Lineman Status: For clarification purposes, here's the offensive linemen situation:
Current Offensive Linemen:
Kyle Clark, RS/Fr.
Lonnie Edwards, Jr.
Blake Emert, Jr.
Deveric Gallington, Jr.
Joel Gray, RS/Fr.
Jonathan Guerra, So.
Justin Keown, Sr.
Joe King, So.
Terry McDaniel, So.
David Neill, Jr.
Mikey Okafor, Jr.
Chris Olson, Sr.
LaAdrian Waddle, So.
Current Offensive Linemen Commits:
Beau Carpenter
Eric Lawson
James Polk
Aleon Calhoun
For those of you counting, that's 13 offensive linemen on the current roster. And the classification designation is what they will be next year, not what they were this year. Of the current commits, Carpenter is already enrolled in class and on campus, while I would guess that Calhoun will not be looking elsewhere after committing last week. Obviously, you worry about guys like Lawson and Polk, but you'll hear and read stories about every commit looking elsewhere until February 3rd.
I think you'd like to have more linemen on your roster, but it's not fatal. As a comparison, there are 13 or 14 receivers (scholarship players) currently on the roster that will or should actually see time on the field next year.
Pound it here for more on DE/OLB Dartwan Bush to visit with Tuberville and is Kadron Boone committed? That's one helluva tease.
Bush to Meet with Tuberville: ESPN's Gerry Hamilton reports that DE/OLB Dartwan Bush is to meet with head coach Tommy Tuberville this week and Bush meet with DC James Willis last week. I said it yesterday, but I think that Bush would be a tremendous outside linebacker in the 3-4 and I have a feeling that Tuberville feels the same way. As an aside, Dartwan was named the Brazoria County All-County MVP by thefacts.com (this is a Brazoria County newspaper). Here's Dartwan's high school head coach:
"Dartwan has been an impact player for us since he was a sophomore and has continued to work hard and grow as a player and as a student-athlete," Brazoswood defensive coordinator Zeke Wintjen said. "He’s showed great leadership.
"He’s the complete package," Wintjen said. "He always puts the team first in everything he does. He does his job in the classroom and he works hard in the offseason and in practice. That’s where you can see he has gained confidence in himself, and that really shows at game time."
The article mentions that Bush is still being looked at by other schools, but it appears that Texas Tech is his biggest offer and I'd hope that a visit from Tuberville will seal the deal.
Boone Committed? . . . and Further Recruiting Discussion: Rivals.com's Jeremy Crabtree was interviewed by Fox Sports Southwest (Part I and Part II) and there's lots of good information about every Big 12 team. Part I deals with the South teams and Part II deals with the North teams. Here's what Crabtree has to say about Texas Tech:
Over in Lubbock, the Texas Tech program has gone through a bit of an overhaul with the firing of Mike Leach and hiring of Tommy Tuberville. Has that impacted recruiting negatively at all for the Red Raiders?
There have been some defections, but I think for the most part, Coach Tuberville and the staff he’s hired have done a tremendous job at keeping the big pieces in place. Kadron Boone (Ocala, FL/Trinity Catholic) is one of the top offensive players in the country. Getting him to stay on board was absolutely vital. They went out and re-solidified virtually every one of their commitments, so I like what they’ve done from that standpoint, and that may be the best recruiting job Coach Tuberville did all year. I think he did a tremendous job of that.
Who are some of the guys who can come and help build the great defenses Coach Tuberville was known for at Auburn.
Scott Smith, Scott Smith and Scott Smith (El Dorado, KS/Butler County C.C.). He’s the junior college defensive player of the year in the Jayhawk conference this season. He signed at mid-term under the previous coaching staff. He’s the type of kid Coach Tuberville will be able to build a defense around. He’s so good at stopping the run, but he really gets after it and is all over the field. He gets to the quarterback and has a massive frame at 6’6", 260 pounds. He looks and plays like a million bucks. If you’re looking for one guy in the entire Texas Tech class to come play immediately, it would be Scott Smith, because you don’t recruit junior college kids to come sit the bench.
If I'm reading this correctly, Crabtree seems to imply that Boone is going to stay committed to Texas Tech. I'm not counting my chickens until they hatch, but I'm hoping this is a good sign.