A Miscommunication

When it was tweeted last night that QB Baker Mayfield had a miscommunication with the coaching staff I sat up. This isn't the first time that Mayfield has had a miscommunication. That was my first thought. That there were numerous miscommunications in how Mayfield played out his scholarship situation. There may have been a miscommunication with Washington St. and there may have been a miscommunication with TCU.

It's pretty amazing to see the rumors fly yesterday. Mostly because we didn't know what was really happening. I suppose I've always know that it's the "unknown" that causes the most problems.

It's the unknown that drives message boards and twitter and comments to make assumptions about a situation and it is a part college athletics. It's the unknown of what's happening at UT that's driving people to look for answers and it is the same thing here. People are looking for answers. We probably won't ever know Kingsbury's version. Don't believe anything that you've read as far as comments are concerned. Don't believe the mess about Mayfield not receiving a scholarship or anything like that.

I'm sure I've been part of it before, speculation and such, but it really is a guessing game on some level. Trying to guess how things happen without hurting people's feelings. We take this stuff pretty seriously and I do take it seriously when a player that's earned his way to start a handful of games feels like there's a misunderstanding.

Even if there wasn't some sort of miscommunication, even if Mayfield just wanted to play, I can't or won't blame him for wanting more of a sure thing, but there's competition everywhere. There aren't any guarantees in life. I think that probably applies to every one of these guys that are competing for time and snaps. You constantly have to earn it, whether it be on the field or in life. You most likely won't be handed anything.

The San Antonio Express News wrote last night, via the Austin American Statesman, that the reason Mayfield decided to transfer is that once Mayfield learned that Brewer was going to start the bowl game, Mayfield informed the coaches that he was going to transfer:

Mayfield told the Austin American-Statesman that he met with Tech coaches on Tuesday to tell them of his transfer plans, which came shortly after he learned that Brewer would be starting the bowl game.

"I’m disappointed because I love Lubbock," said Mayfield, who will not play in the Holiday Bowl. "I’m thankful for the opportunity they gave me and everything that Lubbock has done for me, but it’s time for me to move on and start over."

Maybe the thing that stinks about all of this is that I think Kingsbury might feel like he gave Mayfield a chance. It just seems so flimsy to think that because Kingsbury didn't promise that Mayfield would start for a bowl game for a reason to transfer, but I suppose if a person is looking for a reason, any reason will do.

If you're looking for a comment from head coach Kliff Kingsbury, I think you can probably forget it. When Delvon Simmons transferred to USC, I don't think he commented at all. I wouldn't expect that to change right now, that doesn't seem like it's beneficial to get into a he-said, he-said situation. There would never be a winner in that situation and sometimes you can win that public opinion battle no matter how much he comments.

So yes, I think the best thing that could happen is for Kingsbury and the coaching staff to be quiet about this and let Mayfield say what he thinks he needs to say. If this is how he's going to ride off into the Texas Tech sunset, then that's on him.