Red Raider Gridiron | Battle at Center and Receiver Depth Chart

STORIES OF THE DAY

KINGSBURY HOLDING COURT | I don't think that you're going to see head coach Kliff Kingsbury reveal his cards all spring regarding who is ahead of who. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Kingsbury didn't reveal any sort of two-deep at the end of spring. Close to the vest. It's actually pretty interesting and it goes to all positions. From the center to the quarterback. I know that the general media may not like this, but being a guy that doesn't have access, it's fine with me.

One other thing to note during Kingsbury's interview, he said he likes for players to "thud up", but not take players to the ground. I think I smell a Twitter hashtag. In any event, the question was regarding tackling during practice and they don't tackle during practice, but just tackle during scrimmages. He wants practice to remain violent. I think that's a difficult thing to balance.

I will say that even though Kingsbury only speaks for about two and a half minutes, it is fun to watch him hold court with the media. The answers are short and sweet and there's not a lot to go with. It is much different than Tuberville, who, I think, liked to talk.

The other interviewee was LB Blake Dees, but there wasn't anything written about him this morning. He did mention that he's starting alongside LB Will Smith, which is interesting. I could see the two of them manning the inside linebacker spots.

BATTLE AT CENTER | The LAJ has an article on Jared Kaster and Tony Morales who are battling for playing time at center. I actually think that both players are probably very capable and I think that Texas Tech is blessed to have a couple of options at center that could step in and play. I think that Texas Tech is also blessed to be able to move the Morales brothers around to guard positions and I would bet that they could flip to tackle if needed. Here's Kingsbury on their play:

"I haven’t seen enough yet after two days in pads," Kingsbury said. "At this tempo, both of them are doing a good job recognizing coverages and getting our protections and run game called, which has been encouraging. Now we’ve just got to sharpen up their technique and go from there."

Kaster did talk about offensive line coach Lee Hayes:

"He’s going to make me a man, to be honest with you," Kaster said. "The stuff that we do, the drills, he’s a very disciplined coach. He’s going to get you right, working after practice and during practice. He’s going to make our offensive line probably the nastiest line in the Big 12. That’s what we’re trying to be."

RECEIVER DEPTH CHART | The LAJ also has a notebook and has a bunch of notes (hence the name "notebook") and they do have a depth chart for the receivers thus far:

Split end: Eric Ward, Sr.; Dominique Wheeler, Fr.; Derreck Edwards, So.
Inside receiver (H): Jakeem Grant, So.; Jordan Davis, Jr.; Brent Mitcham, Jr.
Inside receiver (Y): Jace Amaro, Jr.; Peyton Williams, Fr.; Aaron Fisher, Sr.
Flanker: Bradley Marquez, Jr.; Reginald Davis, Fr.; Brandon DeFrance, Sr.

This seems about right, although I am surprised that Wheeler is ahead of Edwards. Also in the notebook is the note that Javon Bell is sitting out this spring to focus on academics. I suspect he is on thin ice. Co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie talked about the young receivers:

"The thing I’m interested to see is how Eric Ward pushes himself and makes himself a better player," Cumbie said. "Derreck Edwards, Reg Davis and Dominique Wheeler, those three guys how much improvement will we see from spring (practice) 1 to spring 15? And then Bradley Marquez, just get him back in the flow from that knee injury."

And also talks about Williams, the transfer from Colorado who is eligible this year:

"We’ve been impressed with him," Cumbie said. "At Southlake Carroll, they do a great job coaching them. They know how to work. This is really his first time to be out here in live football since he was injured. For him, it’s just getting back up to speed and understanding what we’re doing on offense."

The DMN also has a notebook of things.

NOTEBOOK

TUBERVILLE TALKS | SB Nation's Steven Godfrey has a lengthy sit-down with Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville. It is hilarious. He does blame bloggers for the story about him leaving in the middle of dinner with recruits. It was actually the 24/7 Sports affiliate that broke the story and they have quotes from players. It was the internet in general that made fun of Tuberville. And in case you were curious, he did get a kick out of the faxes that you all sent in during National Signing Day:

"Yeah, I laughed. You have to laugh," he shrugs.

Good times.

LONE STAR TOP 50 | Texas Football has been running down the top 50 players and I sorta lost track of the series, but it is a good look players in the state of Texas.

AMENDOLA BACK IN TOWN | RRS has an article on Danny Amendola being back in town. You can listen to interview at Double-T 104.3.

VIDEOS