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Kingsbury is Normal, Binge-Watches Television: We get a bit of a peek into the life of Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who we find out binge-watches television, just like all of us, when he's watching a series (via CBS Sports):
"If I get locked into something, I attack it pretty thoroughly," said Kingsbury, 34, who says ‘attack' a lot. "The majority of my existence is football. The vast majority of my life is spent watching Apple TV or working."
I think you'll enjoy the whole thing, so check it out.
Spring Game Stuff: The official site has your official preview of the spring game, which is at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 12th (via Texas Tech). If things go well, I'll be driving up on Friday night and going to the game and leaving on Saturday after the game. Since I don't do much, I prepared a roster organized by position and then by player number. When I look at things, I tend to look for position first and then number, but that's just me (via Viva The Matadors). Plus, I couldn't exactly just publish what the official site did and call it my own. I had to put a little effort into the whole thing
Former Player Discusses Player Compensation: Cody Campbell, a former Red Raider, discusses player compensation, stating that a student athletes or football players are taking a vow of poverty (via LAJ):
"In order to play football, you’re actually having to sacrifice quality of life," Campbell said. "You’re essentially taking a vow of poverty to play college football where, meanwhile, you’re generating millions of dollars for the NCAA and your university. That just doesn’t seem equitable."
I think this is what Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt is talking about, which is increasing the grant in aid, which totally makes sense. Campbell says that he's not real down with the whole union thing as this sometimes just creates a lot of issues as he's experienced in the NFL. I think that Campbell is speaking in hyperbole a bit, but I still get the idea. I think I still have problems rationalizing how this all works for the players, if they are "paid". I think that's why the AD's will be focusing on increasing that figure and not talking about actual compensation. Just from me thinking about it, there seem to be a lot questions about how compensation would work in a collegiate setting (What if one program makes more than the other? Is it based on total revenue of that athletic program or some sort of net amount? Will the collegiate stars make more than the guys that never get dirty? .
Kingsbury on Player Union: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury was on the Dan Le Batard Show and the quote that's getting all of the hits and visits is about how Kingsubry said he will flirt with moms of recruits, but there was a lot of good stuff there (via The Ticket Miami). The most intriguing part was that he did say that he doesn't agree with the players unionizing, which isn't a surprise and advocates that he's only allowed to be around the players for 20 hours a week. Of course, the reality that these players spend a lot of voluntary time at the facility.
This dove-tails into the the recent LAJ article where they talked to different players who said that football is essentially a job and that John White, before he was on scholarship, couldn't afford to take summer school (via LAJ). This is DT Jackson Richards and LB Terrance Bullitt:
"It’s not so much what we’re doing, we deserve more money," Richards said. "It’s how much money it brings in."
Bullitt said, "It’s kind of crazy how a university will, in general, make so much money off a player. Looking outside in, you think we have everything made. But (from the) inside out, you don’t realize how much time and effort (is required). This is a job. We are underpaid."
I guess I keep thinking that I understand all of these things, Kingsbury's thoughts and the players and the players saying that it's essentially a job and this goes back to Hocutt's idea of increasing the grant in aid, I think. This seems to be the biggest point between the players and the NCAA, which is that they want to be compensated (whether that's just an increase in the grant in aid) for all of their work, I do understand that.
Receiver Depth Chart: Receiver coach Eric Morris talked about a receiver depth chart and maybe Dylan Cantrell is back at inside receiver (via LAJ) and right now, this is where Morris is at:
Flanker: Reginald Davis and Derreck Edwards
Split End: D.J. Polite-Bray and Devin Lauderdale
H Inside: Jakeem Grant and Jordan Davis
Y Inside: Bradley Marquez and Dylan Cantrell
There's also some quotes from defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt about how the defense didn't play well on Friday night, but they've responded.
Polite-Bray Gets Deep: WR D.J. Polite-Bray is an emerging deep threat for the offense and he talked about how he was able to learn from Eric Ward and is now ready to make an impact (via LAJ):
"I thought it was a great opportunity," he said. "First and foremost, playing behind (Ward) my freshman year, he taught me a lot of things. Once he left, I feel I’ve got to make the most of what he taught me, what coach Morris taught me and what I already knew to have my chance."
And Eric Morris talked about how Polite-Bray is improving:
"He’s kind of learning how to read defenses and how to set different things up, and his footwork has improved dramatically from day one this spring to now," Morris said. "It’s just, I think, taking coaching and learning how to maneuver defenders and get them to believe you’re going somewhere you’re not and being explosive."
Links:
The official site says that the records continue to be set in regards to ticket sales with season tickets being 34,100 total season tickets thus far this year (via Texas Tech).
Erik Burkhardt is the agent for Johnny Manziel, Jace Amaro and Kliff Kingsbury and here he is profiled (via Sporting News).
