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The Big 12 Coaches Spring Teleconference took place yesterday. Here are some of the highlights from our own Coach Kingsbury.
- Coach Kingsbury talked about how he liked the QB depth he developed over the course of the spring. He said they both got better and turned the ball over less. He felt Tech was in a good position at QB having two guys with plenty of experience. He wants to name a starter earlier as opposed to later in fall camp so the team could get a flow going before the season starts.
- David Ubben asked two really good questions. He asked Coach Kingsbury what has he learned about handling QB competitions and has he gotten any good advice from other coaches about QB competitions. Coach Kingsbury said there aren't easy answers with a QB competition. Everyone wants to play, but only one can play. You have to make a decision and run with it. He said there wasn't any great advice to be had, so you give both guys a fair spot, try to make them the best player they can be and pick the best one.
I liked his answers in regards to the QB competition all the way around. Your best option is to make them the best player they can be and roll with it. Only 1 will get to play (most of the time) and you can't control how the other(s) will handle the situation. I also like naming the QB earlier in fall camp. The sooner we know the starting QB the better for us (selfishly) but more so for the team. I don't like the idea of naming the starter to the fans and media the day of the first game. Name him, get it out there to give him some confidence and let him go win you some games.
- When asked about a Big 12 Championship game, Coach Kingsbury said it would be a necessity for the Big 12 to have a championship game to give the winner another quality opponent.
I hate the idea of a Big 12 Championship game with a 10 team conference. If we all play each other, whoever wins the heads up game wins the conference. That is the way it should be, but we all know this decision is about the all mighty dollar and not about football.
- Coach Kingsbury said Micah Awe was the player who stood out to both him and the defensive coaches this spring.
Pretty obvious watching the spring game that Awe stood out as the best player on defense. I wasn't surprised to hear this answer.
- He said that they liked having a couple of open scholarships as opposed to using them on guys they aren't thrilled about. He mentioned maybe using the couple remaining scholarships on transfers or holding onto them for use on early enrollees in the 2016 class.
Again, no surprise here. He has done this the last two seasons. Last year we added Atoe to mix late in the recruiting process. This year we have added Stawarz and Okafor. I think we will have to see how it pans out with these players before we know whether or not this is a successful recruiting tactic. I would love to add a DL or LB to mix prior to season to help with depth at both spots. He didn't hint any positions or players though, so who knows if they will use the spots or hold them until the 2016 class.