What a crazy week it has been for Texas Tech athletics. Basketball coaching changes, a baseball team that's on a nine game win streak, and the spring football game, er, I mean, open practice. Thanks for submitting the questions, and keep an eye out for next week's mailbag!

I will not pretend to know to what extent Mr. Mahomes is healthy. Not only do I not know, but I doubt anyone really does since coach Kingsbury tends to keep injury information close to the vest. I would assume it is simply a precaution for a couple of reasons. First, it is fairly common for quarterbacks to wear a protective brace on their front leg (for a right-hander like Mahomes, his left leg) simply to protect the knee when the leg is planted and lineman rolls up against it. Second, since Mahomes was able to play through the injury last season, I doubt it was a very serious injury that would linger all the way into April. So it's probably more to protect against a similar injury from occuring again moving forward.

This was a huge bummer. The spring game was essentially cancelled, along with its anticipated TV broadcast, and changed to an "open practice" on Friday due to weather concerns. When Texas Tech made the call to adjust the schedule on Thursday afternoon, there were projections that Lubbock would get 4" of rain on Saturday. So fans and football recruits cancelled their plans to show up, only to discover that Saturday was a gorgeous weather day, sunny with a high of 75. As we all know, the West Texas weather can be unpredictable, and this was an unfortunate consequence of that.

@vivathematador should we worry about the success of Tadlock and him bolting? Or do you think he likes it here?

— Jake Floyd (@JMFloyd34) April 16, 2025

This is an interesting question, and a pretty good problem to have. Ideally, you have a great coach who wants to stay forever. But a great coach who gives you multiple good seasons and leaves for a better job is preferred to an ineffective coach who gets fired. I would like to think that if Texas Tech is a nationally competitive team and isn't limited by any lack of resources or talent, that Tadlock would stay given his deep ties to the university. It's one thing to be a good coach at a school that can't really win on the national stage (i.e. Chris Beard at Arkansas Little Rock). But if Tadlock can consistently reach the College World Series with Texas Tech, what reason would he have to go to another program, other than money? So I think if Texas Tech ponies up the cash and Tadlock feels like he isn't limited in what he can accomplish in Lubbock, he is likely to stay. I admit I don't know much about MLB coaching searches, but if Tadlock were ever given the chance to coach in the majors, that might be a chance he's not willing to pass up.

@vivathematador If we so happened to schedule Memphis for basketball; what would Tubby's welcome back to Lubbock be like?

— Isaiah Lucio Lopez (@WreckEmLucio) April 17, 2025

I think it would be mixed. I'm not sure the fans would be all that upset, especially if Chris Beard brings the program some early success. Time and winning (and maybe some Applebee's) heal all wounds. Sure, you'll have some fans who would want revenge, but nowhere near what it would have been like had Tech played Cincinatti in football the year after Tuberville left. That said, based on how he left (i.e. saying he would sleep on it in Lubbock but never actually returning, resigning over the phone, not telling his players face to face), I think the players would definitely play with a chip on their shoulder. "You don't want to coach us anymore? Fine. We're gonna make sure you don't like coaching against us either."

@vivathematador why is a man named Beard clean shaven

— Playoff Penguin (@JonLukeIngle) April 18, 2025

This is simply a pattern when it comes to Texas Tech basketball coaches. Bob Knight was not a knight. Nor was Pat Knight. Tubby Smith was not tubby. Darvin Ham, a name that came up during the 36 hour long coaching search, is not a ham. Behold, Chris Beard does not have a beard. Whatever Texas Tech's basketball coach's last name is, the coach seems to not be. I hope the last name of the next basketball coach is "Cantwinanationalchampionship".

@vivathematador who would win in a fight: Zach Austin v. Dylan Cantrell?

— Fu-Tang Clan (@DanyolFu) April 18, 2025

I'm taking Cantrell, no offense to Austin. Cantrell seems like the kind of guy who's really calm and soft spoken...until you make him mad. Given his crazy athleticism, if you make him mad he might be a really good fighter. That said, I hope these teammates never fight, because fighting your teammates is stupid. Also, I think Fehoko could win a fight against either of them. Or both of them at the same time.