Only Nick McCann days until Tech Football

There’s only 98 days until the Texas Tech Red Raiders take on the Montana State Bobcats and the Matt Wells era begins, so to celebrate, we at VTM are starting our roster countdown with player profiles. Starting with number 98, Nick McCann!

McCann is a junior 6’2” 310 lb. defensive tackle from Arkansas City HS in Texarkana, Texas. Coming out of high school, McCann was a three-star recruit, ranked the No. 9 player in Arkansas and the nation’s No. 59 Defensive Tackle recruit by 247Sports. McCann chose Texas Tech over Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and SMU. He redshirted his freshman year (2016).

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McCann has been a regular in the defensive line rotation since his RS Freshman season in 2017, where he served as the primary backup to Mych Thomas, but with David Gibbs system of defensive line rotation, he saw action in 10 of the 12 games. He totaled five tackles on the year, three logged as solo tackles. Even as a RS Freshman, the size and athleticism shined and his knack to plug up holes where needed was there. He even showed that ability off with an interception returned for a touchdown in the 2017 Spring Game in Frisco.

2018 saw a much improved and experienced McCann, as he was a factor in all 12 games, making his first career start when the Red Raiders traveled to Stillwater. McCann logged 14 solo tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss for a total of 15 yards and one sack. His one sack came against UT when he sacked Longhorns QB and All-Time Punchable Face, Sam Ehlinger for a 10 yard loss (my personal favorite play from last season).

Looking forward to 2019, while the production on the field has been there since his RS freshman year, McCann has been part of a fairly heavy and talented rotation at defensive line for the Red Raiders. However, with the dismissal of DT Joe Wallace from the program earlier this spring, McCann’s abilities and leadership will be relied on heavily in Coach Keith Patterson’s defensive line unit as one of the few upperclassmen in this group.