Texas Tech recruiting received a jolt last year after new coach Joey McGuire took over. The former Texas high school coach brought a blueprint that helped the Red Raiders sign their first top-30 class since 2012.
But well before McGuire’s arrival, Texas Tech has been a wild card in Texas recruiting. Its location in West Texas, far from the state’s largest metropolitan areas, provides a unique challenge, but it’s not an impossible one to overcome, as evidenced by some of the program’s recruiting wins over the years. One thing is clear: The Red Raiders have been involved in some interesting and impactful recruitments. Let’s look back at a few.
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Best recruit, pre-internet rankings: Byron Hanspard, RB
Landing Hanspard was a big win for Spike Dykes in 1994. At DeSoto (Texas) High, Hanspard was one of the nation’s best running backs. He tallied 2,101 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior, earning Texas Class 5A Offensive Player of the Year and Parade All-America honors.
Hanspard’s suitors included Colorado, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Texas A&M, all of which finished the 1993 season in the top 20 of the Associated Press poll. But Dykes and the Red Raiders won out, and Hanspard lived up to his lofty recruiting status in Lubbock.
He became the sixth player in FBS history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in 1996. He won the Doak Walker Award as a junior and left Tech as the school record-holder for career rushing yards (4,219), single-season rushing yards (2,084) and single-game rushing yards (287).
He declared for the NFL Draft in 1997 and was a second-round pick of the Atlanta Falcons.
Best recruit, modern era: Graham Harrell, QB
Harell and Mike Leach were a perfect fit. As a recruit at Ennis (Texas) High, Harrell was accustomed to chucking it around the yard. He set a slew of Texas high school records, including career passing yards (12,532), touchdown passes (167) and single-season passing touchdowns (67).
The four-star recruit ranked as the No. 7 quarterback in the country in the Class of 2004, but his offer list wasn’t as glitzy as expected for such a prolific passer. He chose Texas Tech over Arizona State and NC State. Georgia was a consideration as well but was out of contention after taking another quarterback commitment in the class.
Harrell dazzled upon taking over the offense as a third-year sophomore in 2006. In three seasons as the starter, he threw for 15,371 yards and 131 touchdowns. As a senior in 2008, he led Texas Tech to an 11-2 record, its best in 35 years. He was also pivotal in the team’s most memorable win, a 39-33 upset of No. 1 Texas that included a game-winning touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree in the final seconds.
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Most influential recruit: Patrick Mahomes, QB
There were 49 Texas recruits ranked higher than Mahomes when he came out of Whitehouse High in East Texas in the Class of 2014. The son of former Major League pitcher Pat Mahomes, the younger Mahomes was a three-star prospect who ranked No. 389 in the country in the 247Sports Composite. His modest offer list included Oklahoma State, Houston, Rice and North Texas.
Mahomes committed to Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech in April 2013. Baker Mayfield and Davis Webb started that season, but Mayfield transferred after the 2013 season, as did Michael Brewer. Mahomes, a two-sport star who was also a baseball prospect, didn’t arrive until the summer of 2014 following the MLB Draft.
Just committed to Texas tech! #wreckem #gunsup #thankful pic.twitter.com/5P6ZfBE2fz
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) April 21, 2013
Webb started the first seven games of the 2014 season but suffered an injury that opened the door for Mahomes to start. He, too, got injured but bounced back to finish the year strong, including throwing for 598 yards and six touchdowns in a 48-46 season-ending loss to Baylor.
It was a sign of things to come.
“When the lights come on, that’s when he’s at his best,” Kingsbury said after Mahomes’ performance.
The next season, Mahomes took off, throwing for 4,653 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushing for 10 more. In 2016, he surpassed 5,000 passing yards and was responsible for 53 touchdowns. He declared for the draft after his junior year, and Kansas City made him the No. 10 pick. Since entering the NFL, he has won two league MVP awards and led the Chiefs to two Super Bowl victories.
Biggest bust: Michael Starts, DT
The Red Raiders haven’t had a great hit rate on their top-rated recruits in the modern era, and Starts fits that mold. Starts was an Army All-American and borderline top-100 national recruit in the 2012 class (he ranked 107th in the 247Sports Composite). He was the highest-rated player in Tommy Tuberville’s final class. His offer list included Auburn, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
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A medical issue limited Starts, a defensive tackle, to just one game in his true freshman season. When the new coaching staff arrived in 2013, he left the team in the spring and transferred to Navarro (Texas) College. In 2014, there was discussion of a possible return to Texas Tech, but it never materialized.
Best developmental story: Wes Welker, WR
Coming out of Heritage Hall High in Oklahoma City, Welker received scant recruiting attention, mainly because of his size (5 feet 9, 180 pounds). But Rod Warner, Welker’s high school coach, told the Colorado Springs Gazette in 2013 that he faxed 105 letters to 105 coaching staffs to lobby for his player. Only four or five teams called back, and national signing day came and went without Welker signing anywhere.
Warner had a connection with the late Tommy McVay, Texas Tech’s longtime director of football operations. Upon watching Welker on tape, McVay was a believer and brought it up to Leach. After signing day, Welker received an invitation to visit Tech and was offered a scholarship as the last signee in the 2000 recruiting class.
He contributed immediately, returning two punts for touchdowns as a true freshman and catching 26 passes at receiver. His catch total gradually increased to 50 as a sophomore, 86 as a junior and 97 as a senior, with Welker surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in his final two seasons. He also set the NCAA record for career punt return touchdowns, with eight.
As Leach and the Red Raiders found success with the Air Raid offense, Welker became a prototype slot receiver. His impact was felt at the college and NFL level, where the undrafted free agent went on to a stellar pro career, making five Pro Bowls and three Super Bowl appearances.
The one who got away: Jarrett Stidham, QB
Stidham was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country in the 2015 class behind only Kyler Murray. Stidham committed to Texas Tech early, verbally pledging to the Red Raiders in March 2014 and signing a financial aid agreement in August 2014. The school even officially announced his pending arrival after he signed the documents, which bind the school to the player but not the player to the school. Stidham also tweeted it out, saying he was “officially” a Red Raider.
Dreams really do come true… Officially part of Red Raider nation. #blessed #GunsUp @TTU_WreckEm @TechAthletics pic.twitter.com/OG7RKQjMMa
— Jarrett Stidham (@Jarrett_Stidham) August 14, 2014
Stidham was solid to Texas Tech deep into the recruiting cycle. Kingsbury spoke in November about the potential of an open quarterback competition among Stidham, Webb and Mahomes in the spring of 2015.
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But on Dec. 13, just weeks before he was set to enroll at Tech, he decommitted. Stidham wound up at Baylor, and the Red Raiders didn’t sign a quarterback in the class.
In the short term, it didn’t matter much because Mahomes became a star. Stidham spent a year at Baylor, then transferred after Art Briles was fired following the school’s sexual assault scandal.
He finished his career at Auburn with two solid, though unspectacular seasons, throwing for a combined 5,952 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2017 and 2018. After Mahomes was drafted, Texas Tech turned to Nic Shimonek in 2017 and Alan Bowman in 2018, the final years of the Kingsbury era. A Stidham-Kingsbury pairing in those final two years would have been intriguing.
(Photo of Patrick Mahomes: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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