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DALLAS — Much like a person standing up to talk to his
local AA group, Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville
admitted he had a problem.
He’s too honest.
“I’ve got a problem,” he said. “I get out of coaching and
get into your guys’ business. And what are you taught in television? Speak your
mind and give your opinion. Well, I did. But I forgot that I had got back into
coaching.”
Tuberville was entertaining,
honest and open about all questions and was without a doubt a breathe of fresh
air on the second day of Big 12 Media Days. There wasn’t much coachspeak from Texas Tech’s new leader, not any looks over
to sports information director Blayne Beal when asked
a question regarding the comments he made on how long the Big 12 would last or
his current quarterback battle.
That may have been the biggest treat as a sports writer this
time around. Former head coach Mike Leach was infamous for bringing along some
strange characters to media days. He certainly did not bother to bring Taylor Potts last season, even though he was already named the starting quarterback in
the spring. But Tuberville sees this as part of the
tryout.
Handle the pressure and questions from the media then try to
handle the pressure of the pocket and being the face for the Red Raiders.
If this was an open tryout today, I’d
give both players an “A” for how they handled the media.
But Potts and Steven Sheffield are two completely different
players and personalities.
Potts leans more toward the good-ole boy attitude and never
appears rattled by a question or situation. Calm and collected, he shrugged off
anyone trying to make the quarterback competition more dramatic than it really
is. Because these guys are still friends and teammates.
“We’re friends, we’re competitors,” Potts said. “We came in
at the same time so we’ve known each other for a few years. We’re both going to
try to win the job and go from there. It’s not a life or death situation.”
Sticks takes a different approach
to the media when he’s talking. He’s more charismatic and entertaining. Within
minutes of sitting down at one of the four stations set up in the interview
room, he’s laughing and joking around, acting like that was that he doesn’t
feel like talking anymore. Comedy and confidence are his two shields, but he’s
always honest and can be quite an actor.
“Everything is terrible,” he laughed. “No, I’m just playing.
We’re focused. We’re excited about getting out on the field. I’m excited just
to have the chance to compete for the starting job. And I feel like both of us
are going to give it a good run.”
I give an early upper hand to Sticks in this media competition.
Much like “Honest Tubs” he personifies some of the things being talked about
with where this program is headed under the new regime — forward and to a
championship. That was perhaps the biggest message Tuberville
wanted to get across before leaving the podium. All the other talk just doesn’t
mean too much to him.
“I didn’t go to Tech to win seven or eight games,” Tuberville said. “I’m there to win a championship. We will
do that. … I’ve been in this business a long time. What means something is
winning and winning games. And we plan on doing that.”
Travis Cram is the Managing Editor for RaiderPower.com. Follow his
daily updates and news from Big 12 Media Days on Twitter.
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