Déjà Vu for Texas Tech Football Coaching Staff.
As the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team prepares for the 2024 season, the coaching staff finds themselves in a familiar situation – facing off against former Red Raiders, colleagues, and close friends.
The first two games of the campaign have already seen head coach Joey McGuire and his staff go up against these familiar foes. And the trend will continue this Saturday, as the North Texas Mean Green, led by head coach Eric Morris, pay a visit to Jones AT&T Stadium.
Morris, a former player under the late Mike Leach, later served as offensive coordinator during Kliff Kingsbury’s tenure as the Red Raiders’ head coach. While he has returned to his native Shallowater area plenty of times, Morris hasn’t had much chance to get back to Lubbock since leaving in 2018 to become the head coach at Incarnate Word.
However, with a stop at Washington State before heading off to Denton, Morris is now ready to make his return to the Hub City. As he stated on Monday, he is “excited to get back and see everything that they’ve built there” at his alma mater, expressing his pride in the growth and progress the university has made.
The matchup between the Red Raiders and the Mean Green is sure to be an emotional one, as these two coaching staffs navigate the complexities of facing off against their former colleagues and friends. Fans of both teams will undoubtedly be eager to see how this reunion plays out on the field.
Longtime Connections Between Texas Tech and North Texas Coaches.
The upcoming matchup between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the North Texas Mean Green goes beyond just the game on the field – it’s a reunion of longtime colleagues and friends.
Eric Morris, the head coach of the Mean Green, spent five seasons as the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech. During that time, he got to know many of the current Red Raiders coaches, including Zach Kittley, who served as a graduate assistant under Morris.
Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire has especially high praise for Morris, calling him “one of my favorite people in the world” and a “very good friend.” McGuire recounts a time when he was moving his daughter into school at Texas Tech during camp, and reached out to Morris and former Red Raiders head coach Kliff Kingsbury, asking them to look out for his daughter if needed.
“Eric said, ‘Here’s my number,'” McGuire recalled. And true to his word, when McGuire’s daughter Raegan got into a fender-bender while attending the university, Morris went to her directly, helping her get her car to the body shop and ensuring everything was taken care of.
“That’s just the kind of guy he is,” McGuire said, highlighting Morris’ character and willingness to help.
These longstanding connections between the coaching staffs add an extra layer of emotion and familiarity to the upcoming matchup. As the Red Raiders and Mean Green take the field, the personal relationships between the coaches will undoubtedly be on display, making for an intriguing and meaningful game.
Coaching Connections and Familiar Faces.
The connections between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the North Texas Mean Green coaching staffs extend even further. This past offseason, when Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was looking to fill the offensive line coach role, he turned to Eric Morris for input. Morris had previously worked with Clay McGuire, Joey’s brother, at Washington State.
The familial connections don’t stop there. The Mean Green roster also features several former Red Raiders and Lubbock-area natives. Coronado alum Blair Conwright transferred to UNT from TCU prior to the 2023 season, while starting offensive linemen Landon Peterson and Larry Moore III are both former Texas Tech players, with Peterson having spent five years at the school, starting 9 games and appearing in 35.
While Morris reflects fondly on his time as a Red Raider and the connections he has with the Texas Tech coaching staff, he is quick to downplay the personal narrative. “There’s going to try to be a story that it has something to do with me, when in reality it doesn’t,” Morris said. “This has everything to do with North Texas and our team here. The culture we built. The attitude, the effort that we’re playing with right now.”
Instead, Morris is focused on ensuring his Mean Green squad is prepared for the challenge ahead, not letting “this stage be too big for us” and executing at a high level on the field. The personal relationships and familiarity between the coaching staffs add an intriguing subplot to the matchup, but Morris is determined to keep the focus on his team and their performance.
Leave a Reply