2 Texas Tech football position groups working in new faces for different reasons
Three years into his stint as the Texas Tech football team's defensive line coach, Zarnell Fitch thinks it's time for his group to show what it is capable of rather than speaking on it.
"I love where we're trending," Fitch said Monday. "We just need to go to work. I think we did a lot of talking the first two years. I think we just need to go to work."
Fitch's work this year is building a front line that for the first time in half a decade won't feature Tony Bradford and Jaylon Hutchings manning the middle. The Red Raiders knew the day would come when those two wouldn't be involved in the process, Fitch said, and now it's about finding new players to take the reins.
"What you see is a really, really deep group," Fitch said. "Just the strides the guys are making, talking about a lot of leadership, putting those roles into guys that you need to step up and be a leader, not only for our room but for the team. Just really like the growth of the unit as a whole at this point."
More: Clay McGuire looking for 8 good men for Texas Tech football's offensive line
In replacing Bradford and Hutchings, Fitch rattled off a litany of names he expects to be part of the rotation on the line. This includes returning veterans such as Quincy Ledet, E'Maurion Banks and Trevon McAlpine. Each member of the group has a different aspect Fitch appreciates, which is part of the equation in moving on from those departed stalwarts.
"I think the guys, when we look at our younger guys," Fitch said, "you look at their size and you see the athletes these guys are. When you're talking about Braylon Rigsby, Travon McAlpine, (Jayden) Cofield. What I'm liking is that you're gonna see those guys to have a mindset of a (Hutchings) or Tony. These kids, they happy to be here, but they bring something different to the table and how you can use those guys."
More reps of younger outside linebackers with injuries at the top
C.J. Ah You hasn't had his full complement of outside linebackers this spring.
With the likes of Isaac Smith recovering from knee surgery last fall or Joseph Adedire — who went from potentially redshirting last year to starting eight games in 2023 — limited, it's given some of the other less-seasoned players in the group more reps.
Ah You sees that as something that will benefit the team down the road.
"We're building depth," Ah You said. "We're building depth and value with the guys that are healthy right now and are doing it. They're getting a lot of valuable snaps that usually would be spread out. A lot of guys are getting more snaps than normal, which is good for our room."
Harvey Dyson III and Charles Esters III are two players Ah You said are having solid spring workouts to this point, as have Dylan Spencer and Amir Washington. There are no seniors among Ah You's 11-man group for the 2024 season.
"We had a meeting this morning," Ah You said, "just to talk about where we see our guys and our guys right now, the overall depth is going to be pretty solid. Each one of those guys is going to have the opportunity to showcase what they can do and we'll just build off that."
More: Transfer portal additions say Texas Tech football coaches have lived up to promises
Ah You pointed to Spencer and Isaiah Crawford (when they've been available) as two players making the most of their expanded reps. Crawford has been dealing with knee tendinitis this spring.
Shallowater native Kasen Long, who is working with the outside backers after joining Texas Tech as an offensive lineman, is the lone member of the group who hasn't been with Ah You either two or three years.
Long, though, has caught Ah You's attention for his willingness to do what the coaches need of him.
"Kasen doesn't have a bad day," Ah You said. "He's just so eager to learn. When you get somebody in your room that's just willing to do whatever, he just wants to play ball, that's really exciting for me as a coach, but also he's a good person in our room."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: 2 Texas Tech football position groups working in new faces
