Jaylon Hutchings, Tony Bradford a rare pair for Texas Tech football

One must go back more than four years to pinpoint the time Jaylon Hutchings and Tony Bradford began lining up alongside one another in the heart of the Texas Tech football defensive line. That was so many games ago, so many practices ago, so many snaps ago that Hutchings retains no first impression of the teammate with whom he's come to be synonymous.

"I can't really pinpoint when exactly we met," Hutchings said, "but I know once we started clicking, we were dang good together."

Bradford was a true freshman in 2019, Hutchings a redshirt freshman and from that season on they've risen from rotation regulars to cornerstones at defensive tackle.

"We've been in communication and playing around with each other for so long," Bradford said this week, "that the connection is just natural that I understand how he plays, he understands how I play. We just communicate well with each other. I don't think there's another duo in the nation that plays as well as we do. That's the relationship we have outside of football as well."

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Both players are 6-foot, give or take maybe an inch, and both are right around 300 pounds. Had they been any taller, or taller with longer arms maybe, they might not still be here. Luckily for Tech, they don't necessarily look the part.

"When the pro scouts come, (Hutchings and Bradford) are not most the physically imposing guys because of their length," Tech defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said this week, "but they play as hard as anybody in the country. And are productive.

"There was a spot during this year where a lot of guys may have turned it in and not continued to practice hard, because things weren't going our way. They come out, they lead, they practice hard every day and it shows up on Saturdays."

Senior day at hand for Texas Tech football linchpins Tony Bradford, Jaylon Hutchings

Alas, they're running out of Saturdays. Texas Tech hosts Central Florida at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Red Raiders' final home game of the season. The regular-season finale is Nov. 24 at Texas.

It's possible Bradford and Hutchings have played together about as long as any pair of Red Raiders ever. Circumstances unique to the past few years allowed that to happen. In 2018, the NCAA passed legislation allowing a player to participate in up to four games in a season while maintaining redshirt status. Then the NCAA gave an extra year of eligibility to those who played in the Covid-disrupted 2020 season.

Thus, Hutchings is a sixth-year senior who's played in 61 college games, making 56 starts, and Bradford is a fifth-year man who's played in 52 college games, making 35 starts.

Every one of those games, they've suited up in scarlet and black.

"This university has changed my life," said Bradford, who's used his college years to further his ambition of becoming a police chief. "Texas Tech owes me nothing. I feel like I'm the one that owes it a lot. ...

"I love that I started here and never transferred, wasn't thinking about it, didn't come close to it at all. I'm a Red Raider forever, and I love this place. It's done so much for me, and so for the rest of my life, I plan on committing to it."

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Bradford was credited with seven tackles, one off his career high, two weeks ago in Texas Tech's 35-28 conquest of TCU. Hutchings one-upped him with a career-high eight tackles last week in Tech's 16-13 victory at Kansas.

Even for DeRuyter, a 60-year-old college football lifer, they've been special lately.

"These guys are playing at a very, very high level," DeRuyter said. "I thought as a pair on Saturday, they played as physical and productive as any pair of inside guys that I've ever coached."

College experience more than Texas Tech football for Tony Bradford, Jaylon Hutchings

Off the field, Hutchings is a movie buff. Growing up in Forney, Jaylon, his parents and his younger brother went to the movies on Sundays after church. Hutchings has kept up the routine in Lubbock. In the company of his girlfriend or sometimes joined by teammates Tyler Shough or Bradford, he makes frequent trips to Tinseltown or the IMAX theater.

"No matter if it's an action movie, a scary movie, a comedy, I'm always at the movie, no matter what," Hutchings said. "Probably have a big bowl of popcorn in my hand and a nice drink."

Bradford likes to cook in his spare time, but what drives the Galena Park North Shore graduate is community service. Last year, he was one of 11 FBS players on the American Football Coaches Association Good Works team and one of 12 semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy, which recognizes exemplary community service, athletic and academic achievement.

Next week is Bradford's latest such endeavor. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at Community Baptist Church (220 Martin Luther King Blvd.), he'll oversee a giveaway of Thanksgiving turkeys for families in need. According to Tech, Bradford is using his own funds through his name, image, likeness earnings to buy 100 turkeys. He'll have nearly 200 available, courtesy of another charitable gift from United Supermarkets to 100 Black Men of West Texas.

"I've been wanting to do something like this for years," Bradford said, "but I just never had the finances to do it. With the help of NIL, I've been able to save up a decent amount of money and so I'm finally going to be able to do my part and bless some families in this community."

Because of their unusually long college careers, both players already have bachelor's and master's degrees from Tech. Hutchings has spent this fall pursuing a business certificate and Bradford is pursuing a graduate degree in public administration.

"I hope me and Tony left a legacy that guys can take and really use, just (of) hard work and determination and, really, relationships," Hutchings said. "I think that's a big thing. You have a relationship like that, and it's way beyond college football. It'll last a lifetime."

College football

Who: Texas Tech vs. Central Florida

When: 4 p.m. Saturday

Where: Jones AT&T Stadium

Records: UCF 5-5, 2-5 in the Big 12; Texas Tech 5-5, 4-3.

Last game: UCF 45, Oklahoma State 3; Texas Tech 16, Kansas 13

Last meeting: Never played.

TV: Fox Sports 2

Line: Tech by 3. Over-under: 60 points.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Jaylon Hutchings, Tony Bradford a rare pair for Texas Tech football