Myles Cole trying to live up to lofty billing for Texas Tech football
Like most rational human beings, Myles Cole didn't ask for praise to be heaped upon him before the 2023 football season even began.
Texas Tech football coaches and media members pointed to the 6-foot-6 edge rusher as someone who could help fill the void of Tyree Wilson, the No. 7 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Wilson's intangibles are hard to replicate, but Joey McGuire and staff felt Cole, as well as Steve Linton, could have just as big an impact — maybe even more.
Those lofty expectations, much like the team's, have fallen flat. Cole knows this, and he's worked the last few games to become the player he was anticipated to be in his sixth year of college.
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"I realized that it really doesn't matter what people say," Cole said Tuesday. "It's about what you do. That's pretty important to me, production over what people say. No matter what people say, no matter what they say, good or bad, production matters."
Cole has started to produce at a higher level as of late. It began with a two-sack performance against Tarleton State — he had 1.5 for his career prior — and followed it with a career-high six tackles in Saturday's 20-13 loss at West Virginia.
He'll try to continue that pace when Texas Tech hosts Houston at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Cole, quiet by nature, doesn't seek the attention. He has an Instagram account, for instance, that features 1,048 followers still awaiting his first post.
The Shreveport, La., native has nine siblings and grew up in a house with six sisters. It made for a somewhat chaotic environment.
"It told me to get out of the house," Cole said, "You know, do something with my life."
He'd go play with his neighbors, which opened the door into the world of sports. Throughout high school at Evangel Christian Academy, Cole competed in basketball, soccer and track and field in addition to football.
Like his cousins Cris and Melvin Jones, who both played football at LSU, Cole stuck to the gridiron, making his way to Louisiana-Monroe, where he played in 34 games in four seasons before transferring to Texas Tech.
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Cole saw action in all of Tech's games in 2022, earning eight starts playing behind Wilson and alternating between the defensive line and linebacker positions. His stats were unremarkable, though coaches felt he showed enough, and had the measurables, to make life after Wilson bearable.
In addition to McGuire and company touting Cole's potential, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman included the linebacker on his annual "Freaks List." Tech general manager James Blanchard said the pair would be "the best edge duo in the Big 12."
Before the season opener, Wyoming left tackle Frank Crum even told the local media, "He's almost like the second coming of what they had last year at end."
That praise resulted in no sacks or quarterback hurries the first two games.
Defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said prior to the Tarleton State game that Cole and Linton were performing well within Tech's scheme, but "those players have to make a lot of plays for us to be as good as we should be on defense."
Cole has answered that challenge the last few games, and he'll try to carry that momentum forward as the Red Raiders deal with injuries throughout the linebacking corps.
"I feel like everybody, including me, can do more," Cole said, adding that it's not just the linebackers. "Everybody's got to do more."
College football
Who: Texas Tech vs. Houston
When: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Jones AT&T Stadium
Records: Houston 2-2, 0-1 in the Big 12; Texas Tech 1-3, 0-1
Rankings (AP/USA TODAY AFCA coaches poll): Both teams unranked.
Last game: Houston 38, Sam Houston State 7; West Virginia 20, Texas Tech 13
Last meeting: Texas Tech 33, Houston 30 (2OT) last year in Lubbock.
TV: Fox Sports 2
Line: Texas Tech by 9. Over-under: 57 1/2 points
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Myles Cole trying to live up to lofty billing for Texas Tech football
