Texas Tech football's Ty Kana leaves team to focus on engineering studies
Texas Tech football linebacker Ty Kana left the team midway through spring practice and appears unlikely to play again for the Red Raiders, Tech coach Joey McGuire said Thursday, as he concentrates on academics.
"He's going just straight engineering," McGuire said. "He's brilliant. And he knows that, with what he wants to do, it's very important that he sticks with that. He wants to graduate with his engineering degree, and I think he felt a little overwhelmed with both. When you start feeling that way, you've got to make a choice.
"I love Ty. We were really supportive with him, and so he made a choice to where he's just going to be a student here."
Kana, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound inside linebacker from Houston-area powerhouse Katy, was finishing up his second year with the Red Raiders. A 2022 signee, he played in four games each of the past two years. He was credited with seven tackles last season, but was unable to crack the two-deep.
He was a first-team all-district honoree for three years at Katy, starting on a Class 6A Division II state championship team his junior year and earning first-team all-state recognition as a senior on a team that reached the state semifinals. He had long list of FBS scholarship offers and committed to Southern California before he switched and signed with Texas Tech.
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Kana's bio on the Texas Tech football website shows his major as petroleum engineering.
McGuire said he went through about eight sessions of the Red Raiders' recently concluded spring practice before deciding to narrow his time demands.
"(He said), 'Coach, I've to get an internship this summer. I've got this project coming up,' " McGuire said. "I think he just felt — and I've been through this before (with other players) — whenever they finally can say, 'This is what I'm going to do,' you can see the relief on his face.
"I'm glad he's staying at Texas Tech. For him, it was more important for him to be an engineer than a football player. He felt like trying to do both, it was a juggling act that he was tired of juggling."
Tech's post-spring depth chart at inside linebacker has Ben Roberts backed by John Curry and Justin Horne at one spot, McGuire said, and Jacob Rodriguez backed by Bryce Ramirez and either Trent Low or Mike Dingle at the other.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football's Ty Kana leaves team to focus on engineering path
