Coaches have a habit of compartmentalizing things, and one method is to put a catchy label on different days of the week as a team prepares for the next challenge.
Tell-the-truth Monday. Turnover Tuesday. Focus Friday
Sure seems like Texas Tech and Matt Wells are headed into Hard Question Monday. And Tuesday. And … well, you get the point.
The waters have been pretty choppy around Wells for a quite a while, but after a 25-24 loss to Kansas State on Saturday, the river of bad vibes is running like dangerous white-water rapids.
Wells, his coaches and players don’t have to watch their backs anymore because the vitriol and nastiness isn’t hiding in the shadows. The nastiness of a vocal faction of the fan base is right there in their grills and isn’t showing any intention of backing down.
That figures to make for a tough week for anybody who played a part on Saturday, and that’s absolutely fair. They are coaches who get paid handsomely to handle the heat, and players who sign up for scrutiny when they accept a scholarship at this level.
So, yes, there will be hard questions and likely a new level of uncomfortable heat swirling around Wells.
Doesn’t mean everybody will be privy to the tough questions: Quite opposite is more likely. Like it or not, the media has a job to do to cover a season that still has plenty of life left, regardless of a coach’s popularity. The questions that media asks in that regard are usually from sources behind the scenes anyway.
The hardest questions this week are the kind that the coaches need to ask of themselves, among themselves and of the players – there needs to be some soul-searching to figure out how to fix what’s broken.
For his part, Wells has rarely flinched this season when asked questions about why the Red Raiders can’t stack success and generate momentum in his third season. He has delivered answers, mostly the coachspeak kind that address the issues, while also protecting the players – admirable for sure, but also equally as frustrating for fans who have supported so long with the hope and expectations of a different level of success.
There is nothing wrong or incorrect about Wells’ answers, but they aren’t leading down a path toward any kind of solution to what is creating problems for Texas Tech’s up-and-down crew.
Spurred on by a large faction of fans who were never willing to accept Wells and his staff from Day 1, the brewing storm has festered into a much more major problem that may have grown too big to fix.
Couple of weeks ago, Wells answered a postgame question by saying he only answers to one man on Earth, presumably a reference to Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt. Fair enough. We all answer to somebody in work situations.
Don’t for a minute believe, though, that Hocutt isn’t both fielding and asking some of those tough questions this week.
--- Why are the Red Raiders so erratic on defense this deep into the season – rock-solid one week, ordinary (or worse) the next?
--- Why can’t the offense find an identity and build on it? Injuries are part of the fabric of every team in every season for sure, but with an older quarterback who has started several games each of the last two years, how can Texas Tech not find consistency with a nice collection of skill players everywhere else?
--- With two recruiting classes, plus the tantalizing advantage of the transfer portal, why haven’t the Red Raiders been able to close the talent gap between them and Texas, TCU, etc.?
--- Maybe most importantly and certainly most pressing, how in the hell can a team sputter and cough after such a promising start with so much on the line Saturday against a struggling team with comparable talent?
Wells has plenty to tend to this week and beyond, especially with a road game at No. 3-ranked Oklahoma next on the docket. But you have to believe a lot of hard questions will be a major part of his week, with some soul searching as a bitter chaser.
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Randy Rosetta is the Managing Editor of RedRaiderSports.com
Follow on Twitter | @RandyRosetta or @RedRaiderSports
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