Located just 11 miles south of the Texas Tech campus, Lubbock Cooper High School is slowly growing into an area powerhouse accumulating a 28-9 record over the past three seasons since making the transition from the 3A classification to the 5A level. While the jump from big fish in a small pond in 3A to becoming a small fish in a very big pond at the 5A level hasn’t been an easy one, Lubbock-Cooper head coach Max Kattwinkel’s large undertaking has definitely been helped along by the talent he has developed at Cooper, talent that has not gone unnoticed by the coaches up the road at Texas Tech. Kliff Kingsbury and his staff have hand-picked a player from Kattwinkel’s roster in each of the past three seasons, offering preferred walk-on spots to fullback Stanton Keane in 2014, tight end Evan McHugh in 2015, and most recently defensive lineman Kirby Vinson in 2016, with Vinson maybe being the best of the bunch.
As a three-year starter along Lubbock Cooper’s defensive front, Vinson holds the career record for total sacks and tackles for loss with 58 while also setting the single season record with 25 in that same category this past year. Vinson notched 68 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and 8 sacks during his senior campaign in route to District Defensive MVP honors adding to his list of All-District accolades from his sophomore and junior seasons.
Vinson’s initial recruitment saw interest from the likes of Texas A&M Commerce, Blinn College, Angelo State, Midwestern State, and UT-Pine Bluff to name a few. But, following his highly productive senior season, it didn’t take long for Texas Tech offensive coordinator Eric Morris to visit the six-foot-three, 250-pound defensive end and offer him the preferred walk-on spot. Vinson gives all credit to the coaches at Lubbock Cooper and to his teammates for allowing him to really take off his senior year.
“My senior year I feel like I had a decent season, and I was able to show off my skills,” Vinson said. “I put on some weight, worked on my strength, and got my speed up a bit. A lot of that I credit to the coaches at Cooper and my teammates. Coach (Kent) Allison showed me all the techniques, all the footwork, we worked on my hand placement, and I got all that down from him. Then this year it was just knowledge of the game and getting a better understanding of the game.”
While Vinson produced at a high rate during his senior season, his head coach feels like the defensive end is just scratching the surface and that the Tech coaches are getting the LCP product at just the right time.
“They are getting a player who has a very good base, but he definitely has a lot of growth and potential still yet to come,” said Kattwinkel. “Being in that environment and being in that program will really help him a lot to grow. I just think that with the Texas Tech coaching staff and their strength and conditioning program—Kirby hasn’t reached his full potential quite yet—so there is a lot of good and potential there that I think they can help develop. He is already blessed for his size and his strength with really good speed and agility which definitely helped him get his foot in the door.”
Even though Coach Morris made the offer to Vinson, it was new special teams coordinator Joe Robinson that took over recruiting duties for the Lubbock native. Robinson’s message to Vinson is simple: come in ready to work and prove yourself and there will be an opportunity for playing time. As a preferred walk-on for the defensive line coming in behind seven scholarship defensive line recruits, Vinson has his work cut out for him if wants to make the rotation. A chance for defensive playing time is something that Coach Robinson does see in Vinson’s future, though.
“Coach Robinson was telling me about defensive line, too and how I have a good opportunity to come play for him,” said Vinson. “I just have to prove myself. There are a lot of guys coming in along the defensive line, so it is going to be really competitive and exciting. He told me there is a good chance that I could play if I wanted to come and prove myself.”
Vinson is far from a finished product, and a couple years in Texas Tech’s system will no doubt prepare him for a future on the Red Raider defense down the line. Coach Kattwinkel, however, would not be surprised in the slightest if Kirby carved out a niche on special teams or saw the field in some capacity for the 2016 season.
“Honestly, I would be surprised if he wasn’t (on special teams as a freshman). The fact that he is from West Texas I think hurt him a bit in his recruitment but there is no doubt that this guy can play and will be successful. I bet he finds his way on the field next year.”
“I know Coach Robinson wanted those guys on special teams that are big and physical and can run and cover the field. I think Coach Robinson saw that in a guy like Kirby. Kirby can be used in a lot of different areas on special teams because he can run and knows how to get off blocks. I think that was a big definite plus for him and gives him a leg up going in.”
Being from Lubbock, Vinson is looking forward to don the Scarlet and Black for the University he always grew up around. He is looking to major in Kinesiology or Sports Sciences at Texas Tech in hopes of becoming a future coach.
And as for the fast-rising Lubbock-Cooper and head coach Max Kattwinkel? They are looking to continue on their upward trend and is a program to keep an eye on. Texas Tech definitely will.
