Longtime Texas Tech commitment, Frisco offensive lineman Dawson Deaton took another unofficial visit to the South Plains this weekend to watch the Red Raiders' season opener against Stephen F. Austin.
"The visit went really well, always good talking to the coaches and some of my future teammates," Deaton said. "I thought the game was great, just seeing how the offense executed and put up points was awesome. It's always really fun watching Pat (Mahomes) play and getting to see how big of a play-maker he is on the field.
"I also thought the defense played really good as a whole. I thought both Ondre (Pipkins) and Kolin (Hill) were playing really good out there on Saturday. I think having them and Breiden (Fehoko) on the same defensive line will give the opposing offensive line trouble all year long."
Deaton has built great relationships with the entire Texas Tech coaching staff, particularly Coach Lee Hays and Coach Kliff Kingsbury, but was able to meet one of the program's newest assistants this weekend.
"There weren't too many new things on this visit, but I did get to meet Manny Ramirez for the first time and it was cool getting to know him," Deaton said. "He told me how happy he is to be back at Texas Tech and we spent some time getting to know one another. That's a guy who played at Tech, then had success in the NFL and won at the highest level. I cannot wait to learn from someone like that."
Fans love to hear about commitments graduating early and joining the program in January for spring practices, but sometimes all of the hard work involved gets overlooked. In Deaton's case, the standout prospect is enduring some long days in order to make his dream a reality.
"I just got out of my night classes," Deaton said. "It's the last thing I have to do in order to graduate early this December. It's a really long day starting school at 9 a.m. and pretty much not getting out until 7:30 p.m. at night, but it really is worth doing all of this and being able to enroll at Texas Tech early. I cannot wait to start my football career there and start playing for the Red Raiders in January."
Rated a 5.6 three-star prospect, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman is the No. 22 overall rated offensive guard in the nation. The 2-0 Frisco Raccoons will face Woodrow Wilson this Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.
