On what he more than once deemed a “hard day,” Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt took center stage Monday afternoon to officially announce that the school had fired third-year football coach Matt Wells.
The oft-repeated theme as Hocutt steered through 40 minutes of questions was easy to identify as he embarks on the third search for a football coach in his 10-plus year tenure.
“We’ve got to get this right,” Hocutt said with emphasis. “Bottom line: We have got to get this right for Texas Tech athletics and Texas Tech University.”
Not surprisingly, Hocutt avoided speaking about specific candidates during the press conference. He deftly side-stepped a question about former Baylor and Houston coach Art Briles, a Texas Tech graduate and former assistant whose tenure in Waco ended in scandal.
“I don’t want to speculate on candidates,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about individuals today. I think that would be very divisive and problematic and not something we would talk about at this time.”
Emotional at times, spirited at others, Hocutt made it clear that he clings to the belief that the Red Raiders football program can be elite – a word he is often chided for in social media circles. In fact, Hocutt took that specific word on directly at point.
"Dang right, we want to be elite, and that’s not going to change,” Hocutt said, his voice rising noticeably. “Are we there now? No, we're not, but that's not going to knock us off of that vision. That day, when I stop talking like that, that's when we have issues and we have a concern.
"If we're not striving to be elite, if we're not striving to get to the level of our basketball, our track, our golf, our baseball, our basketball teams have been, then shame on us.”
Here are some more of Hocutt’s responses on the day Matt Wells’ tenure ended, Sonny Cumbie’s role as the interim head coach began and a new coaching search began in earnest:
On his meeting with the Texas Tech players:
“We want each young man to be here at Texas Tech. We want each and every one to graduate from Texas Tech.”
“This is a talented group of young men. I believe we’re a good football program. I believe we’re better than what we’ve played a couple of times this year.
“Today has been a hard day, and especially for those players. They didn’t sign up for this. My heart goes out for them and my commitment to them is to make sure we find that missing piece – whatever is missing to get us to that next level. That is what I’m committed to them to do.”
On what motivation he expects of those players:
“We have a lot of to play for this season. The season is not over by any stretch.
“When we earn that bowl invitation, we’re going to celebrate with them
His message to the Texas Tech fan base:
“We need your support now as much as ever.”
“We’re going to unify the Red Raider Nation by finding the ideal candidate to lead this program moving forward
“We’re going to do everything that we can to make Texas Tech football great in every aspect
Why the decision was made to make the mid-season move:
“Given where we were, when you looked at the full body of work and the program collectively, we felt it was inevitable and today was the day we wanted to move forward
“Typically you’d like to let the season play out, then evaluate. In an ideal world, that’s where you’d be. This did not feel like it was ideal, and it felt like the right decision to make today at this time for Texas Tech athletics and that’s what (President Lawrence Schovanec) charges me to do every day.”
Hocutt said the decision was reached Sunday night and he met with Wells at 10:30 a.m. Monday.
“Probably keep that conversation between he and I, but yes, he was surprised and obviously didn’t agree with the decision, and I’ll leave it at that.”
On whether Cumbie could emerge as a candidate for permanent job:
“Boy, wouldn’t that be a great situation and a great conversation to have in front of us if that were to be the case.
On the timeline to find the next coach:
“You always want to move as quickly as you can, but take as much time as you need to, as well.
“We’ve got to get this right. Bottom line: We have got to get this right for Texas Tech athletics and Texas Tech University. If that takes up until mid-December, we take until mid-December. If we can find the ideal candidate before that, then we’ll move when we all feel confident we have the right recommendation to take to President Schovanec.”
On the qualities he and an assembled committee will look for in the new coach:
“A winner. Somebody that can come in here and get us over the hump. Coach Wells has done many good things in his time here. … We’ve got to take that next step. We’ve got to get over that next edge. We need somebody with that determination and knowledge and ability to get us to that next level.”
“We can do it again here at Texas Tech. We’ve just got to take that next step, and we’ve got to find that individual that can bring that missing piece of what’s not there to allow us to take that step.”
“If possible, you want to seek somebody that has strong state of Texas ties, somebody who knows this state and knows the recruiting landscape. The ability to go into Texas high schools and have a relationship there and be able to sell West Texas and everything West Texas has to offer.”
“We’ve got to find somebody to come in who can unify this fan base and unify this community to get behind this football program like never before. It’s hard to win at this level. We’ve got to be unified, and we’ve got to have a leader that brings everybody together and instills that belief. We’re not going to be hopeful that we can win. We’ve got to believe that we can win, and we’ve got find that right leader to come in and take us forward.”
On making the decision to hire Wells mostly by himself three years ago and whether there is pressure on him that the new hire succeed:
“I make decisions every day. I wish I knew all the answers to that question. It’s one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.
“I think Matt Wells did a lot of things right. The performance on the field just did not meet our expectations.”
“I put more pressure on myself every day than anybody can put on me. I’m going to make the best decision for Texas Tech athletics every day and do what I believe is right.”
“It cuts me to the core when we don’t and we’re not at the level that we want to be at.”
On whether there was a final straw that led to Wells’ firing:
“I don’t know if you can point to one thing in particular. I felt like we showed progress at times this year that I felt so good about, but then there were games where we didn’t. We’ve got to get to that consistent level of performance week in and week out.”
On the decision to elevate Cumbie to the interim role:
“I just felt where we are today, Coach Cumbie was the best option to serve as the interim coach to the overall team. He loves Texas Tech – not that the other assistant coaches do not – but being a former player, Sonny brings a high level of energy and experience for Texas Tech to the table, and I felt, collectively, he was the right man to ask to serve in the role the rest of the season.”
“Bottom line is it’s always important to make sure you have the right individual leading your programs.
“It is so important that we continue to take steps to get our football program as healthy as we can be and as competitive on the national stage as we can be
On what he thinks the expectations for the football program are and should be:
“Should this football team go to bowl games every year? Absolutely. Should we be in the Top 25 in the country? Absolutely. That’s where we belong, and we haven’t been there. We’re go t get back there and that’s the expectation for this program, and to be relevant and competitive in November. That’s not going to change.”
“We want to win, period. We expect to play by the rules and operate within the integrity of college football and college athletics. At the end of the day, winning is what’s important, but we’re not going to compromise on the values that we have.
On the committee of Dusty Womble, Cody Campbell – both from the board of regents – former player and current staff member Sammy Morris and Tony Hernandez, a deputy athletic director: “I’ve got a great group of experts surrounding me this time. It’s critical that we get this right, and I think through their counsel and leadership and involvement, then it’s only going to strengthen and assist in the process today.”
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Randy Rosetta is the Managing Editor of RedRaiderSports.com
Contact him at (806) 407-0188 or RandyRosetta67@gmail.com
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