Kingsbury lands top-ranked QB
Stephenville quarterback Jarrett Stidham is a Red Raider. The
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nation's top-ranked dual-threat quarterback committed to Texas Tech on Friday
just days after wrapping up an unofficial visit to the program.
"I had visited Tech and Lubbock before, but this visit was different,"
Stidham told RRS on Thursday. "I got to spend a lot of one on one time with
the coaches, the entire staff was there and I mean everyone."
"I watched game film of the Holiday Bowl with coach (Kliff) Kingsbury and coach
(Eric) Morris. They went over some of the plays calls, the various formations,
and some of the reads. I would say watching film with coach Kingsbury and
getting to interact with him in the film room was one of my favorite parts of
the visit."
Stidham's relationship with Kingsbury was key in the Rivals100 prospect's
recruitment. He told RRS
early February that a program's coaches and style of offense would be
critical factors in his decision-making process.
"[T]here's a long list of stuff," Stidham said. "How good is the coach? The
quarterback coach? The head coach? I want a coach that is there for the players
and not there just to get a paycheck. I think it means a whole lot more to the
actual players to play for someone like that than someone just there to get
paid.
"I want a good offense. Someone that will spread it around and throw the ball
vertically. And playing fast. We do our hurry-up offense here and that's when we
really click. That's the way I like to play."
The 6-foot-2, 188-pound prospect chose the Red Raiders over offers from Alabama,
Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon,
Texas, Texas A&M and several others.
"First of all, Tech was the first school to ever recruit me when Tommy Mainord
and Neal Brown were back there," Stidham said. "So that kind of holds a special
place in my heart just because they were the first ones to put themselves out
there for me. My sophomore year, when I was a receiver, I went up to some games
and I really enjoyed it. This past year I went to one, the Iowa State game, and
I went to the spring game. I love it up there.
"I think what sets Tech apart is, in my opinion, is just the people and the home
feel that it has. You can go to these bigger cities. It's just a big city.
You're living in a big city. Being from Stephenville, which is around 17,000,
18,000 people, it's kind of a smaller town. I like that kind of feel. I don't
really want to get away from that. That's what I like about Lubbock and Tech as
a university. It's just kind of a special place, I guess. Ever since they were
the first ones to recruit me, it's had a special place in my heart."
Stidham, No. 48 in the Rivals100, hopes to graduate Stephenville in December.
Matt Clare and Mike Graham contributed to this report.
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