Lifelong Red Raider Curry making a name for himself at Mike linebacker
Joey McGuire was hired to be the 17th head football coach of Texas Tech on Nov. 8, 2021 and he made it known in his introductory press conference that he was committed to bringing in the best talent that West Texas had to offer.
The next day, Lubbock Coronado product John Curry received an offer to play football for the program he supported from birth. Several weeks later, Curry was the third commit of the Red Raiders’ 2023 class.
“This whole experience has been amazing,” Curry told the media Thursday evening after practice. “Came in, everyone felt like family to me. They brought me in and treated me like one of their own like I’ve been here for four years. Just been a great experience and they’ve taught me plenty of things that I can use for the rest of my life.”
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As a senior at the high school on 34th street in Lubbock, Curry accumulated 119 tackles and seven sacks for the Mustangs. His length and athleticism at 6-foot-4, now-230 pounds translated into five appearances his freshman season at Tech.
Most of his snaps coming on special teams, Curry has been receiving high praise throughout the spring and could assert himself in the two-deep depth chart come season’s kickoff in August.
“I’m really just looking forward to playing linebacker because last year I was really a special teams guy,” Curry said. “We had our two-deep mainly set and I was just looking for a way to get on the field. This year I’m really focused on helping, what can I do to help our team win games? I don’t care whether that’s on special teams or if that’s I’m getting 30-plus snaps a game on defense. I’m really just trying to help us win.”
Though the starting front appears to be set with Jacob Rodriguez and freshman All-American Ben Roberts, Curry has primarily practiced at the Mike linebacker position, but said he can play weak side if needed. Curry’s willingness to adapt is earning him more reps by the day and he’s earning the confidence of his teammates, as well.
“John Curry, it’s kind of funny because they say he’s like a little me,” Roberts said of the redshirt freshman. “We watch film, they’ll be like that’s Ben and no, that’s John. It’s fun, he’s gonna be really good. When Jacob leaves because he’s older, I hope John moves to Will and it’s me and him out there and no one can tell us apart.”
The son of two former Texas Tech athletes and the grandson of an 11-year NFL veteran, Curry’s athletic lineage has led him to accomplish his dream of being a Red Raider.
An NFL Hall of Famer being around the building is helping Curry even more now that he is taking the next step in his career.
“I always watched like, Patrick Mahomes obviously was the guy, but I mean I go back and watch Zach Thomas highlights,” Curry said when asked if he had a Texas Tech hero. “I’m just blown away by the plays he’s making, like how hard he was hitting and just how physical he was making plays… It’s been crazy because sometimes we’ll be having meetings and he just walks in. Preaches to us, tells us some things we can work on, helps us out, tells us how he did things when he was here. It’s just been really great to learn from him as one of the great’s at the position.”
The hometown kid is next in line and he’s taking the spring to improve wherever his position coach Josh Bookbinder sees fit.
Curry said he’s confident in his lateral mobility, now he aims to improve in getting downhill, a critical trait for a linebacker. Where he has found comfort is with the guys helping him along the way.
“I feel really comfortable with our defense,” Curry said. “Having guys like Ben, J-Rod, Bryce (Ramirez), all of them helping me learn the defense just since I’ve been here. I feel I can go out there and command the defense no matter the situation.”