McGuire breaks down the Red Raider signees

Joey McGuire kicked off his signing day press conference by giving a short breakdown of every athlete who signed National Letters of Intent to play football at Texas Tech. Here’s how coach McGuire described the new additions to his football team.

Syncere Massey 6-5|290 - Defensive line - Cedar Hill High School - Cedar Hill, TX

“I’ve known Syncere for a long time,” McGuire said. “When you see Syncere or look at his picture, then you’ll know why we wanted him. He’s 6-foot-5 with 82 inch arms and has NFL measurables. He is a mean dude when he’s playing football. One thing that we wanted to do, and if you look at the four defensive lineman we signed, the height, arm length and weight, you can see what we were trying to do with this class. We were trying to get longer, and we were trying to get two really strong guys inside and two guys that can come off the edge.”

Bryson Donnell 5-11| 210 - Running back - Tyler Legacy High School - Tyler, TX

“Bryson is a running back from Tyler Legacy and his coach, Coach Willis, does a great job with his football players and had two power five running backs that signed today,” McGuire said. “Bryson was committed before I got here, and we were able to hold on to him. He was a huge priority whenever we got in and was one of the first guys the coaching staff went to see. A lot of kudos and pats on the back to coach (DeAndre) Smith. The relationship that he built with Bryson allowed us to hold onto him.”

Harvey Dyson III 6-3|250 - Defensive line - Cedar Hill High School - Cedar Hill, TX

“I’m gonna age myself, but his dad was actually a senior when I first got to Cedar Hill as an assistant 20-something years ago, so I knew that family,” McGuire said. “He’s a guy that can play inside and outside and played outside like a true defensive end this last year and had a couple of interceptions dropping into coverage. I think we can also, as he grows, be able to move him inside. I’m excited about Dyson.”

Tavares Elston Jr. 6-0|205 - Linebacker - Gulf Shores High School – Gulf Shores, AL

“I tell every single person, put on his highlight film and in three plays you’ll know exactly who he is,” McGuire noted. “He is one of the most violent linebackers I have ever seen at the high school level. Just an incredible kid. What I like about him is that he can play Will linebacker, but he can also play strong safety if we need him to. We watched game tape after game tape of him but after the first three plays of his highlight I was like, James (Blanchard) this guy is violent. I’m really excited about him.”

Hut Graham 6-1|175 - Defensive back - Gunter High School - Gunter, TX

“Hut has got a big game tomorrow, he’s playing for a state championship,” McGuire said. “I’m fired up about that. Winning continues to help you win, and he’s been raised in a great program and comes from a coaching background. I actually got to work him out at a different place, and we loved him there. Whenever I got here, I was fired up and told him, 'I just came to see you and get to coach you instead of getting you somewhere else.' Really excited about Hut.”

Maurion Horn 6-0|170 - Defensive back - Broken Arrow High School - Broken Arrow, OK

“Marion is another guy I’ve got a lot of experience with,” McGuire said. “What’s really cool about Marion and he’s like Hut in that he’s very versatile. He was the MVP on the offensive side of the ball in Oklahoma. He’s going to help us tremendously on special teams, and he’s got really good hands. We’re going to start him out at DB, but he could play running back or receiver, so really excited about him.”

Ty Kana 6-2|225 - Linebacker - Katy High School – Katy, TX

“Comes from one of the greatest programs in Texas high school football.” McGuire noted. “You’re talking about Katy, TX, and then you talk about being coached by one of the greatest coaches in Texas high school football history in Gary Joseph. He (Joseph) knows how to coach linebackers. Ty will play Will linebacker for us, but we think he could grow into a Mike also. Really smart football player and think about it, he’s played at Katy High School all four years. He played on varsity as a freshman at Katy high school and all the way through, so that’s saying a lot about who that kid is.”

Kaden Weatherby 6-6|295 - Offensive line - Eaglecrest High School - Aurora, CO

“He is an offensive tackle from Colorado, and he’ll be a mid-year enrollee, so that’s going to help us going into the spring,” McGuire said. “He's a football junkie. He’s coming off a shoulder injury this year but had a great junior year and has been committed to Texas Tech for a long time. Kayden has the length to play tackle but also possesses the versatility to slide inside and play guard if we needed him to.”

Tyler King 5-10|175 - Wide receiver - Alief Taylor High School - Houston, TX

“Another kid from the Houston area and if you look at his track numbers, they’re ridiculous,” McGuire said. “He was a 20-point in the 200-meter last year and that’s ridiculous. Him running that as a junior tells you how fast he is. A low 10 in the 100-meter. He’ll be that slot guy that we need for jet sweeps, and I think he will excel in this offense with coach Kittley. We’re excited about Tyler, and he was really excited about being a part of this offense.”

Seth Martin 6-3|290 - Offensive line - Everman High School - Everman, TX

“He comes from Everman right outside of Fort Worth,” McGuired noted. “If you know anything about that area, traditionally Everman produces really tough football players. He’s a guy that I love from the standpoint that I think he can play all five positions on the offensive line. Athletically and length wise, we really want him to play center or guard, but he's a really a tough kid and that was a great get.”

Joseph Adedire 6-3| 250 - Defensive end/Outside LB - Mansfield Summit High School - Mansfield, TX

“He’s a defensive end and true rush end,” McGuire noted. “Comes from a really great coach and their staff is really tough. They’ve produced some really good football players. He’s a guy that we felt like we really needed to come off the edge and help us in our pass rush. You’re going to see him play like a true defensive end/outside linebacker. I’m really excited about him.”

Trevon McAlpine 6-3|280 - Defensive line - Saraland High School - Saraland, AL

“Coach Zarnell Fitch did a great job with Joseph and Trevon,” McGuire noted. “Whenever he jumped on board, they said 'we’re jumping on too.' He’s another guy, watch his tape. If you’re a center, you don’t want to play this guy. He can play a true nose. He can play a one technique or a three technique. Whatever he plays, he’s trying to knock that offensive lineman back, and I think if you watch the first couple of plays on him, you’ll see just that.

Jalon Peoples 6-0|180 - Defensive back - Cedar Hill High School - Cedar Hill, TX

“I got to coach his three older brothers, they all three won state championships with us,” McGuire said. “Jalon is a true cover corner, one of the best in the state. A ton of interceptions. I think coach (Kenny) Perry is really excited about him because in his last game he returned a kick for a touchdown. He can really run, and we’re really excited about him. He’s got great length and had a great high school career.”

Ben Roberts 6-3|215 - Linebacker - Eaton High School - Haslet, TX

“Whenever you look at Ben, and I said it earlier today, it looks like he’s not even shaving, and he’s 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds,” McGuire noted. “I don’t know what this kid is going to grow into. We’re going to play him at linebacker first, but he’s still growing. Whenever you see him, he doesn’t look 215 pounds. The way he appears, he looks like he’s about 195. He’s going to be a big human and comes from a great family.

Sheridan Wilson 6-5|275 - Offensive line - Argyle High School - Argyle, TX

“Sheridan is another guy that is used to playing football right now, playing long into the playoffs,” McGuire noted. “They’re used to winning and have grown up around great football. Sheridan won a state championship as a junior, and he’s another guy that I really like. Sheridan can play tackle, but we can also kick him inside to guard. He has the length to play tackle though and that was big for us.”

Landon Hullaby 6-0|195 - Defensive back - Mansfield Timberview High School - Mansfield, TX

“I’ve got a great relationship with his family,” McGuire said. “When things kind of got crazy in the coaching world, I told him 'I respect anything that you have going on but if anything changes,' and something changed, so he was one of my first calls. Hullaby can play all three positions in the secondary as far as weak safety or boundary safety, free safety or strong safety. Really strong, physical kid who plays for a great coach at Mansfield Timberview and comes from a football family. Mom and dad are just incredible, and they’ll be here every week. They’re infectious and have such great energy, so adding him but adding mom and dad was really cool too.”

Brady Boyd 6-1|185 - Wide receiver - Southlake Carroll High School/Minnesota - Southlake, TX

“He’s from Southlake Carroll, and I’ve known him his entire life,” McGuire said. “His dad was my very first offensive coordinator at Cedar Hill. The kid, multiple times in high school, ran a 4.3 on the laser timer in the 40-yard dash. He can track the ball and has really great ball skills. One great thing about Brady is his football IQ, and he’s a guy that can play inside or outside. We’ve got some really good length at receiver with some of the older guys, so when it’s time he can kick outside if he has to start inside.”

Tyler Owens 6-2|205 - Defensive back - Plano East High School/Texas - Plano, TX

“I had a relationship with him back when he was in high school.” McGuire said. “Tyler ran in the state championship meet in the 100-meter, and the only guy who beat him was the kid (Matthew Boling) that’s running at Georgia and ran the fastest time ever in the state. At 205 pounds in high school, he ran a sub-10.3, so he can really run. One thing you’ll see here is we got some length on defense, but we also got some guys who can really run and that’s huge.”

Dimitri Moore 6-3|230 - Linebacker - Cedar Hill High School/Vanderbilt/Missouri State - Cedar Hill, TX

“He was a part of my last class at Cedar Hill,” McGuire noted. “He was an All-SEC freshman player at Vanderbilt and a grad transfer coming back to Texas. He’s a Will linebacker and has got really good length. He’s every bit of 6-foot-3 and probably 230-235 pounds and can really run.”