Advertisement
football Edit

Wonderings: The National Championship. How does Texas Tech get there?

Will's Weekly Wonderings are brought to you by our good friends at Gator's Bayou. If you are looking for a real, authentic Cajun restaurant in Lubbock complete with a fun, Louisiana-style atmosphere, Gator's Bayou is the place to go!

ON BROADWAY: What would it take for Texas Tech to make it to a national championship game? Let's find out. 

Advertisement

The confetti has fallen, and the 2016 college football season is in the books. Clemson pulled off one of the greatest national championship game comeback bids in college football history, winning with one second left after being down by 10 points to enter the fourth quarter. It was a fitting end to the year.

But when you watch Alabama and Clemson play, a few things jump off the proverbial screen, page, etc, and the mental math comes together quickly: These teams are playing a different sport than most of their FBS allies, including Texas Tech.

The athletes are bigger and faster. The coaching staffs are littered with talent and experience. The support staffs are expansive.

And that's why Clemson and Alabama can play well enough two seasons in a row for a national championship rematch. They just have more than the rest.

But how much more? I decided to sit down and evaluate some of the numbers to see just how far Texas Tech is away from being able to compete for the biggest trophy at the end of the season.

To me, there are a few determining factors that really separate national title contenders from the rest.

It starts with players. The whole saying about Jimmys and Joes stands the test of time, and without them your staff - no matter how good - can only go so far. The second factor is the coaching staff, and no, I'm not talking about the head coach. Sure, you want and need a good head coach, but his assistants are a much bigger part of the equation than most realize. If you don't have good assistants, you won't have consistently well groomed players, and you won't have any with much talent if those assistants can't recruit in the first place. Finally, I believe overall athletic department budget is a big factor. That weighs into support staff salaries, necessary facility upgrades and maintenance, and the rest of the behind-the-scenes essentials that most fans will never know much about.

So, I cracked the numbers for each team that has competed in a national championship over the last five seasons, as I consider the last half decade to be the best pool we can come up with for what it takes to compete at the highest level in modern college football.

I added up number of top 10 recruiting classes since 2008 (since that 2008 class would be the redshirt senior class beginning five years ago), the current assistant salary pool, and the final athletic department revenue for the 2014-15 season because it's the most current year I could find data for all the programs.

So, let's have a look.


National Championship Competitors Since 2012 vs. Texas Tech
School Top 10 classes (since 2008) Assistant salary pool (2016) Athletic department revenue (2014-15)

Alabama

9

$5,320,000

$148,911,674

Clemson

3

$5,390,417

$83,534,371

Florida State

9

$4,586,000

$120,822,522

Ohio State

7

$4,583,100

$167,166,065

Auburn

6

$4,458,520

$124,657,247

Notre Dame

2

Undisclosed

Undisclosed

Oregon

1

$3,622,484

$105,701,523

Texas Tech

0

$2,247,900

$79,979,481

So, let's break it down.

After looking at the numbers, it's an obvious answer: Texas Tech is very, very far away from competing for a national championship.

That starts with recruiting. If you were curious, Oregon's lowest finish in recruiting over this nine year stretch is 34th, the lowest of any school to compete for a title in the last five years.

Texas Tech's two highest finishes are 20th and 27th in 2011 and 2012, and they've never finished higher than 35th outside of those two seasons under Tuberville.

For assistant salary pool, Oregon happened to also finish the lowest this season with $3,622,484. That's nearly a million and a half higher than Texas Tech.

To put things in even more a sobering position, Clemson and Alabama, the two schools that played for the 2017 national championship less than a week ago, both had a support staff salary higher than three million, nearly a million higher than Texas Tech's regular assistant pool.

And that's what's seperating the Red Raiders from the national contenders right now. They don't have the assistant salary pool of the schools that played in the national title game, which bleeds directly into recruiting and coaching results on the field.

However, Tech does have a model to emulate between Oregon and Clemson.

Like the Ducks, the Red Raiders have distance issues when it comes to recruiting, but those can be addressed by quality of assistants and facilities that can be augmented through cold hard cash.

Tech also has a similar athletic department revenue to that of Clemson, meaning the only thing truly separating the Tigers is their boosters, who have graciously used their monetary resources to push the Clemson program forward.

There's a model of success to be had by Texas Tech found in Clemson and Oregon. It starts with assistant salary pool, which can attract better candidates when positions come open on staff. (Note that this is not an indictment on the current staff and their abilities, as I do believe Kliff has hired some quality assistants.)

That will in turn improve recruiting and coaching in the long run as Tech attracts better assistants in the positions vacated by leaving coaches.

Add to that the possibilities presented by a greater athletic budget and more funds from boosters, and Texas Tech can improve their support staff and facility improvement efforts all at once.

Simpy put: It's a matter of throwing more money at the problem, and that's money that Texas Tech and its fans can provide should they chose to do so.


LINK ME, BRO

-Video Game nerds, rejoice: Nintendo has officially announced a release date and price point for the Switch, which is arguably the most ambitious system in the history of gaming.

-Did you love season one of Atlanta on FX? Too bad, cause season two isn't coming until 2018 because of Donald Glover's commitment to the Han Solo standalone film.

-Speaking of, Star Wars nerds: Woody Harrelson has officially been cast in the Han Solo movie, which I've now gone from apathetic about to totally amped for.

-Listen, as a Dallas Cowboys fan, you don't have to alert me to the way Sean Lee has worked for this opportunity in the playoffs. But in case you weren't aware, no one has suffered more for an opportunity to play in a Super Bowl for the Cowboys than the linebacker.

-This week in Florida Man: Florida Man rummages through stranger's pantry naked in hopes of finding sesame seeds.

POWER RANKINGS: Top movies of 2016

The Golden Globes are in the books, and the Academy Awards are drawing nearer, meaning the top critics in film are ready to declare their top rated films of 2016. But why would you need their approval when you have mine? I saw more than 40 films last year, and these are the five that made my final cut.......


5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Call me a Star Wars homer, and I'll be fine with that. But Rogue One is truly the first time I've felt at home in the Star Wars franchise since the original series. While the character development isn't as strong as The Force Awakens, the story and action sequences are dynamite, and the third act is arguably the best in film in the last half decade. This is a Star Wars nerd's Star Wars movie.

4. Captain America: Civil War - Some people are exhausted with the comic book movie genre. I am not some people. On top of being one of the best comic book movies made in the last decade, Civil War is just a flat out great film. It tackles the subject of collateral damage from these heroes' actions, and it does it in the way that Batman v. Superman was hoping to capture it. This is one of the best comic book films ever made, from action set pieces to character development and story arcs.

3. La La Land - I'll admit that I'm a sucker for a good musical. The only problem is that Chicago is the only one worth a rip that we've gotten in fifty years. Well, that is until La La Land. It perfectly captures the magic of the golden age of musicals, and the performances by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are top notch. This movie made me truly fall in love with movies again, which is a feat that happens once every few years. I LOVE this movie.

2. Hell or High Water - I never knew I really wanted a western-cops & robbers film that represented the spirit of West Texas until I watched Hell or High Water this year. It was the surprise film of the year, capturing the essence of West Texas in the form of a fantastic story. Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges should all be nominated for Oscars for their performances.

1. Arrival - This was unquestionably my top movie of the year. I wanted an original, emotionally gripping sci-fi film, and boy did I get it. This movie is visually beautiful and haunting, fitting the tone and question of "What would you do?" in the form of Amy Adams' character. It's smart, gorgeous, and in my opinion the best made movie of 2016. Denis Villenueve is the most talented director in Hollywood.

Advertisement