After a disappointing season, I am going to have to learn a new defense. My fourth defense in four years! This is how it happened... My first year with Texas Tech I red-shirted so I was on scout team. This was like having a new defense every week because we had to duplicate the opponent. We had separate scout team meetings away from defensive meetings so i didn't learn the actual defense. The next year I earned my spot as a starter. With Ruffin McNeil as the DC and Carlos Mainord as the safeties coach, we ran the 4-3 defense. It was simple and easy to pick up. Then the whole Leach thing happened (wont go into that now) right before the Alamo bowl. The next year we got a whole new staff with Tuberville at the helm. James Willis was my new DC and Travaris Robinson was the defensive backs coach. We had the 3-4 defense and the scheme was extremely complicated and hard to pick up. We made it to the Ticketcity Bowl and again we had a coaching problem before the bowl game! Willis had gotten in trouble and we had to play without a DC. When spring came around the DC and the DBs coach had both taken other jobs. Next, Chad Glascow was hired as the new DC and safeties coach. The 4-2-5 was our new defense and it was a little more simplified than the last. However, perfection was demanded and our played showed that we were too worried to mess up. This time we did not make a bowl game and the DC again left the program. This is where I am today...
Art Kaufman is now the defensive coordinator and the defensive back coach is John Lovett. Ironically we are back to the 4-3 defense where it all started. So far the defense seems simple and I am impressed with the knowledge and experience of my new coaches. Many people always ask me how I deal with all of the changes and the answer never changes. I only focus on what I can control, so I don't focus on what has happened or why. I only know what is now ahead of me and the work I have to put in to be successful. Every year I go out with the mentality of winning my job and being better than the day before. You can never guess what is going to happen to you or the cards you will be dealt, how you REACT is the legacy you will leave behind. If you focus on the "WHYs" past, you are wasting time preparing for the future... I will continue to look ahead and work towards a better tomorrow. I have been through a lot of changes and experiences but I still have a lot to learn... I'm just a Student of the Game.
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