A day after Big 12 Media Days opened Texas Tech and coach Tommy Tuberville will take their turn under the media microscope.
Tech is scheduled to meet with various radio shows and national television outlets between 8:30 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. before coach Tuberville addresses print reporters in a press conference at 11:15 a.m.
Joining Tuberville in Irving will be defensive lineman Colby Whitlock, who should be familiar with the process since he attended last year.
The two other players scheduled to be in Irving are quarterbacks Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield. The decision to bring both quarterbacks is a shrewd move from Tuberville, who continues to avoid tipping his hand as to which quarterback will earn the starting job.
Much of the attention this morning is sure to focus on Tuberville himself. This is his first appearance at an official Big 12 Conference event, and the new coach already has made a splash. He was reprimanded earlier this month for comments expressing skepticism about the conference’s future during a radio interview.
Another question on the media’s mind is how Tech’s offense will function. At Auburn Tuberville was known for having a defense-first mentality and running the ball frequently. Former coach Mike Leach’s coaching strategy is almost the complete opposite.
Still, Tuberville hired on Neal Brown as offensive coordinator, and Brown will bring a fast-paced offense to Lubbock. Brown’s offense at Troy last year trailed only three teams, one of them Tech, in passing yardage last year. Since being named Tech’s coach, Tuberville has insisted that while he will shift the Red Raiders’ defensive strategy he plans on leaving the offense largely unchanged.
One thing that won’t be questioned today is Tuberville’s pedigree. The former National Coach of the Year coached for a decade in the SEC, and while he is a rookie to the Big 12 he is certainly no rookie at managing the press. Tuberville and Kansas coach Turner Gill are the two coaches coaching their first Big 12 season.
Nebraska, Baylor, Iowa State and Texas A&M were part of the first day of the event, and Tech will share the stage with Missouri, Oklahoma State and Kansas State today before the rest of the conference concludes media days Wednesday.
There will also be presentations from Bill Hancock, the BCS Executive Director, Walt Anderson, the Coordinator of Football Officials and Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe this afternoon.
Fans can watch a live stream of Tuberville’s remarks and the rest of the press conferences on the conference website www.big12sports.com.