Texas Tech University Athletics
Spring Notebook: Football is back in Lubbock
March 21, 2023 | Football
Texas Tech went through its first of 15 practices this spring to kick off the second season under Joey McGuire on Tuesday
LUBBOCK, Texas – The sound of football was back in the air Tuesday afternoon as Texas Tech kicked off the first of 15 spring practices with a nearly two-hour workout at the Football Training Facility.
This will be the second set of spring practices for the Red Raiders under Joey McGuire, who returns an experienced team with 10 starters back on offense to go along with six on defense and two key specialists. It should come to little surprise to anyone that McGuire was upbeat after the first practice, especially due to the wealth of experience the Red Raiders have returning to go along with several new additions made at semester.
"I'm excited about day one. We're way ahead of where we were (last year). I made the comment that the guys that were on the bowl team would be mad at me, but I think this team right now beats the bowl team by 14 points. The amount of guys we have coming back and then the offseason Lance (Barilow) and the strength staff had has me excited."
Texas Tech has 19 newcomers currently on its spring roster with 12 being freshmen who enrolled at semester. McGuire and his staff also signed seven transfers in the offseason, several of which have already impressed in outside linebackers Steve Linton (Syracuse) and Terrell Tilmon (Oregon).
The Red Raider will mainly use a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday practice schedule this spring with TexasTech.com providing a key inside look through practice videos, mic'd up segments and other information all spring.
FOUR DOWNS WITH DADRION TAYLOR-DEMERSON
Q: When the updated roster was unveiled Tuesday, one of the first things many noticed was your move to the No. 1 jersey. What went into that decision?
"The switch from 25 to 1 is part of my personal goals. It's my last season. It's my last ride. It's a reminder to myself every day that I see the No. 1 that you have one more shot at this. You have one more thing to do, and you can't take any days off as my goal is to play in the NFL after this."
Q: When you leave the facility at the end of the day, what's your favorite thing to do?
"I really enjoy seeing my daughter. She's walking now, so it's always chasing her around and watching her mom and grandma, grandpa play with her. It lights my day up. Other than that, I really enjoy hanging with my teammates. I'm a professional Madden player, so if anyone wants to play me, come get my tag."
Q: You've played a lot of games here at Texas Tech. What's one of your favorite memories thus far?
"My freshman year at Oklahoma State. It was a big game. It was my first time playing my cousin (Jason Taylor II) and my teammate I grew up with (R.T. Sherman). The Jones was so loud, and I got a fumble recovery. I wore No. 25 for so long because I wanted to be like my big cousin (who also wore No. 25 at Oklahoma State), and now he's off going to the league. I'm on my own journey now."
Q: With you being a veteran guy in your position group, who is a younger teammate you see potentially having a great spring?
"Nate Floyd. He's probably had one of the toughest journeys through my time here. He came in as a safety and then was moved to receiver. Now, he's back on defense again, so he's been back-and-forth. I feel this is a great opportunity for him. You've learned the game on both sides, so once he gets older and has played a lot more snaps like us older guys have, he's going to learn the game so much easier because he knows what offenses are trying to do and he knows how defenses try to limit the offense's success. He's getting some No. 1 reps because a few guys our out, so I feel this is a great opportunity for him to establish himself and show coaches what he can do."
