Texas Tech University Athletics
Q&A with Jeff Linder
September 19, 2024 | Men's Basketball
LUBBOCK – With 143 victories as a head coach and three years remaining on his contract at Wyoming, Jeff Linder had little hesitation to join Grant McCasland's staff as an assistant coach when the opportunity presented itself. "Reunited in West Texas after 20 years! Only a special place and a special @CoachGrantMac would have made this reunion possible," he posted on social media when hired in May. Linder was a head coach the past eight seasons, leading Northern Colorado and Wyoming for four each – highlighted by guiding Northern Colorado to a 26-12 record in 2017-18 and to 21 and 22 wins the next two seasons. At Wyoming, he led the Cowboys to a 25-9 record and the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The reunion brings the coaches back together after they guided Midland College to a 53-16 record over two seasons together from 2004-06 and maintained a close relationship, bouncing ideas off each other throughout their coaching journeys but not reuniting on the same staff until this season.
The social media post also had a photo of him and McCasland holding their first-born children while standing on the Chaparral Center court. Since that photo was taken, both added three more children and have had successful coaching careers. A conversation with TexasTech.com sheds light on his decision to join the program and what he's looking forward to this season.
TexasTech.com: What were the main reasons you make the move to Lubbock and join McCasland's coaching staff?
Jeff Linder: "I wouldn't have left being a head coach with three years left on a contract to go work with anyone else in the country. Obviously, there's always a little adjustment going from being the head coach to an assistant, but with our relationship it's been great. He understands the importance of family and what truly matters in winning. It's not about being in the office 18 hours a day or forcing things. He wants you to have balance. I wouldn't have made the move if I didn't truly believe in Grant as a person and a coach. The coaching staff and players become your extended family and I think we have a great group that really helped me adjust quickly this summer. I feel comfortable and confident in my role right now because I'm enjoying being around the people I work with every day. It's too hard of a job, regardless of whether you're the head coach or an assistant, if you don't have the right people around you. I think that's one of the gifts of Coach McCasland. He does a tremendous job of picking the right people to be in the program."
TexasTech.com: What philosophies do you and McCasland share?
Linder: "Whether it was my time in Northern Colorado and Wyoming as the head coach, and when Coach McCasland was at North Texas, it was funny when you go to KenPom.com, just how aligned we were. I mean, it was literally like we were one rank off of one another. The stats were so very similar. As much time as we spend talking on the phone, talking basketball, I mean you see a lot of the same philosophies. I think that hopefully will allow him to feel a little bit more comfortable with me being around knowing that he has somebody that has been through a lot of those situations, not just an assistant coach, but as a head coach. To be able to kind of take some of the things that comes with being the head coach at Texas Tech off his plate to where he can really focus on what he's really good at. Then for me to be able to kind of put my stamp on some of the things that have helped me win games over the course of eight years as a head coach."
TexasTech.com: How connected have your journeys been since you were his assistant almost 20 years ago?
Linder: "We've been a part but connected over the past 20 years since we were together in Midland. We are both stubborn sometimes in our ideas but I think for him to have someone he really trusts and isn't scared to tell him what they think is important. It shows his leadership. There will be times when there are philosophical differences on staffs, but I can already tell that this staff we have are all about winning and doing it together. There's no one who is selfish or who makes it about themselves. At the end of the day, it's all of our ideas. We need to go out and make sure we are all aligned and putting our players in the best position to succeed. What motivated me, ultimately, to come to Texas Tech and to work with Coach McCasland was the chance to win a championship. The way that college basketball is not everything is equal and I felt that by coming here and knowing that Coach McCasland understands what it takes every day, every possession to win and compete for a championship. That was ultimately the biggest motivation for me coming to Tech, is the chance to win a championship."
TexasTech.com: How do you think you and McCasland have changed the most since Midland College?
Linder: "I think the biggest lessons that we probably learned and we were young, I mean being 25,26, 27-years-old at that time, and thinking we knew what was going on, but in reality, we really didn't. But one thing we did, and I think the players always knew, was that we cared for them and that we were going to work for them every day and try to put them in the best position to be successful. With both of us, which might be good at times to the players, it might be bad, but we're not willing and we're not scared to change on the fly. At the end of the day, you've just got to find a way to win the game. If that means having to change your entire offense at halftime against Howard Junior College in the Region Five championship, that's what you have to do to win the game. I think that's exciting for me to once again be able to kind of have those back-and-forth conversations. We're very competitive and we're not always going to agree, but at the same time, we are going to do everything we can to win."
TexasTech.com: What have you enjoyed about the development of the team through the summer leading into the first official practice?
Linder: "The biggest focus is just making sure that the discipline and effort required every day, every possession, to be a great team, to be a team that really can compete for a championship when you're playing in the best, best league in college basketball, night in and night out. You're playing against some of the best. I mean, you better be ready when the game comes. Hope is not a strategy. You've got to build the habits in practice that give you a chance to beat the teams that are in this league."
TexasTech.com: What do you like most about this team?
Linder: "The thing that I've been really happy with is that we have a really good group of guys that really like each other. We've got a really good group of guys that really get along and I think over the course of the season, when the season gets long, the college basketball season is the longest season of probably any in college sports other than maybe baseball, if you make it all the way to the World Series, but the amount of time that they spend together to have that closeness, that camaraderie, I think that only helps you in the long run. Coach McCasland is as good as anybody that I've seen and been with in terms of building that. I mean, he's an elite when it when it comes to team building and getting everybody on the same page and defining roles and holding them accountable to those roles. That's our job as assistants and the staff to make sure that we understand the direction that we're going and helping him convey that message to everybody. Luckily, we have a group of guys that want to be led and want to do something special. Staying healthy will be important. Obviously, availability is the best ability and I think for us just to continue to grow each day and understand that we can't give away days. I think this team, so far, over the course of the summer and here in the preseason in the fall have done a really good job of bringing the necessary energy required to win the day."
The social media post also had a photo of him and McCasland holding their first-born children while standing on the Chaparral Center court. Since that photo was taken, both added three more children and have had successful coaching careers. A conversation with TexasTech.com sheds light on his decision to join the program and what he's looking forward to this season.
TexasTech.com: What were the main reasons you make the move to Lubbock and join McCasland's coaching staff?
Jeff Linder: "I wouldn't have left being a head coach with three years left on a contract to go work with anyone else in the country. Obviously, there's always a little adjustment going from being the head coach to an assistant, but with our relationship it's been great. He understands the importance of family and what truly matters in winning. It's not about being in the office 18 hours a day or forcing things. He wants you to have balance. I wouldn't have made the move if I didn't truly believe in Grant as a person and a coach. The coaching staff and players become your extended family and I think we have a great group that really helped me adjust quickly this summer. I feel comfortable and confident in my role right now because I'm enjoying being around the people I work with every day. It's too hard of a job, regardless of whether you're the head coach or an assistant, if you don't have the right people around you. I think that's one of the gifts of Coach McCasland. He does a tremendous job of picking the right people to be in the program."
TexasTech.com: What philosophies do you and McCasland share?
Linder: "Whether it was my time in Northern Colorado and Wyoming as the head coach, and when Coach McCasland was at North Texas, it was funny when you go to KenPom.com, just how aligned we were. I mean, it was literally like we were one rank off of one another. The stats were so very similar. As much time as we spend talking on the phone, talking basketball, I mean you see a lot of the same philosophies. I think that hopefully will allow him to feel a little bit more comfortable with me being around knowing that he has somebody that has been through a lot of those situations, not just an assistant coach, but as a head coach. To be able to kind of take some of the things that comes with being the head coach at Texas Tech off his plate to where he can really focus on what he's really good at. Then for me to be able to kind of put my stamp on some of the things that have helped me win games over the course of eight years as a head coach."
TexasTech.com: How connected have your journeys been since you were his assistant almost 20 years ago?
Linder: "We've been a part but connected over the past 20 years since we were together in Midland. We are both stubborn sometimes in our ideas but I think for him to have someone he really trusts and isn't scared to tell him what they think is important. It shows his leadership. There will be times when there are philosophical differences on staffs, but I can already tell that this staff we have are all about winning and doing it together. There's no one who is selfish or who makes it about themselves. At the end of the day, it's all of our ideas. We need to go out and make sure we are all aligned and putting our players in the best position to succeed. What motivated me, ultimately, to come to Texas Tech and to work with Coach McCasland was the chance to win a championship. The way that college basketball is not everything is equal and I felt that by coming here and knowing that Coach McCasland understands what it takes every day, every possession to win and compete for a championship. That was ultimately the biggest motivation for me coming to Tech, is the chance to win a championship."
TexasTech.com: How do you think you and McCasland have changed the most since Midland College?
Linder: "I think the biggest lessons that we probably learned and we were young, I mean being 25,26, 27-years-old at that time, and thinking we knew what was going on, but in reality, we really didn't. But one thing we did, and I think the players always knew, was that we cared for them and that we were going to work for them every day and try to put them in the best position to be successful. With both of us, which might be good at times to the players, it might be bad, but we're not willing and we're not scared to change on the fly. At the end of the day, you've just got to find a way to win the game. If that means having to change your entire offense at halftime against Howard Junior College in the Region Five championship, that's what you have to do to win the game. I think that's exciting for me to once again be able to kind of have those back-and-forth conversations. We're very competitive and we're not always going to agree, but at the same time, we are going to do everything we can to win."
TexasTech.com: What have you enjoyed about the development of the team through the summer leading into the first official practice?
Linder: "The biggest focus is just making sure that the discipline and effort required every day, every possession, to be a great team, to be a team that really can compete for a championship when you're playing in the best, best league in college basketball, night in and night out. You're playing against some of the best. I mean, you better be ready when the game comes. Hope is not a strategy. You've got to build the habits in practice that give you a chance to beat the teams that are in this league."
TexasTech.com: What do you like most about this team?
Linder: "The thing that I've been really happy with is that we have a really good group of guys that really like each other. We've got a really good group of guys that really get along and I think over the course of the season, when the season gets long, the college basketball season is the longest season of probably any in college sports other than maybe baseball, if you make it all the way to the World Series, but the amount of time that they spend together to have that closeness, that camaraderie, I think that only helps you in the long run. Coach McCasland is as good as anybody that I've seen and been with in terms of building that. I mean, he's an elite when it when it comes to team building and getting everybody on the same page and defining roles and holding them accountable to those roles. That's our job as assistants and the staff to make sure that we understand the direction that we're going and helping him convey that message to everybody. Luckily, we have a group of guys that want to be led and want to do something special. Staying healthy will be important. Obviously, availability is the best ability and I think for us just to continue to grow each day and understand that we can't give away days. I think this team, so far, over the course of the summer and here in the preseason in the fall have done a really good job of bringing the necessary energy required to win the day."
Reunited in West Texas after 20 years!
— Jeff Linder (@jefflinder) May 14, 2024
Only a special place and special @CoachGrantMac would have made this reunion possible!!
Can't wait to get after it with a great coaching staff and players who I watched many of times last year!!! https://t.co/XRuWNHto7O pic.twitter.com/ysDSQozHeC
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