{"id":516638,"date":"2026-03-11T08:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/516638\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T08:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:03:09","slug":"coach-mcguire-recaps-practice-no-1-micahs-return-captains-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/516638\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach McGuire Recaps Practice No. 1, Micah’s Return, Captains Selection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas Tech<\/a> held its first open practice to media today, you can check out clips from today via this link<\/a> on the RedRaiderSports.com Twitter account. Coach Joey McGuire<\/a> caught up with the local media to discuss today\u2019s practice, Micah Hudson\u2019s return to Texas Tech, and team captain selections for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

What did you want to see from the team for the first practice?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think first time you get out there and you\u2019re not totally in full pads, we\u2019re in helmets and spiders today. So you want to see how you\u2019re going to execute the offense communication, same way with the defense, how they\u2019re going to execute, how they\u2019re going to communicate. <\/p>\n

Got a lot of people rotating in and out, so how locked in they are. I think there\u2019s a way to play football even though we\u2019re not in full pads, and we always talk about, \u201cwe got to take care of each other\u201d, but just the speed and the effort that they practice at, I thought it was a really good practice. <\/p>\n

It was a shorter practice day one, we\u2019ll do the same thing on Thursday, but we got a lot of stuff in. I mean, we were regular downs. We were third down. We were red zone, whenever we did some team stuff, and so I was proud of the guys. And it\u2019s just, right now, it\u2019s just learning each other. That\u2019s part of why I think it\u2019s so important to have the portal where it is, and have as long as we can with our team, to get to know each other and find out what our identity is, because every team is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who set the tone today?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Cam Dickey<\/a> and J\u2019Koby Williams<\/a> are playing really, really fast. I think you\u2019ve got an older senior tackle in Howard Sampson<\/a> and (Jacob) Ponton<\/a>; I thought they did well. People will fall in love with Adam Trick<\/a>. He\u2019s got a really high motor, so he practiced at really high level. Malik (Esquerra)<\/a> had an interception in the red zone.<\/p>\n

Some of those guys like that, I\u2019m probably missing a couple. And then, I always kind of laugh. I\u2019ve been saying, if Thor had triplets, it would be John Curry<\/a>, Austin Romaine<\/a>, and Ben Roberts<\/a>. I mean, those guys are just number one. They look incredible right now. John\u2019s 231 LBs, Austin\u2019s 241 LBs, and Ben\u2019s 251 LBs. They really look good. They\u2019re playing well together. It\u2019s like Austin has been with us for more than a couple of months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Micah\u2019s return to the 806<\/p>\n

\u201cMicah (Hudson)<\/a>\u2018s a really good story. I didn\u2019t tell it last year, and I can say it now. But what people don\u2019t understand is Micah Hudson walked on last year. He was not on scholarship. We just put him back on scholarship in January. He wore number 14, I was not going to give him number one, he would have to earn it back. <\/p>\n

Micah did a lot of things to be back at Texas Tech. Because he knew that this is where he should have been and stayed. And it\u2019s going to pay off. I mean, it\u2019s one of those deals he\u2019s running with the ones. That is the one thing I think that we as a team are really deep, and so you\u2019re going to see a bigger rotation at receiver than what we have in the past because we are deeper in that room. Our tight end room is really good, so you\u2019re going to see tight ends on the field, which we\u2019ve done that since I\u2019ve been here. But Micah has really done a phenomenal job of buying into everything that Coach Juice and Mack (Leftwich) have asked him to do, and it\u2019s paying off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captain selection<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, man, that was cool. What\u2019s cool about both those guys (Ben Roberts & Sheridan Wilson<\/a>) is they committed to tech and loved this university before I ever got here. <\/p>\n

Ben Roberts actually told me on his visit. He was like, \u201cI\u2019m glad you\u2019re here, but I was coming to Texas Tech no matter what.\u201d, they committed to this university in this day and age, it\u2019s really cool. You\u2019re talking about a fixing to be a four year starter and a three year starter. <\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been in this program. They know what we\u2019re about, they know what we\u2019re trying to do, and they have been very vocal in trying to push the guys that hold everybody accountable, and they have the respect to their teammates. <\/p>\n

Whenever you really know what we\u2019re trying to do as a team. You\u2019re not afraid to speak up and hold each other accountable. And then you have your respect to your teammates, then that\u2019s usually what captains end up in. And they\u2019re great teammates, they are leaders, but before anything they\u2019re great teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

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