Texas Tech has struggled to stop people this season. The 3-7 Red Raiders rank 122nd nationally in total defense, 108th in yards per play, 126th in scoring defense and 123rd in rushing defense. The first part of the season can be blamed on former defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt, and the recent struggles can be blamed on... former defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt.
According to current defensive coordinator Mike Smith, Wallerstedt has been supplying signals to Texas Tech’s opponents.
“They have been passed around. ... I know other coaches have called and our signals have been passed around the whole time,” Smith told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “All I know is karma’s a bad deal.
“I don’t want to get into what’s going on with all that, but it’s not right and, to me, it’s not fair to the kids. So if that’s how that person wants to handle business, they can handle business that way. I sure hope I don’t run into him anytime soon.”
Smith didn’t name Wallerstedt specifically, but, of course, he didn’t really have to.
“That person knows. I know,” Smith said. “A lot of people know. Bad deal. Karma’s a bad deal. You don’t mess with that, especially in this profession.”
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury echoed Smith’s sentiments, saying it all stems from “the situation we had earlier this year.”
There are a number of layers to this story.
First are foremost, Smith and Kingsbury hopefully are telling the truth here because these kinds of accusations are reputation ruining in the coaching community. (For what it’s worth, Wallerstedt has since moved on to the staff at Louisiana-Lafayette.)As one Texas Tech coach told me recently re: Wallerstedt/signals, “Forget us (coaches). How could you do that to your players?”
— Travis Haney (@TravHaneyESPN) November 17, 2014
Second, tomorrow marks the two-month anniversary since Wallerstedt’s firing. Could Texas Tech not have changed its signals in that time?
So @AJ_DonWilliams says that two weeks after Tech suspected its signals were stolen, it didn’t change them. Just hid them with towels.
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) November 17, 2014
In Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma, Texas Tech surrounded its defensive signalers with staff members holding towels in an attempt to shield them from Oklahoma coaches in the press box. Texas Tech led 14-7 at the half, but lost 42-30.
Regardless, Texas Tech coaches believe they have a mole, and his name is Matt Wallerstedt.
“I won’t have excuses, but when somebody knows when you’re in a certain coverage every time, so I’m sitting there thinking, ‘How the heck are they attacking our corners?’ How do they know we’re not in quarter-quarter-halves? How do they know we’re not in cover two?,’” Smith said.
“I mean, it’s ridiculous. I just thought we’re having a string of bad luck.”
(Photo credit: Texas Tech athletics)