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How Joey McGuire made good on a vow to workhorse running back Tahj Brooks
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- How Joey McGuire made good on a vow to workhorse running back Tahj Brooks
In the Texas Tech football team's first scrimmage of spring practice, Joey McGuire had seen enough of 2023 team MVP Tahj Brooks after a couple of carries. McGuire reminded himself that a player who carried 290 times for 1,538 yards last season didn't need to prove anything in March and April.
"Our very first scrimmage, we were going to have 10 plays for him," McGuire said recently. "He carried the ball the first time for 6 yards, and then the second time he pulled one off for 27 yards, and I pulled him out. I said, 'This is ridiculous. I don't need to see you anymore.' "
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Brooks decided in December to use his last year of eligibility rather than leave early for the NFL. His 290 carries last season were second-most at any level of college football. McGuire promised after the season that the workload for the Doak Walker Award semifinalist would be sharply reduced in the spring , at least insofar as carrying the ball and taking hits.
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He made good on the pledge.
"Tahj probably, I would say all spring, live reps where we were tackling, he probably had five reps," McGuire said. "But he practiced every day. He practiced all our thud when we were not taking anybody to the ground."
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Thud practice involves contact at competitive speed, but not finishing tackles.
"He practiced every single day," McGuire said. "The stuff he didn't do was like our 9-on-7 inside run (drill) where you know it is run (coming), and the linebackers are reading, but it's more just downhill and physical."
While mostly withholding Brooks from full-contact situations, McGuire said he did need to see No. 2 running back Cam'Ron Valdez, "especially in blitz pickup."
Valdez will be a fourth-year junior when the 2024 season begins. In his first three seasons, the Rockdale product has carried 76 times for 471 yards and a touchdown. He was the team's second-leading rusher last season, but he'll have competition to remain the top backup.
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Cameron Dickey , a true freshman from Austin Crockett, enrolled in January and McGuire raved in the spring about Dickey's physique, his physical style and his perceived readiness for the Big 12. However, McGuire said post-spring he'd like to keep Dickey in the four-game redshirt window, assuming Brooks and Valdez stay healthy.
"It's going to be how many snaps can we play him each game to make it worth him not redshirting," McGuire said.
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Texas Tech running back Tahj Brooks right, celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the Red Raiders' 16-13 victory last season at Kansas.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Joey McGuire made good on vow involving workhorse back Tahj Brooks
