Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 01.18.10

Quiet Day:  It's a pretty quiet news day, so there's not much information out there this morning.  We've got a couple of things going on at DTN today, which includes Most Improved Defensive Player, and a poll, yes a poll, in this morning's DTN DD.  The question is if you subscribe to one of the recruiting services?  This is just me being curious and who DTN's audience is.

Prepare for Trademark Lawsuits:   The LAJ's Adam D. Young writes that there is a possibility that Texas Tech University may be investigating lawsuits against non-licensed t-shirt vendors who sold t-shirts in support of Leach during and prior to the Alamo Bowl.  On one hand, Texas Tech has a duty to protect their trademark, but the quote from one of the individuals who sold these t-shirts was that they were careful not to use any trademarked images, but did use pirate-themed imagery, which the university has had licensed.  The university also mentions that they will go after vendors that use the university colors without proper authorization.

Let's all keep this in mind when the DTN t-shirt design of 2010 starts up in about a month.

Corker Remains Committed:  Good news, per ESPN's Gerry Hamilton, it appears that Florida WR Shawn Corker remains committed to Texas Tech.  Apparently Corker texted to Hamilton that Corker was expecting that Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville will be heading to Florida this week:

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder with impressive change of direction and stop-start ability said (via text message) this afternoon that he remains committed to Texas Tech. He is expecting a visit from Tuberville next week. He is unsure of which day the visit will take place.

If Tuberville is making a visit to Florida to see Corker, you can almost bet that he'll be making a few more stops along the way to see fellow Texas Tech commits in WR Kadron Boone and brothers, RB/WR Ben McRoy and WR Javares McRoy.

Air-Raid Proponents:  Lexington-Herald's Mark Story writes this morning about Tuberville hiring Tony Franklin coaches to help him run some version with the spread offense:

Last week, Texas Tech hired Franklin protege Neal Brown as its offensive coordinator. Brown, the former UK and Lexington Horsemen wideout, moved up from coaching receivers and took over the reins of the Troy offense after Franklin went to Auburn. Brown will rejoin holdover offensive line coach Matt Moore, who was with Franklin at Troy before Leach wooed him away for Tech.

The Dothan Eagle (Ala.) also reported Friday that ex-UK player Chad Scott, another Franklin hire, was moving from running backs coach at Troy to the same job in Lubbock. So what does Franklin, 52, a former longtime Kentucky high school coach, think of it all?

"I take it as a compliment," Franklin said Friday. "In coaching, you get to my age, and it's a little bit like being a father. You take more pride in what your 'children' do than you do in your own accomplishments."

In spite of his own very sour experience working for Tuberville, Franklin says he encouraged Brown, the former Boyle County High receiving standout, to accept the offer to go to Texas Tech.

"It's a totally different situation than mine," Franklin said. "You're walking into a place where they've been doing what we do for 10 years already. It's a great situation for Neal. You've got good players. They're great at what we do already. You don't have to fix something that's broken."

I haven't seen some of this reported elsewhere, or maybe I've just forgotten, but it appears that Tuberville has hired Chad Scott (Troy University bio here), who was also at Troy last year with offensive coordinator Neal Brown, as the new running backs coach for Texas Tech.  Scott played for Tony Franklin when Franklin was coaching at Kentucky. 

So Brown has assembled a good part of the Troy Trojans gang in that Brown retained former Troy offensive line coach Matt Moore and now Scott.  Also retained from the former staff is Sonny Cumbie, who I could certainly see take a bigger role in quarterback development and Dennis Simmons, who I assume will continue his role coaching receivers.

Shrine Game:  Don't forget that this Saturday is the East-West Shrine Game @ 3:00 p.m. and CBS Sports' Chad Reuter writes that Texas Tech's very own Brandon Carter is one of the players to watch.