A week or so ago, Texas Tech came out and said that, based on their performance last season after finishing 5-7, players had lost the right to wear the vaunted Texas Tech double T logo and would have to earn that back through hard work and doing things the right way.
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury said everyone from a four-year starter to guys with no playing experience had to earn the right to wear gear with the logo on it around the team facility.
Today, Texas Tech released a video detailing their plan for players to earn that back.
That process started with every player wearing "the ugliest brown shirts you could think of," and once you passed a "run test," you got a slight upgrade to a gray t-shirt. Almost everyone at this point has passed that conditioning test and is in their gray shirts. As things progress, players will have the opportunity to earn another colored shirt, and then another colored shirt, and on and on until they finally get the gear with the double T's back.
"I'm not sure what it's going to take, but I know it's going to take doing everything right," one player notes in the clip.
Kliff Kingsbury later adds:
"Along with the no double T's, we also have kind of a ranking system with the shirts. We're going to start with brown, and then you work your way to gray, and then white, and then black, and red. But you have to earn it. It comes down to doing everything right off the field - if you miss a class, you get knocked, if you don't show up to breakfast on time, you get knocked."
"So if you're doing everything right, plus the physical tests that we're putting them through, then you can move up a shirt level. There's nowhere to hide. You're going to see who is slacking, and who is handling their business the first day we get out to practice."
I love this idea, and I know coaches around the country will too. Hear more on the system from Kingsbury and players in the video.
"There's nowhere to hide. You're going to see who's slacking & not handling their business from the first day of practice." #EarnTheDoubleTpic.twitter.com/LODT9EJjlX
โ Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) March 13, 2017