Texas Tech Coach Claps Back at Negative Nancies on Twitter

Texas Tech won a close game against an FCS opponent over the weekend. A really well-coached FCS program that has a head coach from West Texas in Colby Carthel who had his team hyped up for the biggest team on their schedule. Texas Tech, on the other hand, came out like they were playing an FCS team and thought they could walk to a victory.

The fans also thought it would be a blowout, which made the 28-22 victory, which was locked in by a defensive stop at the goal line with less than one minute to go, feel more like a loss than a win. I don't generally think of myself as influential, but I certainly added to the 'this should be a blowout or it's bad' narrative all week on both The Raiderland and my College Tailgate show.

Here's the deal, though: there were 8 FBS teams that lost to FCS teams through the first two weeks of games. Florida State and a ranked Washington both lost to FCS teams. Vanderbilt, which is technically an SEC football program, got beat by an FCS team. Does it feel hypocritical that I'm coming back after a close game saying '2-0 is a good start' after preaching 'blowout or bust for a week'? Yes, it does.

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But I'm doing it anyway. Stephen F. Austin played a hell of a game on Saturday, and Texas Tech took their best punch and never got knocked out. There's something to be said about that. Would the 2016 defense survive an off-game from the offense? Probably not. This defense did. I see that as progress.

Say what you want about me being a spin artist or flimsy. I watched the same game you did on Saturday and see the same negatives on the game plan and offensive line play and am still sitting here on Monday, September 13th saying, 'Texas Tech is 2-0 and have a great chance at making a bowl game.'

That's what associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator Derek Jones said after the game on Saturday night, posting the picture below.

The response to the picture was overwhelmingly negative, with Texas Tech fans hammering the coach and players for not beating the Lumberjacks by more points. If you think the defense has been the problem through two games, I don't know what to tell you, but Jones took exception to the Negative Nancies in his replies and called them out, saying, "I don’t mind opinions or criticism, but I post these pics for recruits. I want them to see that we have something special at Texas Tech. The negative comments contradict everything I’m trying to sell to prospects across the country. I truly thank those of you who understand this."

Coach Jones doubled down by saying he'd block anyone that came into his replies with negativity or hate.

Kudos to Coach Jones here because most coaches just have to eat whatever comes into their inboxes and comment sections. I can't imagine the garbage that gets lobbed at Matt Wells on a weekly basis.

I'm not telling you not to do it, but don't be surprised if you get blocked for your efforts. There are plenty of message boards, Facebook fan groups or group chats where you can voice your frustrations. You can start a podcast pretty easily nowadays too and scream your pain into the empty void of a microphone.

It's fun. I do it every day.