West Virginia avoided complete disaster with a victory over UCF last week to at least clinch a bowl appearance in a season that has fallen sho…
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MORGANTOWN ā The 6-5 Mountaineers have already secured bowl eligibility, but there is still plenty at stake as they head to 7-4 Texas Tech (no…
West Virginia University is 1,467 miles from Texas Tech University, but the two schools have many more connections than you would expect considering the great distance that separates them.
The ties date back to 1969 when head football coach Jim Carlin left WVU after four years to take over the Texas Tech program.
Carlin arrived in Lubbock a few years after Henry John Deutschendorf had enrolled as an architecture major at Texas Tech. By 1971, Deutschendorf had turned to music, changed his name to John Denver and had his first hit, āCountry Roads,ā which quickly became the anthem for both the state of West Virginia and West Virginia University.
There are also plenty of modern ties. WVUās current head coach Neal Brown spent three seasons as the Red Raidersā offensive coordinator (2010-12), and West Virginia assistant coaches Matt Moore (2007-11), Chad Scott (2010-12) and Sean Reagan (2010) were all previously members of the Tech staff as well.
Former Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen was an assistant for the Red Raiders from 2000-07, and former WVU quarterback Jarret Doegeās older brother Seth was a star QB at TTU from 2008-12, where he helped manufacture a 49-14 upset of No. 5 West Virginia as a senior.
WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons worked in Techās athletic department for four years (1998-2001), and West Virginiaās current deputy athletics director Steve Uryasz spent 18 years in various roles in the Texas Tech athletic department (1997-2015) before he was hired at West Virginia in 2016.
On top of all those WVU-to-TTU ties is an individual who will be returning to Lubbock this weekend for the first time in quite a while, as Mountaineer offensive coordinator Graham Harrell guides his new school against his alma mater.
Prior to his foray into coaching, Harrell was one of the great quarterbacks in Texas Tech history. He finished his Red Raider career (2005-08) with the second-most passing yards in NCAA history (15,793) as well as a record 134 TD passes. He was a first-team All-American in 2008, when he was also fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
After graduating from Tech, Graham had playing stints in the NFL and CFL before settling into coaching, where heās had stops at Washington State (2014-15), North Texas (2016-18), USC (2019-21) and now West Virginia.
Saturday afternoon heāll return to Jones AT&T Stadium when the Mountaineers clash with the Red Raiders (3 p.m. Eastern Time, televised by FS1).
āIāve never been back to coach there,ā admitted Harrell. āIām not even sure Iāve even been in the visiting coachesā box, so thatās not familiar ground. Iāll know where I am, but that will be about the only difference in coaching in this game compared to other ones.ā
Still, Harrell had an incredible playing career at Texas Tech, and heās looking forward to being in Lubbock this weekend.
āIt will be fun,ā continued WVUs first-year OC. āItās been a long time since Iāve been back there. It seemed like Lubbock was changing pretty quickly when I was there, and Iām sure it has changed a lot since I was there last, so Iāll be interested to see what it looks like.ā
Harrell played at Tech when Mike Leach was the head coach, bringing his Air Raid to west Texas. The Red Raiders have run through several head coaches since, and they are now guided by Joey McGuire, who is in his first season at TTU.
āEveryone has changed pretty much since Iāve been there,ā noted Harrell. āI donāt know hardly anyone there anymore, other than the equipment guy, Zane (Perry); heās the best. Everyone else is different.ā
The one thing that hasnāt changed though is the fickle west Texas weather and the winds that often blow across the plains.
āThe weather is the weather, and you just have to go out and execute,ā noted Harrell. āSome days are windier than others. Spring is the worst, though; it can be crazy out there in the spring. Weāll just deal with it.ā
Saturdayās weather forecast calls for a warm afternoon with temperature rising to the mid-80s, as well as wind gusts as high as 40 miles per hour.
