In a career evaluating college and pro players that spans nearly five decades, Gil Brandt has seen more than his share of offensive linemen. So when he started talking about the offensive linemen who has come through Texas Tech recently, Brandt marvels at the job of the Red Raiders' coaching staff.
"They do such a good job coaching (offensive) linemen, because pass protection is the whole name of their game,'' Brandt said Thursday night. "When (Tech's offensive linemen) leave there, they're well-coached five-year guys that are pretty strong and turn out to be pretty good players.''
Brandt, who currently works for NFL.com, noted that from 2006-'08, the Raiders attempted 1,954 passes and their quarterbacks were only sacked 45 times. From where Brandt's sitting, that's a darn good ratio.
"Everything today now is predicated on those (offensive) tackles with big long arms who are able to get their hands on (defensive) guys,'' Brandt said. "Their tackles are so good at getting their hands on them that the pass rushers can't get off of them.
"They do a marvelous job of teaching kids how to play football at Texas Tech.''
Some of that "marvelous job,'' Brandt said, gets lost because the fans and media get so caught up in the antics of Tech coach Mike Leach. Whether Leach is being questioned for going for it on fourth down, or whether he's been chastised by the media for not revealing which players are injured, sometimes the crafty things he does gets lost in the shuffle.
"Mike Leach is like a fox,'' said Brandt, the Dallas Cowboys' Vice President of player personnel from 1960-'88. "Some coaches go out and they hob-nob with the boosters and so forth. Mike hob-nobs with himself and his wife, Sharon.
"He does all that crazy pirate stuff and all those crazy things. The guy is really sharp the way he does stuff.''
How sharp?
"I asked his wife how did you meet Mike, and she said they met in California,'' Brandt said. "She said early on Mike had come up with this big idea that they would go to Cody, Wyoming, which is his home town, and Mike would get a job there for the summer and she'd get a job and they would save a lot of money.
"But Mike wanted to save more money. He wanted (Sharon) to get a job at the bookstore and see if they could put a hammock in the back room.
"So instead of having to rent a place to live, he could sleep in the hammock in the back room of the bookstore. The guy is always thinking.''
_ Dwain Price
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