Texas Tech Football: Matt Wells a risky choice for Red Raiders

Texas Tech football moved quickly after firing Kliff Kingsbury. Their decision to snatch Matt Wells from Utah State is a huge gamble by the Red Raiders.

Once it was official that Kliff Kingsbury was out as the head coach at Texas Tech, the athletic department wasted little time in turning around and finding the new leader of the Red Raiders football team. Less than a week after sending Kingsbury packing from his alma mater, and before the championship games even transpired, they opted to convince Utah State head coach Matt Wells to come take over the program.

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In six years as the Aggies head coach, Wells went 44-34 overall with a 30-18 record in Mountain West play. After taking over for Gary Andersen in 2013, Wells guided Utah State to the MWC Mountain title in his first season at the helm. This year, a 33-24 loss at Boise State gave the Broncos the tiebreaker in the division, preventing the 10-2 Aggies from hosting Fresno State for the conference title.

There is nothing to indicate that Matt Wells is a poor choice to head to Lubbock. He has proven himself capable of developing quarterbacks, most recently Jordan Love. The Aggies starter ranks in the top 12 nationally in both passing touchdowns and passing efficiency.

But there is also nothing to indicate that Wells was a hot commodity that the Red Raiders had to lock down immediately. If he seems the right guy for the job, it makes sense to get him on the ground running as quickly as possible. But this had all the hallmarks of a hasty search, as Texas Tech reportedly refused to interview Dana Holgorsen despite the West Virginia coach’s interest.

In that regard, this has all the hallmarks of turning out like the last Utah State coach to jump to a major-conference opportunity. Wells got his job because Wisconsin pulled the trigger on hiring Gary Andersen away from Logan just 17 days after Bret Bielema jumped ship to Arkansas.

At the time Andersen had put his name on the national radar after leading Utah State to the 2012 Mountain West title. Wells exits Utah State with a better winning percentage than the 26-24 mark put together by Andersen, which should give Red Raiders fans some hope.

But Andersen’s career after leaving Utah State was a spiral of diminishing expectations. In two years as leader of the Badgers, Andersen went 20-7 with one division title. But he opted to leave Madison for Corvallis in December 2014, choosing to take over at Oregon State instead of remaining at Wisconsin. It was a mirror image of his time with the Badgers, as he went 7-23 before resigning his post in October 2017.

While the experience of one Utah State head coach who moved on to a bigger post is not indicative of the other, there is a real risk for any Power Five school opting to snatch away a hot coach. Sometimes a team lands a Nick Saban or an Urban Meyer, who both climbed the ladder from mid-majors to top FCS programs. Just as often, though, a team finds themselves stuck with a guy like Andersen. Texas Tech took a major risk in betting that Wells will fare better than his former boss.