IRVING — The “TT” pin adorning the lapel of Tommy Tuberville’s freshly pressed suit coat didn’t stand for the coach’s initials.

For Tuberville, it’s all about Texas Tech — and the “total team.”

A new era has certainly dawned in West Texas with the arrival of Tuberville, who was hired by Tech in January to replace the ousted Mike Leach.

Tommy Tuberville said he wants the Red Raiders defense “to take a step up” this fall.
Cody Duty/Associated Press

Leach won games in Lubbock. In 10 seasons, he racked up 84 wins, more than any coach in Tech history, including the immortal Spike Dykes.

But fair or not, the perception reigned that Leach was most interested in Leach.

Enter Tuberville, who in many ways could be classified as the Anti-Mike.

“I wanted Coach Ruff (former defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill) initially,” Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield said. “I didn’t want to change anything. But after our first meeting with Coach Tuberville, I was sold. He said he wanted to win the Big 12 championship, and that had never been brought up before.”

Leach, with his rambling, often nonsensical discourses and his affinity for pirates, was a different cat in the coaching profession. Tuberville, who spent 14 seasons coaching in the SEC at Mississippi and Auburn, is clearly a different turn from Leach.

Whereas Leach shielded players from the media, even Heisman candidates like former QB Graham Harrell, Tuberville brought both his top two quarterbacks (Sheffield and Taylor Potts) to Big 12 media days Tuesday.

Leach was an offensive guy. Tuberville’s speciality is the defensive side of the ball, though he said a team can’t flourish if one unit is emphasized above another.

“We want our defense to take a step up,” Tuberville said. “We want to let them know that they’re part of the team.

“For us to win a championship, they have to be accountable. The one thing I noticed about our defense is that they didn’t have a lot of confidence. Wasn’t a lot of talk about them. If there was, it was about not playing very well.”

On appearances alone, the Red Raiders are a different bunch. Tuberville doesn’t permit his players to wear earrings, and the trio that accompanied him to Irving came decked out in sport coats and ties.

“I told them last week, ‘We’re going to media day. You got a suit? You got a tie? Well, you’d better get one,’” Tuberville said. “You’re representing not just you, but all your teammates and all the people that love Texas Tech.

“It’s not something where we’re trying to impress anybody, this is what’s expected of us. The more you expect, the more you usually get out of it.”

Tuberville’s offense will be more conservative than Leach’s Air Raid attack, but it’s not exactly the wishbone, either. Tuberville brought in Neal Brown, who built a yardage-churning machine at Troy, as offensive coordinator, and the new Red Raider boss estimated that his team would still pass the ball 60 to 65 percent of the time.

As his predecessor did from time to time, Tuberville has already run afoul of the Big 12 commissioner’s office. Dan Beebe reprimanded the new Tech coach earlier this month after Tuberville made comments questioning the stability and future of the conference.

“In television, they taught us to speak our mind,” laughed Tuberville, who worked as an ESPN analyst in his one season away from coaching. “I forgot to get that out of my mind a few weeks ago, so I’ve got to get back on the coaching side.”

Tuberville, who was born in Arkansas and once worked as an assistant at Texas A&M, said he fits in well in Lubbock. Tech fans seem to have embraced him, as the school recently announced a record-setting number of season tickets had been sold for the 2010 season.

“I like it. I heard a lot of things: ‘You’re going to live in Lubbock? That’s the moon. It’s flat,’” Tuberville said. “But the people have been great, friendly. ... It feels like I’m 30 years old again. I may not look like it. I’m older, my hair’s a little grayer, but I’m excited. I’m fired up about being back.”

bcherry@wacotrib.com

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