Seemingly like clockwork, when a Power Five school hires a new head coach they typically will wind up improving facilities in some fashion shortly thereafter. Consider that the case at Texas Tech following the ouster of Kliff Kingsbury and the recent hire of Matt Wells to lead the football program.
The school’s board of regents met on Thursday down in Lubbock and among the agenda items was approving a $20 million renovation to the team’s football facilities. As is nearly always the case in the state, the project was naturally approved and will move forward, per the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, as soon as Wells is able to sign off on any changes he wants to the plans:
Regents approve proposed renovation of Tech Football Training Facility from current 50,396 square feet to more than 70,000 square feet. Anticipated project budget, $20 million. Kirby Hocutt had ballpark-guessed it at $25 million a couple of months ago. (cont.)
— Don Williams (@AJ_DonWilliams) December 13, 2018
That wasn’t the only football-related move on the agenda for the Red Raiders however, as athletic director Kirby Hocutt put in his pitch to open up beer and wine sales at Jones AT&T Stadium as soon as the upcoming season.
Hocutt pitches Regents on selling beer and wine throughout Jones Stadium. It's currently sold only in premium suites and club areas. Big 12 members WVU, Okla State, UT sell alcohol in general seating areas, and Hocutt said OU is considering it and expected to do so. (cont.)
— Don Williams (@AJ_DonWilliams) December 13, 2018
As noted above, there are numerous Big 12 schools who have opened the taps in general seating areas over the years. Oklahoma State was the most recent to do so in 2018 but it’s been brought back at Texas and West Virginia, among others, to great success (i.e. $$$) the past few years.