Every week, college football insider Shehan Jeyarajah will come to you with a roundup of everything he thinks – and things he thinks he thinks right now – about college football in Texas this week. 

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3 things I know

1. Dave Aranda has some critical staff decisions

Now that Aranda has officially been introduced as the head coach at Baylor, all attention turns to his staff. Aranda has never been a head coach before – at any level – so surrounding himself with people that know what they’re doing will be critical. 

The first reported hire is a good one. Aranda is reportedly hiring ULL defensive coordinator Ron Roberts to the same position. The pair have a longstanding relationship dating back to when both were at Delta State. Roberts is a mentor and did a great job at Louisiana. 

Aranda said he wanted to prioritize keeping Joey McGuire. That would be a huge move. However, none will be bigger than offensive coordinator. We have no idea what Aranda wants to do offensively. Hiring a dynamic spread coach would be a huge indicator that Aranda has learned from LSU’s 2019 national championship. 

2. The offensive staff moves at TCU are lukewarm

After back-to-back disastrous offensive seasons in 2018 and 2019, TCU coach Gary Patterson had the opportunity to shake things up. While he made some new hires to aid offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie, they’re a little unusual. 

TCU has reportedly hired Doug Meacham – who served as play caller during the Trevone Boykin era – as inside receivers coach. To replace offensive line coach Chris Thomsen, Patterson promoted receivers coach Jarrett Anderson, who served as offensive line coach in the past. To oversee it all, Patterson brought in former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill as a special assistant who will serve in an off-field role. 

There’s certainly a chance that Meacham and Kill could have a positive impact on the offense. Meacham will reportedly serve as passing game coordinator, a role that should suit him well. But still, simply rotating responsibilities around between the same group of assistants over the course of years likely won’t lead to much innovation. 

3. Texas Tech will miss Jett Duffey

Last year, Duffey took over as starting quarterback at at Texas Tech after Alan Bowman went out with a shoulder injury. While Kliff Kingsbury struggled to get much out of Duffey, Tech offensive coordinator David Yost helped coach Duffey to 315 yards passing per game, 18 touchdowns and only five interceptions. The Red Raiders struggled, but he had game-winning performances against No. 21 Oklahoma State and West Virginia. 

Instead of fighting it out for the starting job, Duffey opted to transfer to Jim McElwain’s program at Central Michigan. He should easily be able to win the starting job and have the full confidence of a program heading into his senior season. 

However, Bowman has dealt with his share of injuries over his two seasons in Lubbock. The Red Raiders are high on redshirt freshman Maverick McIvor, but he’s still never played a game at Tech. Having a high-level backup to lean on is critical, especially when your starter has dealt with so many injuries. There’s no question Matt Wells will miss having Duffey as an option. 

3 things I think I know

1. Preston Stone can change everything at SMU

In many ways, Preston Stone to SMU was the perfect storm. The Parish Episcopal star, rated No. 58 in the nation, is the son of SMU grads and has strong relationships with other players on the team, including TJ McDaniel. Dallas is his home. It didn’t even matter that Rhett Lashlee left for Miami; he still picked the Mustangs over everyone.

Stone immediately becomes the best recruit at SMU since the Pony Express days. The previous best player in the internet recruit era was Davon Moreland, who was rated No. 227 nationally. 

However, the most important part about Stone could be how his commitment leverages SMU as a program. Players want to play with the best, and adding an elite signal-caller is the biggest move a program can make. If Stone can recruit on his own a little bit, SMU could quickly put together a roster strong enough to compete for a New Year’s Six bowl game for multiple years. 

2. Baylor’s got a tough end to the recruiting class ahead

After Matt Rhule left for the NFL, high-profile defensive end prospect Princely Umanmielen revealed that Rhule admitted that the NFL could be on the table at the end of the year. With that context, it’s easy to see why many of the top prospects in the country were hesitant to commit. 

At this point, Baylor has 12 players signed in the class of 2020 and has a group ranked last in the Big 12. Since this was the “lost” recruiting class of 2016 cycle, there’s a little context. Still, Aranda has a lot of work to do. 

Aranda did host several high-profile recruits over the weekend. He flipped Michigan offensive line recruit Micah Mazzccua as well from Baltimore. Still though, Aranda only has a few weeks left to try and finish out the recruiting class, and only with the late signing period to spare. While almost every individual in the class has upside, the group will likely still be underwhelming. 

3. D’Eriq King and Rhett Lashlee will get the most out of each other

After the weekend, we’ve got a Texan AAC meetup out in Florida. Former Houston quarterback D’Eriq King and former SMU offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee are teaming up at the University of Miami, as King tries to gun for a Heisman Trophy. 

If there’s a better coach to help King transition to the Power Five level than Lashlee, we haven’t met him. Lashlee was the offensive coordinator at Auburn when the Tigers went to the national title game with Nick Marshall at quarterback. King has every bit of the ability of Marshall and more as a passer. 

There are way more question marks at the U than on that Auburn team. Still though, the talent is there for a good season. The Lashlee/King combo should yield immediate results in its lone season in 2020.