Texas Tech Football

Texas Tech wide receiver Caden Leggett was arrested Saturday and charged with racing on a highway, a Class B misdemeanor, in South Lubbock, Texas. 

Gabriel Monte of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Thursday that Leggett was released from custody on $750 bond a few hours after the arrest.

Police allege Leggett admitted to racing against an unidentified teammate on a predetermined course in Lubbock, where Texas Tech is located.

The passenger in Leggett's vehicle sent a text message to the other teammate allegedly involved in the race, who replied he was turning around to come back to the site of the arrest, but he didn't return, per Monte.

A third car was also involved.

"It is unknown at this time if [the third driver] had prior communications with [Leggett] and [the other player] in reference to the race," the police report stated.

Police also found a map of the designated street-racing track during a search of Leggett's phone, per Monte. The race happened around 2:40 a.m. local time Saturday.

Leggett joined the Red Raiders as a 3-star prospect in the 2018 recruiting class. He spent his first year as a redshirt before making his debut in 2019. He appeared in 11 games last season, mostly on special teams.

He attended Georgetown High School in Texas. His father, Terry Leggett, played football at Oklahoma State.

Texas Tech University announced Friday that 23 players and staff members from the football team tested positive for COVID-19. 

KAMC's Eric Kelly tweeted Texas Tech's statement on the matter:

Texas Tech conducted a total of 197 COVID-19 tests among members of the football team. Of the 23 people who tested positive, 21 have already recovered.

Several high-profile college football programs have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic thus far, including Clemson, Kansas State, Houston, Alabama, Ole Miss, South Florida, Auburn, Florida State, Iowa State and Oklahoma State.

Last week, the University of Texas announced that 13 players were diagnosed with COVID-19 as well. After a recent spike in cases in the state, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday Texas would be pausing its reopening and signed an executive order Friday closing bars, limiting restaurant capacity to 50 percent and requiring government approval for large outdoor gatherings.

The coronavirus pandemic has prevented college football teams from gathering and working out in preparation for the 2020 season until recently. It is possible that the truncated preparation time could impact the start of the season, although the NCAA is still planning to start on time at the end of August.

If and when the 2020 college football season does begin, Texas Tech will look to bounce back from last season when it finished 4-8, which was its worst record since 2014.

The 2019 campaign was the first season at the helm for head coach Matt Wells, who took over for Kliff Kingsbury after he was hired to be the Arizona Cardinals' head coach. The Red Raiders finished below .500 in each of Kingsbury's final three seasons as well, and they have just one winning season in the past six years.

Texas Tech is usually known for its explosive offense and high-volume passing game, but the Raiders ranked just 53rd in the nation in scoring last season with 30.5 points per game.

Jett Duffey took over as the starting quarterback for Alan Bowman last season and played fairly well, but Duffey has since transferred. As a result, Bowman is set to start the 2020 season as the starter once again.

Texas Tech has a chance to do some damage if Bowman stays healthy and plays to his potential, but it won't be easy to compete in a talented Big 12 conference that includes the likes of Oklahoma, Texas, Baylor and Iowa State.

The Texas Tech athletics department confirmed Monday that an undisclosed number of student-athletes within the football, men's track and field and women's basketball programs have tested positive for COVID-19:

Texas Tech senior associate athletics director Robert Giovannetti explained to reporters he could not reveal the number of positive tests for "privacy reasons." The names of student-athletes cannot be released because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

This news comes exactly one week after the university confirmed positive tests in the men's basketball program:

Positive COVID-19 tests for student-athletes haven't been exclusive to Texas Tech:

The Big 12 announced football teams would be permitted to begin voluntary on-campus workouts Monday, with other fall sports to follow July 1, basketball July 6 and all other sports July 15.

On June 10, Texas Tech released its return-to-campus plan for all students, faculty and staff.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave a heartfelt speech Saturday as part of Texas Tech University's commencement ceremony.

Mahomes, who attended Texas Tech from 2014 to 2016 before becoming a star NFL quarterback with the Chiefs, left the graduates with a positive message, per ESPN's Adam Teicher:

"Remember, this is a day to celebrate, to look back on the friends you made, the professors who have changed your life and the memories that you will cherish forever. Whatever plans lie in front of you, I have no doubt you will go out there and show the world what it means to come from Lubbock, Texas. Go out and win your Super Bowl. Congrats, Class of 2020. I can't wait to see what you do next."

Mahomes has quickly developed into the NFL's marquee player. He was named NFL MVP in 2018 after throwing for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns in his first season as a starter. Then, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory last season and was named Super Bowl MVP.

The 24-year-old acknowledged the fact that the coronavirus pandemic made for a unique and unexpected graduation, but he called for the graduates to look at the positives:

"I know this isn't the graduation ceremony that you and your families had envisioned, but that doesn't change the outcome or all the hard work, long hours and sacrifices that you made to achieve this milestone. I know this is sure not how you imagined spending your last days as a student.

"But the world is in a different place today than it was just a few weeks ago. And as Red Raiders, we're built to persevere in difficult times. We've all had to take a moment and learn to adjust to these new challenges. And when the odds are stacked against us, we make a play—and I can tell you this is going to make us all more competitive and hungrier than ever."

Texas Tech set Mahomes up for success, as he threw for 5,052 yards and 41 touchdowns as a junior, which helped him become one of the top quarterbacks in the 2017 NFL draft class.

Mitchell Trubisky was the first quarterback off the board in that draft to the Chicago Bears at No. 2 overall, but the Chiefs swooped in and traded up to No. 10 overall to make Mahomes the second quarterback taken. That turned out to be a franchise-altering move and perhaps the greatest pick in Chiefs history.

Now, the Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions thanks largely to Mahomes, and they are favored to repeat in 2020. If Mahomes can stay healthy, the Chiefs have a legitimate chance to be the NFL's next dynasty.

Even though the graduating class at Texas Tech won't get a formal ceremony amid the coronavirus pandemic, they will be addressed by one of the school's most famous alums. 

Texas Tech announced Patrick Mahomes will address the class of 2020 during a virtual ceremony to be held May 23. 

School officials announced last month that this year's graduation ceremony would be held online, with messages from students about their college tenure and various campus leaders. 

Before becoming an NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, Mahomes spent three seasons playing for the Red Raiders from 2014-16.

He took over as the starting quarterback during his sophomore year, throwing for a combined 9,705 yards and 77 touchdowns in 25 games from 2015-16. 

Washington State football coach Mike Leach hasn't forgotten about what he says Texas Tech owes him.

The 58-year-old discussed the situation on Twitter Monday in response to a mention of his firing in 2009:

The interaction came in response to a viral tweet discussing the most bizarre sports moments in the last decade.

Leach was initially fired following his alleged treatment of Adam James after the receiver had suffered a concussion. The player's father, Craig James, was an ESPN commentator at the time of the incident.

"I'm very sad to say there's only one person to blame for this and it's Mike Leach," Texas Tech chancellor Kent Hance said in 2009.

The coach has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Leach addressed his contract situation in 2017, saying he received only the $300,000 owed to him for being fired "for cause," although the allegations were never proven in court, per Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. He believes he's still owed $1.6 million in guaranteed income as well as an $800,000 retention bonus for being Texas Tech's coach on Dec. 31, 2009, one day after he was fired. 

"If they think it's justified, let's go to court," Leach told Schrotenboer in 2017. "You prove your case in court. They don't want to go near a courtroom because they know what will happen, because they flat-out cheated me. And they lied, and they stole."

Leach is going into his eighth year with Washington State, but he will apparently continue to fight Texas Tech a decade after his dismissal for what he believes is rightfully his money.