By Wendell Barnhouse
Big 12 Digital Correspondent

No post-practice dance offs. No viral videos. No shirtless pool-side pictures.

Texas Tech fans seeking a daily dose of Internet entertainment have been disappointed. As Grantland put it, Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury has retired college football's most celebrated six-pack.

"I learned a lesson about keeping my shirt on," he said a few months ago when asked if he would go shirtless in public after Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh displayed his dad bod.

A 4-8 season tends to keep profiles low and shirts on. Kingsbury goes into his third season and the hot fire created by winning his first seven games as a head coach in 2013 has faded with five victories in the next 18 games.

"I think that was the thought after the year we had, just to grind and not put anything out there and not try to be visible," Kingsbury told USA TODAY Sports. "We want to focus this year on just winning games. Let's be all about winning games. So yeah, that was definitely a conscious decision as a program to take that direction."

Last season wasn't just about losing eight games. The Red Raiders weren't good at football as they made mistakes of all varieties that offset offensive firepower and a porous defense that allowed 41.2 points and 513 yards per game.

Texas Tech started 2015 soon after New Year's Day with a series of team meetings. What led to last season's disappointment – turnovers, penalties – were addressed but then forgotten. The emphasis was placed on fixing the problems but focusing on the future.

"You go 4-8 like we did, when you're historically bad in some areas like we were, you have to completely take a hard look at yourself," Kingsbury said. "What can we do to get better? It made us take some serious self-evaluation, which I think will be the best thing that ever happened here."

David Gibbs is the eighth defensive coordinator in the last eight seasons. He hopes to improve the defense and stop the revolving door by restoring the basics while emphasizing turnovers. Texas Tech has forced a total of 34 turnovers the last two seasons. In the last two seasons as Houston's defensive coordinator, Gibbs' crew forced a total of 73 turnovers.

Improvement on defense should help increase the number of victories because the offense figures to be just as explosive as ever. The Red Raiders might not wind up at the top of the Big 12 standings, but they're aware that a year ago TCU was coming off a 4-8 season.

"We put it on ourselves," senior defensive Brandon Jackson said. "We gave people a reason to not want to talk about Texas Tech."

Did You Know?
Sophomore quarterback Patrick Mahomes also was on the Red Raiders' baseball team last spring. His father Pat Mahomes was a pitcher who compiled a 42-39 record in 11 seasons (1992-2003) with six different Major League teams.

Quick Slants
The starting quarterback job is a battle between junior Davis Webb and sophomore Patrick Mahomes. Webb has started 14 games while Mahomes took over as the starter in the last three games last season after Webb was injured. Kingsbury has hinted he wants to make a decision on the starter about two weeks before the opener.

Senior Rika Levi has lost 45 pounds; last season, the defensive tackle wasn't in shape after transferring from a junior college. If Levi lives up to his ability, he along with freshman Freshman defensive tackle Breiden Fehoko could give Texas Tech run stoppers in the middle of the line. Fehoko participated in spring practice and has shown consistent improvement.

Senior punter Taylor Symmank is one of the candidates to take over as Texas Tech's kicker. The Red Raiders must replace Ryan Bustin, who closed out his career with the most field goals (50) in school history and was accurate on nearly 77 percent of his attempts.

Key Players
Junior QB Davis Webb, sophomore QB Patrick Mahomes, senior RB DeAndre Washington, junior WR Reginald Davis, senior WR Jakeem Grant, junior WR Devin Lauderdale, sophomore RB Justin Stockton, senior OT Le'Raven Clark, senior DE Pete Robertson, senior LB Micah Awe, senior S J.J. Gaines, senior DL Branden Jackson.

Schedule

Sept. 5	Sam Houston State
Sept. 12	UTEP
Sept. 19	at Arkansas
Sept. 26	TCU*
Oct. 3	Baylor* (at Arlington, Texas)
Oct. 10	Iowa State*
Oct. 17	at Kansas*
Oct. 24	at Oklahoma*
Oct. 31	Oklahoma State*
Nov. 7	at West Virginia*
Nov. 14	Kansas State*
Nov. 26	at Texas*

*- Conference game.