What Reggie Virgil will bring to Texas Tech’s offense
Forty-one receptions and 816 yards in 2024 indicates Reggie Virgil will bring explosivity to the Texas Tech offense this season. He averaged an absurd 19.9 yards per catch which was good enough for sixth-best in the country. Virgil knows he’ll be called upon to fill a similar role with the Red Raiders.
“I just think the big play-ability I have, it’s so many options when it comes to running coach (Mack) Leftwich’s offense,” the senior wideout told the media Tuesday. “If I want to take the top off, I can. Or if I want to sit it down, I can. If I want to bend through the middle, I can. It’s so easy for me because that’s the biggest part of my game, stretching the field. He gives me all the ability to stretch the field. Outside of that, he showed me plays and lets me know. Even when I was injured he’d still draw up plays and say ‘These are some of the plays I want you to run. I want to see how works,’ stuff like that.
Virgil will bring confidence on the field, too
After having a combined two receptions in his freshman and sophomore years, Virgil exploded on the scene last season. That is what made his name such a hot commodity in the transfer portal. He credited his dramatic rise to a change in mentality.
“Really just trusting your work,” Virgil said. “That’s what coach McGuire was saying. I really felt that because when I was at Miami, I would put in a lot of work but I went out and get out there, I’d kind of be nervous or scared to make this play and do this. The confidence was shaky. When I just went out there my junior year, I was like ‘I have nothing to lose. I haven’t done anything so let me just buy into what I’m doing.’ Just went out there and I was more confident. I just built off the confidence.”
The senior is fitting in just fine
Virgil’s place in the team has come together since he arrived. He won the team’s “College Football” video game tournament– he even earned himself a special pair of cleats from the equipment staff. He admitted he’s scared of them, though– they’re the cleats Virgil broke his foot in this offseason.
It may take him a second to get acclimated to his environment in front of a near-sold out Red Raider crowd Saturday. But make no mistake, Virgil will bring his best once he settles in.
“I’m still amazed, like Tech is so big and we have so much stuff,” he said of making his debut. “I heard the fans are really crazy and bought in. I told my coaches it’ll probably take me a minute running out of there. You might have to come back and get me because I might just be in awe like ‘Am I really about to play in front of all these people?’ I’ll be nervous but I’ll snap out of it.”
