There’s Troy Te’o Days Until Football

In 93 days, Texas Tech will kick off the 2021 football season, and one of the most interesting journeys of a player on the Red Raider roster is that of Troy Te’o. Te’o hails from Brisbane, Australia, which is just about as far away as one could be from Lubbock, Texas, but he has found a home in the Hub City. It was not until 2014 that Te’o even played football, though he proved to be a natural. Despite being a native Australian, Te’o is also a local product, having played his high school years at Lubbock-Cooper. He was put on the fast track to learn the game while at Cooper and found success in spite of minimal experience. Te’o’s physical abilities gave him a leg up, and he currently is listed at a stout 6’2, 280. He has an innate love of strength training and works as hard at home in the offseason as most players do during official team workouts.

Collegiately, Te’o spent two years at Eastern New Mexico JC prior to arriving at Texas Tech, but an injury sidelined his Redshirt Freshman season there. Te’o worked his way up the depth chart at Tech in 2019 and found himself some in-game action when needed against West Virginia during the 2020 season. Fittingly, his very first play as a Red Raider was a tackle, and he saw further action throughout the latter half of 2020. Te’o has been fortunate to be mentored by starting tackle Jaylon Hutchings, as Hutchings is a terrific leader and a student of the game. Te’o is still playing a bit of catch-up compared to guys who grew up playing the game, but he’s getting up to speed in a hurry, so opponents in the trenches may struggle to contain him very soon.

Te’o is entering what is effectively his Junior season in terms of eligibility. The depth he added proved key in 2020, and given his rapid adoption of the game, it may be only a matter of time before he takes the next step and finds himself very much in the rotation. Don’t be surprised if his current roster measurements are far below where he’ll really be when the Fall practices begin, either. The sky is the limit when a man of his gifts puts in the effort to excel, so Red Raider fans should be excited to watch him continue progressing and taking on a bigger role on the defensive line.