After a historic season, key defensive coaches depart Texas Tech for the NFL and potential new roles, leaving a void to fill.
Success has a way of attracting attention, and that reality is hitting the Texas Tech Red Raiders this offseason.
After one of the best seasons in program history, Texas Tech is set to undergo notable changes along its defensive front heading into 2026.
On Thursday, a Texas Tech athletics spokesman confirmed that C.J. Ah You is expected to depart the Red Raiders’ staff.
Reports from CBS Sports and NFL Network indicate Ah You is headed to the Pittsburgh Steelers as the team’s outside linebackers coach. The move comes on the heels of a dominant year by Tech’s edge defenders, whose production placed them among the nation’s best.
Ah You joined head coach Joey McGuire in February 2022 and has been a fixture on the staff since the beginning of McGuire’s tenure. His exit follows a 12-2 campaign in which Texas Tech captured the Big 12 Championship and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time, falling to Oregon in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal.
The Red Raiders’ pass rush was a defining strength of that run.
Texas Tech finished tied for sixth nationally with 41 sacks, led by edge rusher David Bailey, who recorded 14.5 sacks and earned unanimous All-America honors from all five NCAA-recognized outlets.
Opposite him, Romello Height added 9.5 sacks, securing first-team All-Big 12 recognition from league coaches and second-team honors from the Associated Press.
Ah You’s departure isn’t the only change coming to the defensive trenches.
Earlier in the week, Texas Tech confirmed that defensive line coach Zarnell Fitch will not return after his one-year contract expired in January. Fitch’s name has surfaced as a potential candidate for the USC Trojans staff, where former TCU head coach Gary Patterson was recently hired as defensive coordinator.
While the front four will look different on the coaching side, Texas Tech did add to its staff on Thursday, announcing Mac Alexander as assistant special teams coordinator.
Alexander arrives from Colorado State–Pueblo, where he served as associate head coach and coordinated special teams and the defensive passing game.
With multiple coaching transitions underway, Texas Tech now faces the challenge of maintaining its defensive identity after a breakthrough season.
The production of Bailey and Height set a high bar, and replacing the voices that helped unlock that success will be a key storyline as the Red Raiders prepare to defend their Big 12 title in 2026.