Texas Tech fired defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt Thursday because Wallerstedt had showed up at the team’s football facility “under the influence of an unknown substance,” ESPN.com reported.
It’s not clear what substance Wallerstedt had taken.
Wallerstedt, 48, had just begun his second year at Texas Tech after serving as the linebackers coach at Texas A&M. Kliff Kingsbury, who was the Aggies’ offensive coordinator when Wallerstedt was at A&M, brought Wallerstedt with him when he took the head coaching job at Tech in 2013.
ESPN’s Jake Trotter reported that Wallerstedt showed up at the facility under the influence of the unknown substance on Monday and was sent home.
Wallerstedt’s departure continues the revolving door of defensive coordinators at Tech. Prior to hiring Wallerstedt, the Red Raiders had gone through five defensive coordinators in five years.
Wallersted’s bio on the Tech website even heaps praise on him for bringing “much-needed stability” to the position.
Entering his second season, Wallerstedt brings much needed stability to a Texas Tech defense that had run through a course of five different defensive coordinators in five years. Despite injuries and depth issues in his first season, he was able to turn in one of the best defensive performances of the season in Tech’s Holiday Bowl win over No. 16 Arizona State. The Tech defense held one of the nation’s top offenses to just 23 points.
The Texas Tech athletics video at the top of this post hails Wallerstedt as the “elder statesman” on a staff of 30-somethings. “That’s certainly having no bearing on his excitement, his enthusiasm or his vertical jump,” narrator Brandon Rawe gushes.
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Matt Wallerstedt Fired for Being ‘Under the Influence’