Why Saturday’s home opener will be special for TCU coach Joe Gillespie
Saturday’s home opener against Tarleton is going to be a special occasion for defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie.
Not only will it be the first chance for the TCU crowd to see his 3-3-5 defense in action, but it also will give him the opportunity to coach against the program that helped get him into this position.
Gillespie is a native of Stephenville, where Tarleton’s main campus is located. The ties go deeper than that.
His father Joe Sr. was inducted into the Tarleton Hall of Fame in 2000 after the Texans had the No. 1 defense in 1978. Gillespie Sr. also coached Tarleton to seven TIAA championships in track and field and produced four All-Americans.
Watching his father sparked Gillespie’s interest in football and getting into coaching.
“My dad was at Tarleton for 44 years and coached there, taught there. I grew up in those fieldhouses and I was kind of his shadow growing up as a little boy. Our oldest son played at Tarleton, graduated from Tarleton,” Gillespie said. “Throughout the years I’ve gotten to play a lot of great friends across the sidelines from me. This will be another one of those games.”
There’s a lot of admiration and respect for the campus and the program that the Texans have built in his hometown. Just a few years ago Tarleton was a Division II school, now it’s a Division I FCS program competing in the WAC.
There might not be another person, outside of Gillespie Sr., that understands the strides the program has made.
Gillespie’s seen his fair share of talented people emerge from the school. One of them served as a bit of a role model during his early playing days.
In Gillespie Sr.’s photo on the Tarleton Hall of Fame website, he’s kneeling next to a young player that looks a lot like his son. Gillespie informed the media that it was actually a different young man.
“That was actually Tally Neal. He played linebacker for my dad. Tally Neal was probably the best linebacker that ever went through Tarleton State University,” Gillespie said. “I wanted to be just like him. My dad was No. 27. He said do you want be to 27 or (Tally’s number) 34? I picked 34.”
No longer the little boy aiming to be like Neal, Gillespie became state champion coach at Stephenville and is now the architect for TCU’s defense.
The goal for the Horned Frogs was to improve after allowing nearly 35 points per game last season. If Colorado is any indication, progress is being made.
Despite being on the field so often, TCU allowed just two field goals until a garbage time touchdown with less than 90 seconds left.
The Buffaloes won’t be an offensive juggernaut, but neither was California in 2021. The Golden Bears had one of the least productive offenses in the country, but still scored 32 points in the Horned Frogs’ narrow win.
Obviously the true measure of how much better this defense is won’t be clear until Big 12 play begins, but Gillespie is pleased with what he’s seen so far.
“I think we know a whole lot more about our football team right now especially from a defensive standpoint than what we knew last week,” Gillespie said. “Right now we’re just going to keep chipping away. There are more things to peck at.”
This most specific area he wants to see his defense be better at is getting off the field. TCU had multiple opportunities to get off field by way of a turnover or a third down stop.
The quickest way to pull away from Tarleton on Saturday is not to squander those chances.
“We had some opportunities to get off the field early, but at the end of the day we were pretty decent on third down,” Gillespie said. “I think our bigger focus is winning in first and second down from a defensive perspective. We’re going to have sit there in the early downs and get them in the predictable situations.”
The last thing the Horned Frogs want to do is give Tarleton confidence early in the game. A few 3-and-outs would be beneficial to setting the early tone.
There’s talent on offense for the Texans led by former Kentucky quarterback Beau Allen. Leading receiver Gabe Douglas is 6-3 and Jaden Smith is 6-6.
With that being said, if the TCU defense performs like it did against Colorado it should be stress-free night for Gillespie as he faces his father’s old program.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
