A Coveted Jersey Number for Red Raiders Football
Luke Siegel, son of former Texas Tech tennis coach Tim Siegel, died at the age of 15 last August after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a golf cart accident. No. 3 was his preferred jersey number, and now, football coach Joey McGuire will make sure Luke is honored by the football team.
McGuire announced he plans to award the No. 3 to a player who best exhibits the fighting spirit that Luke Siegel did.
Tim Siegel regularly documented his son's recovery efforts, and that drew national attention. That led to the Team Luke Hope for Minds foundation that helps families of children who have had similar accidents.
"The guy that will come in in the fall wearing the number 3 will be the toughest, hardest-working, most competitive guy on the team," McGuire said. "If it ends up being an (offensive) lineman, we'll just put a '3' on his helmet as a helmet sticker."
A complete team vote of both coaches and players will decide who is awarded the number.
McGuire already has a couple of players in mind, safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson and tight end Henry Teeter.
"Those two guys, if you went out and voted right now, the team would probably pick one of those two guys," McGuire said. "I could be wrong, but those two are the guys that really jump out at me."
Technically both players could win the number since NCAA rules allow two players to wear the same number as long as they're not on the field at the same time. Taylor-Demerson and Teeter play on separate sides of the ball.
"Whenever Tim told the story and talked about how tough (Luke was) and how he fought and everything, it kind of made me think, 'This is the brand,' " McGuire said. "This is who we're going to be, so that's kind of how we decided to do it."
At his funeral, a decorative wreath portrayed Luke's No. 3 on a baseball.
McGuire was hired last November from Matt Rhule's staff at Baylor, where single-digit numbers are awarded to players showing exceptional leadership and dedication.
At Baylor, Nos. 0 through 9 are a coveted badge of honor for Bears' players. McGuire was going to do the same in Lubbock but had to figure something else out due to NIL agreements current players had with single-digit numbers.
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