Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raider Club Scholar Athlete of the Month: Tyler Floyd
April 01, 2015 | Academics
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April 1, 2015
He puts on his mask and squats down behind the plate. He signals to the pitcher, who nods in agreement. He holds up his mitt. The pitcher kicks his leg up and the runner on first base dashes for second.
Almost simultaneously as the ball connects with his mitt, he jumps to his feet. From the very edge of his peripherals, he saw the runner in motion. In one fluid movement, he pulls the ball out of his mitt and fires it to his support at second base.
A jump, an edge, the support. The runner is called out.
If you talk to Tyler Floyd, these three words stick out. They not only helped him behind the plate last season - where he started 18 games for the Red Raiders - helping earn the school's first trip to the College World Series, but have also led to success off the field for the junior catcher.
Floyd played baseball his freshman year at the junior college ranks in Waco, Texas, not far from his hometown of Stephenville. He had earned enough college credit in high school that he was ready to make the jump to Division I ball after only one year. Growing up a Red Raider fan, all he needed was one phone call from Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock and Floyd was ready to take that jump.
"My dad went to Tech and my sister goes here, so I've always been a Red Raider fan," Floyd said. "When I got the call, I was ready to get on board."
Floyd cites the excitement around all things red and black as one of the many high points of becoming a student athlete at Texas Tech.
"I like the atmosphere," he said, "how Lubbock is so geared toward Tech. We have so much support from the community and all of the students here."
The atmosphere surrounding the athletic programs isn't the only thing that attracted Floyd to Texas Tech. He also knew he would be going to play for a head coach who has his players' best interests in mind.
"Coach Tadlock is awesome. He's a player's coach who really cares about us first and then cares about our baseball. He's a great guy to play for and knows what he is doing, and I definitely trust him."
Floyd says playing under Coach Tadlock has taught him many things, both on and off the field. One lesson that has stuck with the junior catcher is to approach each day with an edge.
"Coach always says bring an edge every day," he said. "That's for on the field, in the classroom or whatever you're doing. Just bringing an edge, knowing that in whatever you're going to do in life, whether you play baseball or do something else, that someone else is competing for what you want, so you've got to work as hard as you can and do your best to get what you want."
During his time as a student-athlete at Texas Tech, Floyd says he has been able to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a student-athlete and manage his time between baseball, academics, and everything else.
"Baseball is so important to me, but there's so much else out there. I know my freshman year I was like, `Gotta work hard in baseball, gotta work hard in baseball' and other things were kind of behind. Now I have a bigger perspective. Yeah, I'm going to be here for four years playing baseball, but I've got a lot more years doing other stuff that I've got to prepare for as well."
Thus far, Floyd has been named a member of the 2013 Big 12 Commissioner's Fall Academic Honor Roll (4.0 GPA - President's List) and a member of the 2014 Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll (4.0 GPA - President's List).
That doesn't mean it has been easy. Playing four games a week, travelling and rarely finding yourself with a weekend off can give anyone a challenge. Floyd said he is lucky to have grown up a support system that always pushed him to do well in school.
"It's tough sometimes especially when we are going on the road, travelling and playing a lot," Floyd said. "I just try to stay on top of things. My parents were both educators, so they have always pounded into my head that education is important. I enjoy it more than a lot of people so that helps."
Floyd says another thing that helps is the support he receives at the Marsha Sharp Center.
"The Marsha Sharp Center is awesome. Matthew Jordan, our academic advisor, is really good and helps us out with all of our academics. Denise Hood is another person in the Marsha Sharp Center who really supports us and obviously all of our coaches are really supportive of the academic side of things."
Floyd, an Exercise and Sport Science Major and Personal Financial Planning minor, will begin graduate school next spring during his senior season on Coach Tadlock's ballclub. Upon completion of his master's degree, he hopes to become a personal financial planner for a firm that specializes in athletics.
"I'm a numbers guy," Floyd said. "I started off wanting to be a sports agent type, but then I decided I would rather handle those people's money instead of deal with their egos. It would be awesome if I could get in with a firm that deals with athletes and sports and people in the sports community and manage their money."
A jump, an edge, the support. Three components of a baseball play. Three components of a path to success.
