Joey McGuire Is Turning Texas Tech's Offseason Heat Into Fuel

Deck: With a chip on their shoulder, Texas Tech is ready to turn offseason criticism into a catalyst for success under coach Joey McGuire's ambitious leadership.

Texas Tech has spent the offseason drawing plenty of attention, and Joey McGuire sounds more than ready to turn that noise into fuel.

Between the Brendan Sorsby situation and the money Texas Tech has poured into its roster, the Red Raiders have become a lightning rod for criticism. McGuire doesn’t sound bothered by that. If anything, he welcomes it.

“We have a lot of stuff banked because there was a lot of universities in our conference, whether it be their AD or their president, or it was one coach that had a lot to say about the Sorsby situation. I always look for buttons to push.

These buttons are going to be a lot easier to push because I can find a lot of comments from a lot of different people,” McGuire said on SiriusXM. “It was directed at us, and I totally understand because he was part of us.

He’s still part of us. He was at our scrimmage, our first scrimmage.

He’s been out here twice since we started camp, and he’s still a part of this family, and he always will be.”

“But, there was a lot of people, a lot of things that were directed, I would say, at the university and at this team, and man, we’re gonna use it.”

That kind of edge fits a program that just put together a big year. Texas Tech went 12-0 and won the Big 12 title last season before falling to Oregon in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Since taking over before the 2022 season, McGuire has guided the Red Raiders to a 35-18 record.

Now the focus shifts to 2026, with Texas Tech set to open the season on Sept. 5 against Abilene Christian. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on FS1.

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Brewsters senior-year move to Buford, Georgia could have opened the door for a late change of heart, but he is still headed to Lubbock. The highly rated defensive tackle is expected to step in and help the Red Raiders defense in 2027, and for a program trying to stack momentum on the recruiting trail, holding onto a player of his caliber matters just as much as landing him in the first place. [Read more 🡒]