Texas Tech enters 2026 with the kind of buzz that comes only after a breakthrough season, but the bigger question around the program is whether the Red Raiders can actually top what they just did. Plenty of people outside Lubbock are focused on the departures, the uncertainty at quarterback and the idea that regression is coming after a College Football Playoff appearance. Inside the program, though, there’s a strong case that Joey McGuire’s team might be even better.
The Red Raiders are trying to do something they haven’t done in half a century: win a second straight outright conference title. That alone makes this season different. And while the 2025 run set a high bar, there are three reasons to think the 2026 version could be more dangerous.
Start with Will Hammond. Texas Tech’s quarterback situation has drawn plenty of attention because of the offseason’s unbelievable Brendan Sorsby saga, but Hammond brings real upside. If he gets close to his ceiling, he changes the offense in a way the Red Raiders simply didn’t have last season.
Behren Morton played through a hairline fracture in his leg from game one of 2025 through the end of the season, which kept Tech from getting fully explosive quarterback play. Morton was steady, but the injury clearly limited him.
Hammond now steps in with more natural talent and more athletic juice, especially as a runner. That ability to tuck the ball and create with his legs gives the offense a dimension it was missing with Morton at less than full strength.
There are still questions, of course. Hammond is coming off a torn knee ligament, and he doesn’t have Morton’s experience as a multi-year starter.
But the ceiling is the point here. If he’s healthy and taps into that ability, Texas Tech’s offense could become something far more intimidating.
The front five should help make that happen. Last year’s offensive line was good, but Oregon showed the gap when the Ducks controlled Tech in the 23-0 Orange Bowl. This season’s group looks built to avoid that kind of problem.
The interior has been upgraded with more size and experience. Hunter Zambrano is back after missing a year because of injury, and he arrives with the kind of reputation that made him one of the nation’s top OL transfers in the 2025 offseason.
Jordan Church, a Louisville transfer with 15 career starts at guard, takes over on the right side and brings nearly 30 more pounds than Davion Carter. Along with Howard Sampson, Jacob Ponton and Sheridan Wilson, Texas Tech has a line that could be one of the program’s best in two decades.
Depth is also the big story on defense. The 2025 unit had stars, but the 2026 version may be deeper across the board, and that matters over the course of a season.
Defensive tackle is the clearest example. AJ Holmes and Wake Forest transfer Mateen Ibirogba form a starting pair that ranks among the best in the nation, and the backups behind them - Julien Laventure, Bryce Butler and Jayden Cofield - would have been starters on plenty of Texas Tech defenses this century.
The edge group has that same kind of quality in numbers. Adam Trick and Trey White lead the way, with LaDamion Guyton, Jojo Johnson and Ansel Nedroe waiting behind them. Guyton is a former 5-star signee and true freshman, Johnson comes over from Oregon State, and all three reserve options are described as athletes capable of getting to the quarterback.
That’s what makes the 2026 roster so intriguing. Tech lost some superstar defenders from last year, but the current group has been restocked with more potential contributors and more depth than just about any Red Raider team has had. If that talent holds up, the payoff could be massive.
In Other News...
Texas Tech Adds An Intriguing New Piece To Its Rebuilt Frontcourt
Texas Techs frontcourt rebuild picked up another interesting layer with the commitment of Bassala Bagayoko, a 19-year-old center from Mali who has already spent parts of five seasons playing professionally in Spain. At 6-foot-10, he brings size and a rsum that looks different from the usual college transfer addition, and he becomes the programs first international pickup of the offseason as the Red Raiders keep reshaping the roster inside.
Bagayoko also arrives with some real backstory, having worked back from a torn ACL earlier in his career and gone undrafted in the recent NBA Draft. His latest season with Bilbao was modest on the stat sheet at 3.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, but Texas Tech is clearly betting that his experience, length and upside can translate in a new setting. The bigger question now is how quickly he can fit into a frontcourt that is still being rebuilt. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Has A Secondary Battle That Could Shape Early 2026
Brendan Jordans versatility has given Texas Tech a useful foundation in the secondary, but it has also opened up one of the more interesting position battles in camp. Safeties coach Rob Greene is sorting through the options for the other spot next to Jordan as the Red Raiders look ahead to 2026, and the group at the center of it all comes from the programs 2024 recruiting class.
The competition has the look of a real camp-long tug of war, with each player bringing a different skill set and drawing praise for his work so far. Peyton Morgan, Oliver Miles II and Malik Esquerra have all pushed to make their case, and Greene is still weighing how the fit will come together before the season gets here. [Read more 🡒]