Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire dies back at notion that Red Raiders’ success is bought

Texas Tech Red Raider’s rise to the College Football Playoff has come with plenty of praise and plenty of skepticism. As the Joey McGuire’s squad prepare to face Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks in the Orange Bowl, a recurring national narrative has followed them, that their breakthrough season was fueled primarily by NIL money rather than substance. Head coach Joey McGuire recently addressed that perception head-on.

McGuire was asked about the stereotype during an appearance on The Triple Option podcast, where he was directly confronted with the idea that Texas Tech “bought” its way to the Big 12 title and into the CFP using oil and gas money. Instead of deflecting, McGuire reframed the conversation around culture and accountability.

“Texas Tech has been playing football for 100 years,” McGuire said in the podcast. “Since I’ve been here, we hold every single GPA record in the history of Texas Tech football. With all these guys that we brought in, they just set the all-time GPA record as a team for a fall semester. We have a 3.23 team GPA.”

McGuire emphasized that academic performance undercuts the idea that players came to Lubbock solely for financial reasons. He noted that 33 players on the roster earned their degrees and will participate in the playoff game, pointing to that achievement as evidence of shared standards within the program.

“So whenever you’re sitting there and taking about, ‘All these guys came in because of money,’ man, we have 33 graduates who will play in this playoff game and this team set the all-time GPA record,” McGuire said. “So that tells you right there what this building’s all about. How they hold each other accountable, how everything is important.”

While there is no doubt that Texas Tech has invested heavily, something nearly every contender does in the modern era, however, the coach argued that NIL alone cannot explain the Red Raiders’ success. The program’s academic benchmarks and internal discipline, he believes, are equally important factors.

“I just think that shows, that they come here for one reason and one reason only,” McGuire added. “They came here to be better football players and better men.”

On the field, Texas Tech backs that message with production. The Red Raiders enter the Orange Bowl with one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, designed by offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich. Although red-zone efficiency has been an occasional issue, Texas Tech has consistently found ways to score against top competition.

That offense now faces a major test against Lanning’s squad, widely viewed as one of college football’s most complete teams.

The post Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire dies back at notion that Red Raiders’ success is bought appeared first on ClutchPoints.