Texas Tech\u2019s willingness to splash the pot has opposing schools griping and expectations skyrocketing. But the Red Raiders haven\u2019t even played for a Big 12 football championship in the league\u2019s 29-year existence. They haven\u2019t recorded a nine-win season since 2009, when Leach was their coach. The last conference title Tech won outright? The Border Conference championship in 1955 (their 1976 and 1994 Southwest Conference titles were co-championships).<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s what the money is for: for Texas Tech to break new ground and spend its way to success. It\u2019s Big 12 title \u2014 and College Football Playoff \u2014 or bust. And the Red Raiders are embracing those expectations. During a video tour for their new football facility<\/a> guided by football administrator Antonio Huffman, he pointed to a spot left open in the trophy room \u201cfor our Big 12 trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we win 10 games but we don\u2019t win the Big 12 championship, I think we\u2019ve missed the mark,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n Heading into the 2023-24 offseason, Texas Tech had only $1 million in NIL money to allocate to transfers, Blanchard said \u2014 roughly the amount it takes to get a Power 4 starting quarterback now. That meant Texas Tech couldn\u2019t get into bidding wars for top-tier talent. \u201cI needed to be really diligent and make sure I\u2019m not wasting (Campbell\u2019s) money,\u201d Blanchard said.<\/p>\n The Red Raiders were competitive in 2024, going 8-5 and making a bowl for the third straight season under McGuire and fourth consecutive year overall \u2014 the longest such bowl stretch for the program since the Leach era \u2014 but they were lacking in a few areas, particularly on the offensive and defensive lines. They fell short of a Big 12 title game appearance as a result. And they vowed to learn their lesson after shopping in the bargain bin.<\/p>\n After Tech lost to Colorado in early November and Campbell posted on X to complain about officiating, a Tech fan replied with an expletive directed at Campbell and ordered him to \u201cbuy us an oline (sic).\u201d<\/p>\n Campbell\u2019s reply: \u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n Blanchard believed Campbell when he said he had an \u201copen checkbook,\u201d but he wasn\u2019t 100 percent sure until they started hosting visitors. When former UCF defensive tackle Lee Hunter visited and Blanchard called Campbell to find out if it was OK to go over the amount they projected it would cost to get him, Campbell told him, \u201cYeah, I told you we\u2019re gonna do whatever it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n When Blanchard heard that, it was off to the races.<\/p>\n Tech’s top-10 portal adds (On3 industry) <\/p>\n Player, Pos.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Pos. Rank<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Former school<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n Lee Hunter, DL<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n UCF<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n David Bailey, edge<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Stanford<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Howard Sampson, OT<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n North Carolina<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Hunter Zambrano, OT<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Illinois State<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Terrance Carter, TE<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Louisiana<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Cole Wisniewski, S<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n North Dakota State<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Quinten Joyner, RB<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 7<\/p>\n<\/td>\n USC<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Romello Height, edge<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 8<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Georgia Tech<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Skyler Gill-Howard, DL<\/p>\n<\/td>\n 10<\/p>\n<\/td>\n Northern Illinois<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n As commitments rolled in, McGuire and Blanchard pivoted from their original plan of signing 10 to 12 transfers to taking as many as they could. They finished with 21, including six who were ranked at the top of their board at their respective positions.<\/p>\n \u201cYou had this perfect storm,\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n Texas Tech opened the $242 million Womble Football Center in March. (Nathan Giese \/ USA Today Network via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n If the Red Raiders prioritized a player, the goal was to not let him leave campus without a commitment. McGuire credits the positive vibes that permeate the building. The new, sparkling $242 million football facility \u2014 which Blanchard has called \u201ca football resort\u201d<\/a> \u2014 didn\u2019t hurt. And then there\u2019s the money.<\/p>\n Tech paid multiple transfers over $1 million, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, granted anonymity to discuss financial decisions schools are not compelled to publicly disclose. Many who didn\u2019t reach that threshold are getting compensated in the high six figures. Personnel staffers at schools who competed for some of Tech\u2019s transfers have remarked that the Red Raiders have gone well above \u201cmarket value\u201d to obtain players.<\/p>\n Campbell calls it sour grapes.<\/p>\n \u201cMarket value is what somebody\u2019s willing to pay for them,\u201d he said. \u201cSo that\u2019s just mostly from people that are upset because they get outbid. \u2026 I think other places just didn\u2019t have the resources or weren\u2019t organized enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Blanchard viewed it as a necessity, given Tech\u2019s historical place in the national football landscape and lack of blue-blood status.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t say, \u2018Someone offered this player $500,000, so we\u2019re going to match.\u2019 That\u2019s not gonna work,\u201d Blanchard said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to put your ego and pride to the side and say, \u2018If one of the top five schools in the country offered $500,000, for us to be equal, we have to offer $675,000.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people may say that\u2019s over market value. No, I got the f\u2014ing player.\u201d<\/p>\n McGuire, who is entering his fourth season and is 23-16 at the school, knows that if Texas Tech doesn\u2019t win the Big 12, everyone will point the finger at him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut isn\u2019t that what you want? Don\u2019t you want a roster that people expect you to win?\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be in the conversation of, \u2018They\u2019re going to have a hard time winning because their roster isn\u2019t very good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Said Hocutt: \u201cThe expectations are exactly what we want and what we expect. It now becomes time to deliver upon those expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n Blanchard feels a similar pressure. McGuire gave him the keys to the roster when they arrived in Lubbock on Campbell\u2019s jet in November 2021. This offseason Blanchard flirted with taking the GM job at Notre Dame but ultimately stayed after Tech gave him a raise.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have top-three-in-the-country resources. There is no reason for failure,\u201d Blanchard said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t get to the Big 12 Championship Game, I\u2019m gonna feel like I failed.\u201d<\/p>\n Hocutt, who has been AD at the school since 2011, said a Big 12 title and a Playoff berth are the expectations, \u201cperiod.\u201d<\/p>\n While acknowledging possible mitigating circumstances like injuries or bad luck, Hocutt said, \u201cWe will be extremely disappointed if we\u2019re not in Arlington playing for that Big 12 conference championship this season.\u201d<\/p>\n Football isn\u2019t the only place Tech boosters are spending. Tech spent more than $3 million to retain forward JT Toppin to the men\u2019s basketball team<\/a>, which was agonizingly close to the Final Four. They spent more than $1 million in 2024 to sign former Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady to the softball team<\/a>. That paid off handsomely, as Canady took the Red Raiders to the championship series of the Women\u2019s College World Series before they fell to Texas. And the softball team had a recent portal run that resembles the football team\u2019s in December, plucking top players from across the country to load up for another run to Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n Campbell, who was recently appointed to the President\u2019s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition and has served as a White House advisor on college sports, may be the most visible of Tech\u2019s money men. But he\u2019s not the only one. John Sellers, who co-founded Double Eagle Energy Holdings with Campbell, also co-founded the Matador Club \u2014 Tech\u2019s NIL collective \u2014 and played a major role in it, especially in softball, where he spearheaded the effort to sign Canady.<\/p>\n Dusty Womble, a wealthy businessman and Texas Tech regent, has his name on the school\u2019s pristine basketball practice facility and new football facility. Many of Tech\u2019s major donors, including Campbell, Womble, Sellers and Gary Petersen, have their names prominently displayed in the concourse of the south end zone of Jones AT&T Stadium. Campbell estimates that the Matador Club, which had 3,000 donors, had \u201cabout a dozen or more\u201d members who contributed seven figures.<\/p>\n Tech\u2019s power brokers have put their money where their mouths are.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a one-time thing, either. As college sports evolve amid the House settlement and direct player compensation, Texas Tech intends to remain a major player in hopes of elevating itself into the elite tier of multiple sports, even if the Red Raiders haven\u2019t historically been there. Campbell scoffed at the idea of anything holding Tech back. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t we be able to win? Just because we didn\u2019t win a national championship 100 years ago? That doesn\u2019t make any sense. \u2026 We have all the elements and ingredients you need to win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_25596887-e1754318445451.jpg\")
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