The “silly season” of college football came early for Texas Tech in 2021. Thankfully, it has reached its climactic end as Joey McGuire was named the new Texas Tech head coach to lead the football program into its new Big 12 future. So what are Red Raider fans, and more importantly athletic director Kirby Hocutt, getting with McGuire?
Texas Ties
McGuire was the associate head coach outside linebackers coach for the Baylor Bears this season. He originally joined the Bears staff in 2016. It is his background in the Texas high school football scene that really has stood out. McGuire began his coaching career as an assistant at Crowley High School in 1995. He later would join Cedar Hill High school in 1997 and was later promoted to head coach in 2003.
McGuire would lead a program that hadn’t won a playoff game prior to his tenure, to 12 straight playoff appearances. In his 14 seasons as head coach, he went an astounding 141-42, won nine bi-district championships and seven district championships. He also had four state title appearances, securing titles in 2006, 2013, and 2014.
Hocutt made an emphasis that was looking for a head coach with strong Texas ties. The first name that made waves was current UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor, but just as quickly as those rumors swirled up, UTSA announced an extension to keep Traylor as their head coach through 2031.
Unify Fan Base
Hocutt also mentioned during his press conference shortly after firing Matt Wells he wanted a head coach that could “unify the fan base”. After the news of the Traylor extension became public, the #HireMcguire hashtag gained intensity on social media by the Tech fan base. Fans have to also be excited about the possibility of McGuire bringing a who’s who of Texas high school football coaches to fill out his staff. If McGuire is able to break down the metaphorical recurring wall at Texas Tech, he has the potential to build this program to heights equal to the Mike Leach era.
Expectations For The New Texas Tech Football Head Coach
Wells did a good job bringing in talented transfers to this roster. But one of his downfalls was never getting all of that talent firing to its potential. This Texas Tech team is going to be losing a ton of experience heading into next season, and this year’s recruiting class wasn’t stellar. With the early signing period starting on December 15th, it doesn’t give McGuire much time to improve on this class. But they do get quarterback Tyler Shough coming back healthy that they can build the offense around.
However, a big unknown for the new Texas Tech football head coach is when he is going to take over. Baylor is 7-2 and very much in the thick of the Big 12 race. Given his current role, McGuire may finish out the regular season with the Bears. To ask McGuire to get this team to a bowl game next year might be asking too much. But the team needs to look competitive week-in and week-out at a minimum. If not, McGuire’s seat warmer will never get a chance to turn off.
But after year one, the expectation should be to make a bowl game and continue to trend upward. Hocutt has done an excellent job securing funding for football facilities. With another major future project announced in October of this year, Texas Tech will have facilities that rival any in the country. Because of that financial commitment, patience will be thin for a turnaround. The Texas Tech administration and boosters have made it crystal clear that they are expecting this team to be in the upper half of the Big 12. They also expect to be there fairly quickly. And if McGuire doesn’t get there quickly, Hocutt might be leaving town with him.
Main Image Courtesy Waco Tribune
