Editorial: As the Brendan Sorsby storm continues to spiral out of control, pulverizing college sports in its path, the Texas Tech PR train is derailing. Michigan football may have once been the example of how not to handle crisis management. Texas Tech is quickly taking over that lead role. Voluntarily answering questions is rarely a good strategy.
Texas Tech PR Train Is Derailing
The Start of the Story
The start of the storm is easy to define. The Texas Tech quarterback, under NCAA investigation for breaking the cardinal sin on gambling, admitted to betting on Indiana football games while he was a redshirt freshman there. In the days and weeks after that, we learned that Sorsby actually had made thousands of bets during his college career, totaling tens of thousands of dollars. He even used digital apps to send money to others to place proxy votes for him, likely violating federal law (18 U.S. Code § 1084; the Federal Wire Act).
The NCAA announced Sorsby would be suspended for the year, as it has with others “caught” committing the ultimate rules violation. Sorsby filed a motion for a temporary injunction. A district court judge in Texas shockingly granted it earlier this week, essentially stripping the NCAA of its last vestige of authority. The NCAA cannot suspend Sorsby for the season.
The response from the college sports world has been equal parts martyrdom and vilification. There has been very little introduction of measured thought. The judicial decision was too shocking for everyone to be rational thinkers.
Digging a Trench
Texas Tech, from an athletic department standpoint, was clearly feeling picked on. The Big 12 was having emergency Zoom meetings with its membership. Information leaked from the meetings revealed that the vast majority of the schools do not think Sorsby should be allowed to play.
Texas Tech fans have adopted the Michigan mentality of a few years ago when the Wolverines were being hit with NCAA sanctions. “Everybody hates us, and it’s us against the world.” Thursday afternoon, the Texas Attorney General threatened to sue the Big 12 or any other organization that attempts to penalize Texas Tech. That would ignore that a super majority of the Big 12 schools would have almost unlimited discretion to sanction Texas Tech.That would be in line with the conference charter, which Texas Tech signed. Texas courts tend to defer to the internal affairs and rules of private associations, which the Big 12 is.
Saying Far Too Much
And here is where the Red Raiders’ redemption efforts have crashed. University president Lawrence Schovanec penned a 12-paragraph letter explaining the school’s position, legal authorities, medical options for addiction recovery, and so on.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt issued a far-too-long statement, explaining the Texas Tech stance. “Texas Tech is not a party to Brendan’s lawsuit. We did not file it. We did not fund it. A young man in treatment for a clinically diagnosed addiction exercised his legal right to seek a remedy in court, and a judge agreed with him. Our role has been to support his recovery, not to engineer his eligibility.”
If that had been it, it would have been sufficient. But he went on to lash out at those in college sports who take issue with Sorsby’s eligibility. He made it clear he did not appreciate the school being lectured about the integrity of the sport being at stake when there were plenty of flawed programs across the country.
Money Apparently Doesn’t Buy Intuition
And then we learned there is no opportunity to talk, that super-booster Cody Campbell will ignore. Yes, Campbell is on the school’s Board of Trustees. Technically, he has an official position at Texas Tech. But no one was looking for his opinion on the Sorsby issue based on his trustee position. Outlets reached out to him because, as a billionaire booster, he is the one financially responsible for the Texas Tech football roster (for most of the rosters in the athletic department, for that matter).
Campbell has been at the forefront of congressional efforts to legislate new foundational rules for college sports. He wrote a letter to the authors of the Senate proposal, Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, saying that the court decision stripping the NCAA of its powers of punishment shows just how critical passing new governance is.
Brother, your millions of “NIL” dollars that you are giving gambling addict Sorsby are like telling a drug addict how to get new product. You are now the last person the Senate committees need to hear from.
Among the new rules would be anti-trust protections for the NCAA and the conferences, protecting them from the endless string of lawsuits they have faced every month. But he went on the right-wing Dan Dakich show and threatened lawsuits against any conference that took action against Texas Tech. His potential targets include the Big 12, the home conference for the Red Raiders. He threatened lawsuits against those he is allegedly trying to protect from lawsuits.
Defense As a Bad Offense
Campbell ranted that schools are jealous of the success of Texas Tech and are looking to avoid playing them. Man, Texas Tech is a program that has had a smattering of success over the decades and got hot last year as the bank vaults opened up for funding the program. Let’s not get so defensive and act like you are a multi-generational blueblood.
When your response to a crisis is to get defensive, you have lost the argument. When your response is “whataboutism,” you have made the crisis worse.
McGuire Goes Too Far
Head coach Joey McGuire is a generally affable guy. He spoke on Wednesday at a previously scheduled luncheon at the Houston Touchdown Club. He cancelled the press conference that usually goes with the speech. But he did take questions from the crowd.
There was an eagerness to hear from him. There should not have been an eagerness for him to speak. Because once he started talking and answering questions, the crisis management role got away from him.
McGuire spoke well of caring for Sorsby’s well-being and supporting his treatment and recovery, and Sorsby’s suspension for the first two games of the season. It was compassionate. “I have a number of people in my family that were addicted to different stuff, and so I’ve seen what addiction does to people,” McGuire said to the crowd.
Whataboutism Is Not a Strategy
But McGuire also took a few questions from the crowd. Bad idea. He was asked about a date for Sorsby’s potential return. He never should have answered with anything other than, “We don’t know.” Instead, he compared it to a player coming back from injury and the differences. He talked about how week three is “a stretch.” Any responses from Texas Tech folks that address when he could return negate the good talk about his recovery.
And then the time at the podium got away from McGuire. “As a society, we’ve been okay with other things that happen [with college athletes], allowing players to play. And this has been the one thing that has united people that they were against, you know. It’s crazy…because it’s not murder; it’s not beating somebody.”
Once you get to the whataboutism, you’ve lost the conversation. Campbell, in his time with Dakich, also took shots at Georgia football and the high number of players arrested for vehicular violations.
McGuire and Campbell are right. This is not the same. Those were matters for the law enforcement officers, the district attorneys, and judges to litigate under legal codes. They were actually outside the jurisdiction of the NCAA, even when it had rules enforcement abilities. Sentences have been handed down by judges. Legal fines have been dealt. Probation officers are involved. In some matters, jail time has been required.
Sorsby’s issue is not that. Sorsby’s crime is a college football crime. And it is one that was and still can be adjudicated within the college sports community. The quarterback does not have to face a courtroom. He does not have to face a judge. But he does likely have to face consequences beyond not playing against Abilene Christian and Oregon State.
Virtue in Silence
What those consequences will be is still to be determined. Putting a gambling addict back on the field where every interception is going to get side-eye looks, putting them back in post-game press conferences or with the media at all is going to ensure that this taint is a part of his legacy long-term. And it potentially hurts his recovery. Texas Tech could win the national championship with him at quarterback, and the questions about Sorsby, football, and gambling will not leave him or Texas Tech.
The best strategy Texas Tech could have right now is a quiet one. Talk among yourselves. Strategize in closed-door meetings with attorneys, should you feel legal action could be warranted. There is no need for radio show appearances or press conferences. There certainly is no need to publicly slap back at other programs. Let them act the fool.
Brendan Sorsby’s recovery is allegedly your top priority at Texas Tech. Act like it.
Main Image: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
