Every coach must have something to hang his or her hat on. For Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire, it is his ability to connect with people across the board. In fact, he's known to have one of the most affable and engaging personalities of any college coach in America. However, he isn't one to be walked all over, and now it appears that he's entering the 2026 season with extra fire in his furnace thanks to his critics.
On the most recent episode of his podcast, What's Next! with Joey McGuire, the Red Raiders' leader addressed a question from host Robert Giovannetti about whether McGuire has a little more edge to him after the tumultuous 2026 offseason, which was defined by the Brendan Sorsby gambling saga and Texas Tech's handling of that situation.
While McGuire didn't name any of his critics, he delivered a strong message to those eager to criticize Texas Tech's actions throughout the Sorsby controversy.
"There was a lot of things said about different guys," McGuire said. "Some people need to look in the mirror and check theirselves before they open their mouths. You know, what's crazy is that it's going to come back on them, meaning they're going to have to deal with something that they don't want to have to deal with, and it's going to be interesting how they deal with it. Usually, it all comes back around."
While just about everyone in the sports world weighed in on Texas Tech's response to the Sorsby case, McGuire's comments appear directed at some colleagues and the leadership at other schools. When he says that others might find themselves in similar positions down the road, he isn't referring to podcasters, bloggers, or fans but to people who are in the coaching or college sports administrative world.
""Some people need to look in the mirror and check theirselves before they open their mouths. You know, what's crazy is that it's going to come back on them, meaning they're going to have to deal with something that they don't want to have to deal with, and it's going to be interesting how they deal with it.""Joey McGuire
Thus, it makes sense that McGuire would feel betrayed or offended by remarks from people who should have some understanding of the impossible situation that he and his administration were in this offseason. Instead of being respectful and staying in their lane, many school officials and even coaches from around the country seemed all too quick to kick the Red Raiders while they were trying to make sense of an unprecedented situation.
Conference commissioners, school presidents, and coaches all seemed more than happy to jump all over the Red Raiders for sticking up for Sorsby, and many even threatened to boycott playing Texas Tech in any sport. Ultimately, Sorsby and Tech parted ways, and the criticism died down, but the scars seem to remain for McGuire.
McGuire says that Texas Tech will have an edge because of the criticism
What might be of most interest to Texas Tech football fans is that McGuire's edge is apparently shared by his team. That could make an already loaded roster even more dangerous for opponents in 2026.
"One way it's going to come back around is, people better be ready to play the Red Raiders," McGuire said, "because we're going to have an edge. We always have an edge, and we believe in playing with Red Raider speed and being physical, but our team, they heard everything.
"So there will be an edge to us this year and, definitely, to me because...there were too many things that were said that were out of line, you know. People just piled onto the stuff that we were going through, and so, awesome. We'll see ya on Saturday."
Sometimes in sports, maintaining intensity can be difficult for a team coming off a fantastic season, as the Red Raiders are this fall. Now in the role of the prohibitive favorite to win the Big 12 again, it was fair for some to question whether Tech would thrive in the role of the hunted, rather than being the hunter, as has been the case for almost the entirety of the program's history.
Thanks to the vocal critics, though, the Red Raiders may have found the extra juice needed to keep their edge sharp. If so, the rest of the country might be in trouble.
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