Pete Thamel report paints a grim picture of Brendan Sorsby’s Texas Tech future

With Cody Campbell still backing the NIL operation in Lubbock, Texas Tech pushed its chips to the middle of the table again this offseason after a major Transfer Portal haul led the program’s first Big 12 Title and College Football Playoff appearance in 2025. This offseason’s transfer class included a reported $5 million deal for former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. 

Now, just a few months later, Sorsby’s eligibility for the 2026 season is in jeopardy as he is entering a treatment program for a gambling addiction that reportedly dates back to his time at Indiana, when he reportedly bet on the Hoosiers in 2022. 

With the NCAA’s strict rules against gambling, it’s unlikely that Sorsby will retain his final year of eligibility. There is currently no timeline for his return to the program, and that return may never come, but as Pete Thamel reported on Monday, this is an unprecedented situation. 

“We have the first prominent athlete in college sports to admit a gambling addiction and go check himself into a facility,” Thamel told ESPN’s Matt Barrie. “According to NCAA rules and what we know about Sorsby’s gambling, that he placed thousands of bets on a gambling app, and also that when he was a redshirt freshman at Indiana in 2022, he bet on the Hoosiers to win. As history would tell us, that would make it very difficult for Brendan Sorsby to regain eligibility.” 

Texas Tech could be forced to turn to Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis as its Week 1 starter

Texas Tech begins its 2026 season in Week 1 against Abilene Christian, and unless in some unforeseen turn of events, Sorsby the NCAA allows Sorsby to play, Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis could be the Red Raiders only answer at QB.

Will Hammond played in eight games as a redshirt freshman last season, including two starts. He flashed in relief of Behren Morton against Utah, but struggled in the team’s only regular season loss against Arizona State. Hammond would be the obvious choice to replace Sorsby, assuming he can’t play, but a midseason ACL tear complicates matters considerably and was part of the motivation for landing Sorsby. 

Hammond tore his ACL against Oklahoma State on October 25, and as Thamel restated in the same report, Joey McGuire recently told the Texas Tech media that the earliest Hammond would be expected to return is Week 3 when the Red Raiders open Big 12 play against Houston. 

Hammond’s injury status leaves Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis as the likely Week 1 starter. Francis threw for over 3,000 yards with 18 touchdowns over parts of three seasons at Tulsa. 

Sorsby was generally viewed as, if not the best QB in the portal, then as one of the best. He was expected to be a major upgrade over Morton, who floundered against Oregon in the CFP. Now, McGuire faces even greater uncertainty at the most important position on his roster.

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