The unusual way Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was injured in Ames, Iowa

After the Iowa State game, fans noticed the cut on Joey McGuire's ear and on Monday he revealed the unusual way he sustained that injury.
Texas Tech v Iowa State
Texas Tech v Iowa State / David K Purdy/GettyImages
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One of the most enduring moments of the Texas Tech football team's 23-22 win over Iowa State on the road Saturday was head coach Joey McGuire's postgame interview with the ESPN broadcast team. As he spoke, McGuire was overcome with emotion following his team's last-minute triumph.

While fans enjoyed seeing that raw emotion from McGuire, they also couldn't help but notice a large gash on McGuire's right ear. That led many to wonder how McGuire was injured. Did he get hit by a player while on the sidelines? Did he somehow cut his ear on his headset? Was it a result of knocking into someone while celebrating the win? Monday, we learned that the injury was sustained in an even more unusual way.

"So, you know, pregame speeches and excitement and all that stuff," he said, "one of our strength coaches got a little too excited and threw a trash can. A big trash can. One of those big thick, and so I thought I ducked enough but I did not so it hit me in the ear.

"My ear never hurt. It's my neck, and [my] shoulder is a little sore. I might take another trash can in the head if that means we're going to win the game. But just excitement in pregame. Guys getting fired up. I said 'We got to find something else besides that'. It was right before I gathered the team up.

"It's kinda funny. I didn't address it then because I was, like, in the moment. You just got to get to what's next. It's the same thing. He thought I was probably going to go nuts and start yelling. But man, we had something to do. So that's what happened. Cut the ear and it looked worse than what it was. Just the stuff that they had to put on it for it to stop bleeding."

This isn't the first time a Texas Tech head coach has suffered through an unusual injury in Ames, Iowa. Back in 2018, former Texas Tech basketball head coach Chris Beard tore his ACL in practice prior to a game at Iowa State. He coached the game against the Cyclones while dealing with the injury and he didn't have it repaired until after that season.

Fortunately, McGuire won't need as much medical attention. In fact, he said he didn't even need stitches.

"They were able to, whatever they have," he said, "our doctors are amazing. They have some, that's what made it look worse than what it was, because of the clotting stuff to where it wouldn't bleed so much. Because there's a little hunk taken out of it. Not a lot, but a little hunk taken out of it. And so, it's just character. It's good for you. It builds character."

This week, when the Red Raiders face Colorado at home, McGuire is likely to be fired up again and deliver another passionate pregame address as he is known to do. Hopefully, all the potential projectiles in the Red Raiders' locker room will be nailed to the floor so that McGuire doesn't have to coach through another injury.

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