Not everyone has fallen in love with the Texas Tech football program in recent weeks. The way the offseason has shaken out, and with the way the Red Raiders were able to drastically improve their recruiting efforts due to the Transfer Portal and NIL pushes, some folks haven’t taken too kindly to Texas Tech this offseason.
And there are some pretty negative perceptions out there amongst folks in some fanbases. That said, it doesn’t seem like that matters all that much to Joey McGuire, the head coach of the Red Raiders.
During a press conference ahead of Texas Tech’s upcoming game against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, McGuire noted how he and his team are handling any public perception that involves viewing the Red Raiders in a negative light.
Joey McGuire notes that Texas Tech isn’t too worried about negative perceptions regarding Red Raiders and NIL
“If it’s out there and people are rooting against us, then one, you know, it’s going to be good and we’re going to use it,” McGuire said. “And it’s going to be interesting who it is that’s rooting against us.”
And the back half of that quote is something that intrigues me. The Red Raiders are simply, at this point, using their resources to go toe-to-toe with blue blood programs, or teams that fancy themselves to be a blue blood program. Texas Tech is an underdog. Underdogs are fun to root for.
“I always think it’s funny if like people say we overspend on this and that and I know the real conversations that were being had with Lee Hunter on different teams,” McGuire explained. “And they were offering him more than what we offered him and he’s a Red Raider.”
That feels like a pretty noteworthy claim, right? McGuire doesn’t name the teams that supposedly also offered Hunter a bunch of money, but that’s a bold thing to say.
As for how Texas Tech is going to move forward in the midst of this change in reputation and general public perception?
“We’ll embrace it and we’ve just got to take care of business and back up who we think we are,” McGuire said.
Yeah, I agree. Just focus on winning. One, it’s better than losing. Two, people are going to have opinions regardless of what you do. So, you might as well go out and win.