Texas Tech’s weight room has no dumbbells lighter than 40 pounds. That narrative, sparked by a viral video posted by Adam Breneman following a tour of the Red Raiders’ facility, ignited a major controversy. Now, head coach Joey McGuire has clarified the situation.

“There are a lot of different things in the best facility in the country, having the best weight room in the country that we train in different ways. And so, it’s just like everything else,” said McGuire during his Thursday appearance with Robert Giovannetti on his show, What’s Next with Joey McGuire.

“All of a sudden, people hear something and run with it and like, ‘Oh man, they should be doing this, this, and this.’ You know, I probably can criticize every single person for that response of ‘they should be doing a lot of stuffs in their life,’ but I don’t know what’s going on in their life. I don’t know exactly what they do on a daily basis. So, I’m going to worry about the Red Raiders and what we do, not necessarily what these so-called people that think they know what they’re talking about do.”

McGuire’s comments pushed back against the wave of social media assumptions and criticism, arguing that outsiders don’t understand the team’s specific training strategy. It all started when Brenerman posted a tour of the Dustin R. Womble Football Center on social media, claiming the program had removed all dumbbells under 40 lbs to promote a “no shortcuts” culture.

Breneman’s video featured Texas Tech center Sheridan Wilson stating that the team had removed lighter weights because they were “not going to be weak.” But that approach didn’t sit well with former NFL star J.J. Watt.

“Hopefully, just performative for social media and not actually true. Would be wildly absurd and irresponsible. Also, jumping straight to 40 pounds would literally be a shortcut. So ‘no shortcuts’ doesn’t really apply,” Watt said.

McGuire seemed to take particular issue with criticism from former athletes.

“My big ones like ex-athletes. Like, come on, man. You actually think that a program like this is putting a player in any kind of risk the way we’re training them,” added McGuire. “That might have been where they were at. Maybe they have some bad memories of where they were, or maybe they didn’t get to where they want to be, but that’s not happening here.”

Although the coach didn’t mention Watt’s name, it was still a strong response to the NFL star’s criticism. However, one could argue that removing lighter weights could cause issues, since players need them for at least warm-ups. A Texas Tech spokesperson alsp stepped in to shut down the controversy and clear the air.

“We do have weights less than 40 pounds in that facility, just not in that area they were touring on video,” said the spokesperson. “Those less than 40-pound weights are maybe a 10-second walk from that area. We have a state-of-the-art weight room and training facility that opened a year ago (Dustin R. Womble Football Center), and the most important aspect of our program and this facility is the health and rehabilitation of our players.”

In fact, the head coach echoed that same sentiment with a layer of humor.

Joey McGuire’s humorous take, inviting J.J. Watt

Last season, Texas Tech made a statement. They stormed through the Big 12 to claim their first conference title in over 50 years. The credit goes to head coach Joey McGuire and his staff, but the south end zone “football resort” at Jones AT&T Stadium played a major role. It provided players with everything from mental prep rooms to elite weight training.

Despite that, after Sheridan Wilson explained the Red Raiders’ weight room strategy, the program faced heavy heat and some criticism from none other than J.J. Watt. That’s when McGuire set the record straight.

“We have 5- to 35-pound dumbbells too—we just don’t keep them in that particular area. If J.J. wants to come work out in our weight room, I’ll save him a spot!” said the head coach.

With McGuire and the university clarifying that lighter weights are indeed available, the controversy appears to be a case of social media outrage based on incomplete information, capped off by the coach’s open invitation for Watt to see the facility for himself.