Regardless of Texas Tech Red Raiders’ season ended, you have to give credit to Joey McGuire. The head honcho took the Raiders to their best season in the longest time and won their first-ever Big 12 outright conference title since 1955. According to the Texas native, it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Nebraska’s $12.5 million boss-man taking a chance on him when he was just a high school head coach.

On February 12th, The Texas Tech head honcho Joey McGuire hopped onto 30th Annual Broyles award (premier honor for top-assistants) as a presenter and didn’t shy away from the giving the props to the man who sculpted his career: Nebraska’s $12.5 million man Matt Rhule.

“Coach [Matt] Rhule at Baylor. And he spoke last year. And he’s absolutely incredible, man. He’s one reason I’m at Texas Tech. Being an assistant for him.. three months into the job,” the former Baylor TE coach said.

‘He said, man, you’re supposed to be a head coach.’ And I said, why? I know, Coach. I was a head coach for 14 years, and ‘he said no no, at this level, let me help you. Let me teach you what you don’t know.’ And having a guy like that to mentor me helped me where I’m at.”

Joey McGuire’s journey to becoming a college football star started with a massive 14-year run as a high school coach at Cedar Hill. When he arrived there, the school didn’t even have one playoff game win in their history. Within little to no time, McGuire turned them into a powerhouse, while racking up a 141-42 record and also clinching three state titles along the way in his 14 years stint. He’s also made it to the Texas high school hall of fame.

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Even with all these high school success and accolades, making the jump to big-time college ball isn’t always easy one bit. That’s when Matt Rhule came in as the transition bridge for McGuire between high school and college levels.

In 2017, Rhule was the new coach at Baylor and knew he needed someone who actually understood Texas football. He took a chance on McGuire as TE coach. Taking a high school coach and putting him in the D-1 tight end role is borderline insanity. Matt Rhule taught him everything he didn’t know about the business side of the game.

When Texas Tech hired McGuire in 2022, a lot of people wondered if a ‘high school guy’ could handle a Big 12 program. He shut those doubts down fast. In his very first year, he did something no other Tech coach had ever done: he beat both Texas and Oklahoma in the same season.

The absolute peak of this ‘sleeping giant’ awakening happened in the 2025 season. In his fourth year, Under fourth-year head coach Joey McGuire, the team finished with a school-record 12–2 overall record (8–1 in Big 12 play) and achieved a program-best final ranking of No. 7 in the AP Poll. The Red Raiders won every regular-season game by more than three touchdowns except 26-22 Arizona State thriller-loss.

Now, McGuire is sitting pretty with a contract extension that keeps him in Lubbock through 2032. He’s officially the blueprint for how high school coaches can transition to the big leagues. Even with all the new fame, he still gives credit back to Rhule for seeing his potential when he was just merely a guy winning rings at the high school level.

Joey McGuire: the new AFCA member

Joey McGuire has officially reached the inner circle of college football leadership. On February 10, he got appointed to the AFCA Board of Trustees. He’s one of the only two coaches representing the Big 12 on this prestigious national stage. For folks in the back, think of the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) as a massive professional “fraternity” or union for football coaches at every level, from high school up to the NFL.

Their main job is to help coaches get better at what they do by providing educational resources, hosting a huge annual convention for networking and strategy clinics, and advocating for coaches when new NCAA rules or laws come up. They are also the group behind the famous Coaches Poll. They also actually hand out the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy to the national champion at the end of the season. Now, McGuire is using his new seat at the table to help guide the future of the sport during a time of big-change.

He was one of six head coaches added to the board in early 2026, joining Jason Eck (New Mexico), Sean Lewis (San Diego State), Brent Vigen (Montana State), Pat Fitzgerald (Michigan State), and Ricky Rahne (Old Dominion). For a guy who credits much of his success to the mentorship of Matt Rhule, this appointment has to be the ultimate ‘stamp of approval’ on his career.