Talking about making grand moves on the NIL track? Joey McGuire’s Texas Tech Red Raiders have set their mark. McGuire and Texas Tech have been all-in for 2025, bringing in 21 transfers and spending nearly $28 million in NIL deals. The only program who are before them is the Texas Longhorns. Now, that’s a monstrous figure for a Big 12 program. This weekend, McGuire’s boys will be facing off against Kenny Dillingham’s Arizona State Sun Devils. That’s when the Arizona State head coach broke his silence on McGuire’s $28 million luxury. 

On October 13, FOX 10 Phoenix reporter Blake Niemann tweeted a clip of Dillingham’s latest presser. The caption read, “Texas Tech reportedly spent $28 million in NIL money on its football roster this season. Kenny Dillingham says they are “all-in” as a football program. I asked him what all-in looks like at ASU and how close the Sun Devils are to that. Here’s his enlightening response:” Dillingham’s boys must be facing off against Texas Tech with the wound of their 30-22 loss from last season. But the coach gave McGuire enough credit for the NIL gamble. 

Dillingham started with, “Yeah, I mean, I think all-in is constantly changing. I think all-in is saying, wherever, you know, the top end is, we’re gonna get there… And that number’s changing, and that’s what all-in is, is constantly changing.” So, it’s more like a commitment to keep up with the elite programs and is kind of a motivation to push harder on the NIL track. 

He then brings in a poker analogy. “It’s like, the person in seat 1 goes all-in… another 100 bucks… 400 bucks… all-in’s changing,” said Dillingham. While McGuire had caught a lot of side eyes for hitting the pedal and dishing out $28 million, it has clearly paid off. The Red Raiders sit at 5-0 and have defeated every opponent by at least 24 points. And Dillingham could not help but shed light on McGuire’s fearless attitude on the NIL track. 

“So where are we from that? It’s a moving target. And you gotta be willing to adapt and move and do what’s necessary to hit all-in. And them as a program, they’re definitely all-in from their facilities to Coach McGuire, his staff, the team they’ve put together, they’ve done a phenomenal job, and their program’s all-in. And you can see the results,” Dillingham sounded all confident. While McGuire cleaned up his sheet with his gamble paying off, something else had popped up to bother him. 

A pressure cooker situation for Joey McGuire

Walking into the 2025 season, the Texas Tech head coach knew very well that his future was going to depend on the risk he took. As an anonymous Big 12 coach had kept McGuire on the edge, “They’ve built the best team money can buy. But if they don’t win the Big 12, holy cow.” But three months down the line, McGuire and co. is struggling a lot with discipline. 

The Red Raiders crushed Utah into mere specks of dust with a 34-10 victory. McGuire’s defense? 10/10. It was topped up by their late offensive surge led by backup QB Will Hammond, who took Behren Morton’s place. The quarterback had spread his rage, racking up 169 yards, 2 TDs, and 61 rushing yards, ensuring a smooth ride to victory. But, besides the stats, McGuire’s Texas Tech was flagged 14 times during the game.

Fourteen flags, seven false starts, the Red Raiders couldn’t get out of their own way. Their march to the red zone kept turning into a retreat parade. The concerning stats? McGuire’s boys came up with 73 penalty yards surrendered before halftime. Just when Texas Tech was coping with the on-field discipline problem, the off-field problems also ended up dragging the program through the mud. 

The hoopla surrounded Texas Tech’s famed tortilla tradition. Fans throw tortillas (and objects) on the field. But hardly did McGuire expect this fun tradition to take a dangerous turn when a fan threw a pocket knife during their face-off against the Kansas Jayhawks. And obviously, this did not sit well with their head coach, Lance Leipold. 

Joey McGuire’s patience was already running thin. Post-game, the two head coaches shook hands, but it soon turned into a heated exchange. McGuire lost his cool and ended up yelling at the Jayhawks’ head coach, “Coach, I can’t do anything about it. You want me to do something (expletive) about it?” After the hype comes the heat. Time to see if Texas Tech can handle Kenny Dillingham’s fiery Sun Devils.