If anyone wants to know how good Texas Tech has become under Joey McGuire, just watch the highlight tape of their 2024 game against West Virginia, and you will know. It was a complete offensive dominance from McGuire as Texas Tech humbled West Virginia 52-15. But to put more context into how incredible the head coach, Joey McGuire, has been with the Tech Raiders?

He’s just the second head coach to take the team to bowl games every season, following Mike Leach, and he’s managed to rack up winning seasons each year. That’s a big deal for a program that was mostly known for producing Patrick Mahomes. But it’s not just about the games; McGuire is also helping his players do well in school, which is awesome!

Under Joey McGuire’s leadership, academic excellence has always been a priority for the program. For instance, in 2022, the head coach had his 23 players earn Academic All-Big 12 Team; among them, 18 earned first-team honors. As for the on-field exploits, McGuire was excelling in that, too, that year.

In his debut season as a head coach, McGuire led Texas Tech to an 8-5 season and defeated giants like Oklahoma and Texas, finishing fourth in the conference. This was big for a program that had its last season back in 2013. And as the on-field exploits continued, the academic milestones also came with them.

In the next season, McGuire’s 2023 players earned Academic All-Big-12 honors with a whopping 20 selections on the first team. And the on-field results? They came as usual! McGuire led the program to another winning season, finishing 7-6 and maintaining momentum. While not an improvement, after the 2022 season, the season still showcased that the Raiders can build momentum, and so, when 2024 came, they delivered on both fronts, both academically and on the field.

In 2024, Texas Tech’s athletic department reported a record 86% graduation success rate across all sports. And now, when the spring semester has ended, the program has continued the same heroics, producing another strong academic performance by its athletes. This semester was the highest spring semester GPA on record for the program and the second highest average GPA in their history, with a 3.38 GPA. However, the exploits aren’t limited to this.

Apart from the incredible feat, the 3.41 cumulative GPA achieved is a record, and three sports recorded their highest spring semester GPAs ever. The sports are football, women’s basketball, and women’s track and field, showcasing the holistic culture of the program. Moreover, 93 student athletes have recorded a GPA of 4.0, which constitutes 25% of the program’s athletes and is a cause for celebration.

Lastly, this would be the 21st consecutive semester for the program with a 3.0 or higher GPA. The feat is momentous for the program and showcases that academics don’t necessarily take a backseat when playing football. As for Joey McGuire’s 2025 season? The head coach is coming, all guns blazing, and it looks like a Big 12 championship is on the cards.

Joey McGuire’s 2025 class made an unprecedented spending spree?

Texas Tech, after three full seasons with Joey McGuire, surely will now look to make that big leap in 2025. And it’s not that the head coach is without pressure, with calls already mounting for at least a 10-win performance. So, to do that, the head coach had brought in a No. 1 transfer portal class in 2025 with 17 transfers, which included 11 four-star-rated transfer portal players, which is the highest rating a player can get in the portal. All in all, the quality is there in the class, but still, there were some accusations of NIL money distributed like candies. 

But Joey McGuire was having none of it. “The one thing that I want those guys to understand is nobody’s going to step on the field by what we pay them… We’re putting the best players on the field so if that’s a guy that beats this guy out, then so be it. We talk all the time, do not allow a player to take a non-competitive rep, if he does, get him off the field…these guys know they have to compete to be on the football field,” said McGuire.

According to reports, Texas Tech has spent close to $10-15 million in NIL money to rope in those transfer players. This surely has created their best roster in program history, even potentially surpassing Mike Leach’s 2008 class, but there are still concerns about the cohesion and how the new players can fit in.