Texas Tech football has been inching toward something big for months, but no one expected the dam to break this loudly. With head coach Joey McGuire at the helm, the Red Raiders have turned a corner, not just in performance but in ambition. Silent moves behind the scenes hinted at a major recruiting shift, but the buzz really started when Texas Tech began locking horns with the big boys in the NIL space.

The whispers turned into roars when Felix Ojo’s commitment sent shockwaves through the college football world. From that moment on, all eyes were on Lubbock. What was McGuire building? How far would they go? And more importantly, who would follow next? And now, with one massive move, Texas Tech has made it clear: the bar isn’t just rising, they’re the ones raising it.

Texas Tech just dropped a massive flex in the recruiting world. After locking in five-star OT Ojo with a groundbreaking $5.1 million fully guaranteed NIL deal, the Red Raiders now have the No. 1 overall player in the 2027 class, LaDamion Guyton, in the bag. Guyton, standing at 6 feet 3 inches and weighing 240 pounds, a young EDGE, is expected to sign a three-year NIL deal worth up to $3.5 million, starting at $900,000 as a freshman and escalating to $1.4 million by his junior year.

That brings Texas Tech’s total NIL investment in the two players to $8.6 million, a figure that’s hard to ignore. More importantly, Guyton becomes the highest-ranked recruit in Texas Tech history, marking a turning point in Coach McGuire’s recruiting push. Felix Ojo didn’t hold back either; he commented, “Let’s do it” in response to the commitment, sending a clear message that the Red Raiders are all in.

With two headline-grabbing gets and a fanbase that’s suddenly dreaming a little bigger ahead of the upcoming season, Texas Tech is setting a pace few expected, and even fewer can match. But what really turned heads was what came next, not just from the athletes, but from the system that brought them in, and why not? After all, it’s one of the most important parts of college football

Joey McGuire’s July blitz just reset the recruiting landscape

Texas Tech kicked off a full-court recruiting press that put them at the top of the Big 12. At 19 commitments already secured for the 2026 class, the Red Raiders bumped aside traditional giants Michigan and Ohio State, and that’s an indication that they’re playing a whole new ballgame now. Blue-chip recruits to buzz-worthy commitments, July was one victory after another.

The names joining the Red Raiders speak for themselves: four-star running back Ace Rowden, four-star safety Donovan Webb, but even more impressive than the list is how they got there. It’s not just Joey McGuire’s vision, but the resources behind it.

The program’s NIL structure has become its secret weapon, thanks in large part to general manager James Blanchard. “Alignment from admins to donors from the coaching staff to the scouting staff,” Blanchard said at the Personnel Symposium in Nashville, crediting the full-circle support system that’s fueling the rise.

Texas Tech isn’t just winning battles; they’re building a sustainable recruiting machine. With elite talent pouring in, deep pockets backing it, and a united front steering the ship, McGuire’s crew is rewriting what’s possible in Lubbock. The ‘new age blue blood’ label? It might not be just talk anymore.