MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire faced an enviable task last offseason, riddled with potential pitfalls.
After three solid seasons under his leadership, the cash-flush Red Raiders dove deep into the transfer portal to pluck 21 players in hopes of elevating the program from good to national contender.
Doing so, however, would require deft maneuvering on McGuire’s part to avoid an influx of new faces disrupting team chemistry by bringing in players more concerned with paydays than winning.
McGuire had a plan to prevent harming the culture he had worked so hard to cultivate. That included putting in as much effort researching the personalities of the players beneath the pads as he did their football talents.
“I think whenever you’re going through and putting a team together, you do your research,” McGuire said.
The result is a powerhouse that produced the program’s first 10-win season in 16 years at 12-1, won the Big 12 Conference championship and earned the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff.
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The Red Raiders face the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (12-1) at 9 a.m. Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
For the Ducks, no strangers to the transfer portal, Texas Tech is the most formidable opponent they have faced since losing 30-20 to No. 1 Indiana on Oct. 11. Oregon has used deep NIL pockets to revamp its roster on numerous occasions under coach Dan Lanning.
Much of Oregon’s money has come from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, who began funding the program long before NIL payments existed.
In that world, Texas Tech is very much a new kid on the block and will provide Oregon with a stark contrast to the James Madison team it defeated 51-34 at home on Dec. 20.
“He’s built a great roster,” Lanning said of McGuire. “And college football is about adapting. This is obviously a program that has done an unbelievable job adapting and saying, ‘Okay, let’s make our team the best they can possibly be.’ And they’ve done that this year. So, they deserve credit for that.”
It appears Texas Tech is just getting started.
James Madison lost several players to the portal following the 2023 departure of coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana. Since falling to the Ducks, JMU has seen most of its best players enter the portal. Some will likely follow former coach Bob Chesney to UCLA.
Texas Tech resides at the other end of the NIL spectrum, alongside Oregon.
The shift came largely due to the formation of the Matador Club, an NIL collective founded in 2022 that has raised millions for Texas Tech sports. It was co-founded by booster Cody Campbell, who played offensive line for the Red Raiders and briefly for the Indianapolis Colts, before striking it rich in the oil and gas business.
The Matador Club has enabled Texas Tech to become a major player in college sports, not just in football.
Texas Tech Red Raiders defensive end David Bailey (#31) looks up field during the Big 12 Championship Game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and BYU Cougars on December 6, 2025 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Last year, Texas Tech signed former Stanford softball pitcher NiJaree Canady to a $1 million deal. She reupped with the Red Raiders last summer after leading them to the national championship series, where they lost to Texas.
Texas Tech is reportedly set to spend $55 million on athletes across all sports this school year, according to The Athletic.
Included is a hefty chunk for the football team, which earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
Key signees include linebacker David Bailey, a transfer from Stanford who ranks second nationally with 13.5 sacks. Wide receiver Reggie Virgil, a transfer from Miami of Ohio, has caught 55 passes for 676 yards and six touchdowns.
Simply throwing money at players and placing them on the roster isn’t always a recipe for success.
To avoid potential issues, McGuire looked into each player’s makeup. That included calling some old friends.
He called former University of Central Florida coach Gus Malzahn to discuss linebacker Lee Hunter. McGuire also called Mack Brown, who coached offensive lineman Howard Sampson at North Carolina.
“I think it’s important that you do as much homework as possible,” McGuire said.
Once players arrived on campus, McGuire implemented team-building activities to foster bonding.
Running back Cameron Dickey, recruited to Texas Tech out of high school, said get-togethers and retreats included competitive events that forced new players to mix and compete with and against returning players.
“That way you could see guys go hard for each other,” Dickey said.
Players’ personalities emerged, leading players to grow closer. Players learned quickly that Virgil, Dickey said, is one of the most humorous guys on the team.
Texas Tech Red Raiders wide receiver Reggie Virgil (#1) runs up field after a catch during the Big 12 Championship Game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and BYU Cougars on December 6, 2025 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“They really recruit guys as well for personality,” Dickey said.
Bailey said McGuire organized rotating team breakfasts before fall camp, where players had to eat with different groups on the roster to help everyone acclimate.
“Getting outside of our comfort zone and not like interacting with the same players,” he said.
The result is a team that entered the season as a team rather than a mixture of individuals from different parts of the country.
“I feel like we’ve been able to form our super-strong bond and a brotherhood between the locker room and everybody that’s in the building,” Bailey said.
Running back J’Koby Williams said the transition was seamless in part because the players recruited came in with the right mindset.
“Once they got here, we all clicked,” Williams said.
It also helped, McGuire said, that the college town of Lubbock, Texas, embraced the new faces and made them feel at home.
“I think the players, whenever they get there, they really feel the love from their community,” he said. “I think that’s been really important to building this team.”
The end result is a team that is eyeing a national championship. One that can only come by getting through the Ducks, whose coach is impressed with what the Red Raiders have built.
“There’s a lot of teams that take people out of the portal,” Lanning said. “There’s not a lot of teams, necessarily, that always have success. It’s about evaluating that talent, getting them to play together, and creating a team that does that. This is a team that’s done that.”
No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1) vs. No. 5 Oregon (12-1)
When: Thursday, January 1Time: 9 a.m. PTWhere: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.TV: ESPN and ABCStream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.