<\/p>\n
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark walks the field before an NCAA football game between TCU and Colorado, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
El\u00edas Valverde II\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
If Taylor Sheridan is short on material these days, he could do worse than the tale of a billionaire booster from Texas locking horns with the cufflinks-and-caviar East Coast type running the local conglomerate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cody Campbell vs. Brett\u00a0Yormark in a power struggle as big as Yellowstone, only with football and goombahs instead of oil and cattle.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
In case you haven\u2019t been keeping up, Campbell, whose largesse transformed Texas Tech from a have-not to a have-a-lot overnight, took exception upon learning his beloved Red Raiders would play Houston on a Friday night this fall. Campbell tweeted that, even though\u00a0Yormark, boss of the Big 12, isn\u2019t a native Texan, he should know better than to infringe on the \u201csacred\u201d rites of Texas high school football.<\/p>\n
\u201cCody Campbell does not run the Big 12,\u201d\u00a0Yormark replied in an interview with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, at which point things got ugly.<\/p>\n
In a follow-up interview with\u00a0ESPN, Campbell called Yormark a \u201cdictator,\u201d then reminded the commissioner he works at the pleasure of Big 12 university presidents, who report to regents such as himself.<\/p>\n
Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cApparently Brett didn\u2019t get the memo,\u201d Campbell wrote on X. \u201cEVERYTHING RUNS THROUGH LUBBOCK!!\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n And Tech fans always complained that Texas fans were obnoxious. Apparently a new contender is stepping into the void.<\/p>\n Anyway, nothing stirs up the faithful around here like anyone encroaching upon the state religion in its weekly observance on fall Friday nights, and yours truly is as ready to take up the fight as the next believer.<\/p>\n Just as long as, you know, we\u2019re straight up about what we\u2019re fighting for.<\/p>\n In Campbell\u2019s case, it\u2019s a little hard to tell. Big 12 teams playing on Friday nights isn\u2019t exactly a new thing. Houston, the Red Raiders\u2019 opponent on Oct. 17, has played on Friday nights so often, the Cougars should report to the\u00a0UIL. Six times they\u2019ve done it since entering the Big 12, including three violations of Friday Night Lights just last year. TCU is next with four.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Other than the day after Thanksgiving, meanwhile, Tech has never played on a Friday night as a member of the Big 12. Last year, the Red Raiders and Iowa State were the only Big 12 schools that didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n For the record, the Big 12 \u2014 not just\u00a0Yormark \u2014 approved 12 football games a year to be played on a day other than Saturday in an effort to increase viewership. Yormark claims viewership on Fridays last year were 64% better than their average otherwise. Hard to argue those numbers, especially when you consider the bigger picture of what the man wielding them has meant to the Big 12\u2019s existence.<\/p>\n Campbell is probably right when he says\u00a0Yormark is out of touch with the local culture, and he\u2019s got a backstory right out of\u00a0Goodfellas, but give the man his props. He saved the Big 12 when he renegotiated its TV rights a year ahead of time. Otherwise the league might have gone the way of the Pac-12, which is still holding auditions for members.<\/p>\n Let me make myself crystal clear: Other than Black Friday or Thanksgiving, I\u2019m not in favor of college games on any day but Saturdays. Especially not on Fridays. But I also get it. Not everyone traipses out to the local football stadium on a Friday night to watch someone else\u2019s kids play. A lot of people parked on their couches after a long week like the option of a Big 12 college game over another slice of Undercover Boss.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Seems to me if everyone else has to play on a Friday, Tech should, too. All for one and one for all and all that. Even if the Red Raiders were the class of the league in football last year, and stand to repeat this fall, they shouldn\u2019t get special treatment, should they?<\/p>\n I mean, wasn\u2019t a Thanksgiving game against\u00a0TCU this fall a pretty good makeup call?<\/p>\n Texas Tech\u2019s athletic director gets it, if you were wondering.<\/p>\n \u201cAs someone who grew up playing Texas high school football and a traditionalist,\u201d Kirby\u00a0Hocutt told me Friday, \u201cI understand what Friday nights mean in this state. Those nights are special, and they\u2019ve always belonged to high school programs and their communities. I really do wish that was the case in this situation.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, as part of the Big 12, we entered into a new media agreement with Fox and ESPN that includes games in weeknight windows. That\u2019s part of the current landscape of college athletics. I know moving this game to Friday night isn\u2019t ideal for everyone. It requires some adjustments, and we\u2019re going to do everything we can to make it as easy as possible and create a great experience for our fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Hocutt went on to note the unique opportunity to \u201cshowcase our program\u201d on a national stage.<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fairness, Campbell has a valid gripe when he notes that the Red Raiders are playing Oregon State the Saturday before Houston, and they don\u2019t get home from\u00a0Corvallis until midday Sunday. Makes for a short week of preparation.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Campbell told the Lubbock paper that\u00a0Yormark \u201ccould have gone to bat for us and didn\u2019t, because, again, he wanted the ratings.\u201d<\/p>\n Let me ask: Who doesn\u2019t? TV contracts rule.\u00a0Gotta pay those $6 million quarterbacks. I know Campbell\u2019s perfectly willing, but even a billionaire could use a handout occasionally. Just the same, if he wants to joust with the commissioner, I\u2019m all for it. Only promise me rights to the screenplay. Taylor Sheridan\u2019s probably got more drama than he can say grace over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark walks the field before an NCAA football game between TCU and Colorado, Saturday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[315,36250,17968,27,29,28,89414,88145],"class_list":{"0":"post-244322","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-big-12","9":"tag-brett-yormark","10":"tag-cody-campbell","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news","14":"tag-tp-texas-tech-red-raiders","15":"tag-tp-colleges"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775031754_150_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
<\/p>\n