{"id":339668,"date":"2026-06-17T10:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339668\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:21:07","slug":"brendan-sorsby-and-college-football-are-better-off-and-texas-tech-is-best-off-piping-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/339668\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Sorsby and college football are better off, and Texas Tech is best off piping down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brendan Sorsby won\u2019t play for Texas Tech<\/a>, so college football will avoid turning into professional wrestling.<\/p>\n

Sorsby\u2019s out, so pressure to do the right thing \u2014 all of it intense, some of it accompanied by hyperbole, some of it carefully crafted<\/a> by lawyers \u2014 can work, even in this industry, even after a local judge makes a ruling that makes no sense.<\/p>\n

Sorsby is off to the NFL Supplemental Draft, so he\u2019s better off. Texas Tech is not. In more ways<\/a> than one.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t quite a reason to celebrate, this decision by Sorsby and Texas Tech to part ways. But it\u2019s worth a sigh of relief. It eliminates the possibility of a player who gambled on games involving his own team remaining in college football. And it\u2019s the safest possible outcome for Sorsby, who has been receiving treatment for a gambling addiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Which should remind everyone of the worst aspect of Texas Tech\u2019s role in this saga. Yes, it would have been nice to see the school shut down any notion of Sorsby playing next season, despite committing millions to him to play quarterback for the Red Raiders in 2026. That would have been the appropriate response to an NCAA ban for Sorsby\u2019s gambling violations, which included betting on games involving Indiana when he was at the school.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also fair to wonder how many other schools in the same situation would have accepted a significant downturn in prospects for the upcoming season and a major financial loss to protect the integrity of the game.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to think some would have done the right thing. I\u2019d feel comfortable declaring none in particular. College football is the place for people who want rules<\/a> as long as the rules don\u2019t interfere with their own ambitions.<\/p>\n

But the spin campaign Texas Tech unleashed after Lubbock County Judge Ken Curry decided to grant Sorsby a temporary injunction so he could play in the fall is a lasting stain. It wasn\u2019t just embarrassing. It didn\u2019t just stoke the anger of every college football stakeholder stationed outside of Lubbock, Texas.<\/p>\n

It earned Texas Tech and its billionaire benefactor, Cody Campbell, disdain for reasons much more serious than overpaying athletes and shaking up the sport\u2019s traditional hierarchy. It was a torrent of rationalizations centering around the idea of giving mental health support to a student-athlete under duress. When, in reality, the 2026 season would have multiplied that duress.<\/p>\n

Somehow, Campbell and Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire and athletic director Kirby Hocutt and president Lawrence Schovanec, in their unsolicited ramblings, never entertained the downside of freeing Sorsby to earn his pay and try to win football games for them. Such as the attention he\u2019d attract as the sport\u2019s foremost persona non grata.<\/p>\n

Or the things he would see and hear at opposing stadiums. Or the speculation that would follow every bad performance \u2014 if not every misfire from the pocket. Multiple mental health professionals who specialize in gambling told The Athletic\u2019s Grace Raynor that Sorsby would be better off not immediately returning to football, one saying he\u2019d like to see at least a year of recovery before a return.<\/p>\n

One said he agreed with Curry\u2019s assertion (put forth by Sorsby\u2019s legal team) that removing Sorsby from a football environment could be detrimental to him. But this is a brand-new team, not a collection of familiar faces. Just as an NFL team that takes a chance on Sorsby will be.<\/p>\n

Except the pressure and public exposure in the next several months \u2014 critical recovery months \u2014 will now be reduced dramatically. Brendan Sorsby. That name has been uttered a few million times over the past few weeks by people who had no idea who he was on April 26. It\u2019s well past time for a break.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no telling what will become of Sorsby\u2019s career, and he was only partially able to cash in (about $1 million, per sources)<\/a> on his final spin in the transfer portal. But logic and the information available tell us this outcome, forced by the Big 12 lawyering up like a crime family, is best for him.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly best for a sport that would still like to be considered a sport. Only the dishonest would argue that the participation of someone who did what Sorsby did wouldn\u2019t jeopardize that.<\/p>\n

Campbell invoked the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State<\/a>, among other absurd comparisons, and claimed the pushback was purely about Texas Tech\u2019s rise in college athletics. The truth is, a lot of us have enjoyed the Texas Tech story \u2014 same as Indiana, same as Vanderbilt. They are the highlights of this era.<\/p>\n

And Campbell has been accessible, has put forth some promising reform ideas, and has shown a refreshing willingness to poke at the SEC and Big Ten bullies. But this saga can\u2019t be undone. The things the Texas Tech people said can\u2019t be unheard. We\u2019ll see if the Sorsby affair ends up as more than a temporary humiliation.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, college football can finally move on. Oh, goodie. More failed legislation, anyone? More obstructive arguments against the viability of collective bargaining? Maybe throw in another unthinkable ruling from a local judge?<\/p>\n

Summer vacation can\u2019t end soon enough. Just bring us the games, games without singlets.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Grace Raynor contributed to this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brendan Sorsby won\u2019t play for Texas Tech, so college football will avoid turning into professional wrestling. Sorsby\u2019s out,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[261,27,29,28,415],"class_list":["post-339668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-college-football","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339668","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=339668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}