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Texas Tech quarterback Will Hammond drops back to pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma State, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo\/Chase Seabolt)<\/p>\n
Chase Seabolt\/AP<\/p>\n
LUBBOCK\u00a0\u2014 Reigning Big 12 football champion\u00a0Texas Tech\u2019<\/a>s preseason practice begins at 9:05 a.m. Wednesday. On Tuesday, Red Raiders players and coaches declared the\u00a0Brendan\u00a0Sorsby saga <\/a>a thing of the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not the distant past, mind you, but a fading speck in the rearview mirror. A primary reason for the Red Raiders\u2019 forward thinking is the collective confidence in third-year sophomore Will Hammond, who bumped up to QB1 the moment Sorsby and Tech officially parted ways June 15<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only question, albeit a significant one, was whether Hammond would be medically cleared from the right ACL tear he suffered last October. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Seeing and listening to 6-2, 210-pound Hammond on Tuesday, there certainly was no hint of doubt he\u2019ll be ready for Tech\u2019s Sept. 5 opener against Abilene Christian. Even when the college football world believed portal transfer Sorsby would be Tech\u2019s starter, Hammond believed in himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe mentality has been the same the whole time: Never, never take a backseat,\u201d Hammond said. \u201cAlways, always want to be that guy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just glad to be in this position and have the team around me that I have,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause that allows you to have the belief that you\u2019re going to do something special.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Lake Dallas product Sorsby, who threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns for Cincinnati last season, transferred to Texas Tech on Jan. 4 for what a source confirmed to the The Dallas Morning News was $6 million in NIL money<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n But with the NCAA investigating an ESPN report that he made thousands of online bets, Sorsby in late April took a leave of absence from Tech and entered a gambling addiction program. It wasn\u2019t until June 15 that a flurry of lawsuits played out and Sorsby was out of college football options.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Up stepped Hammond, part of coach Joey McGuire\u2019s ballyhooed recruiting Class of 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Replacing injured Behren Morton last season, redshirt freshman Hammond passed for 680 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed 43 times for 299 yards and five touchdowns\u00a0\u2014 before suffering the ACL tear on Oct. 25, in the second quarter against Oklahoma State.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich on Tuesday\u00a0said that if Hammond hadn\u2019t suffered such a significant injury, the program would not have felt the need to seek a high-profile transfer like Sorsby.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was originally hoped that Hammond would be able to play by Tech\u2019s Sept. 18 Big 12 opener against Houston, but his tireless rehab and natural attention to detail sped up his return timetable. \u00a0<\/p>\n Hammond said he has been cleared for 11-on-11 work when practice begins Wednesday, but like most programs, Tech doesn\u2019t allow quarterbacks to be tackled during preseason drills, anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n During the 15 minutes he spoke to reporters Tuesday\u00a0in Tech\u2019s newly re-christened Galaxy Stadium<\/a>, Austin native and Hutto High product Hammond showed a commanding presence that teammates and coaches see every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI constantly remind him: He\u2019s just got to be Will Hammond,\u201d McGuire said. \u201cHe is extremely unique. That\u2019s why people are so drawn to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a different cat with his personality and his thought process. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to make him successful. He has all the athletic traits, but what\u2019s going to make him successful is him just being him and not trying to be somebody else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Hammond spent much of the summer working in the Grapevine-Colleyville area with passing guru Jeff Christensen\u00a0\u2014 who also happens to work with another Texas Tech quarterback of note who is coming off ACL ligament surgery, Patrick Mahomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Several Tech receivers, notably Kenny Johnson and Micah Hudson, have worked with Hammond all offseason, including just last weekend in Colleyville.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hammond also has a special ally in Mahomes, whom he caught up with during pro day and through text messages.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was a month ahead of him in terms of surgery and whatnot, but just to hear the exercises and modalities they were using out there, just his mindset going through it [was helpful],\u201d Hammond said. \u201cAnd more recently, just \u2018Hey, man, go crush it in camp.\u2019 \u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n On Tech\u2019s Big 12 media day, July 7, in Frisco, McGuire said he believed Hammond might be able to start the season opener. But Hammond wasn\u2019t among the players Tech took to\u00a0Frisco that day. Hammond said that happened to be the week his surgeon cleared him to prep for the season opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for any belief that he might have felt jilted by Tech\u2019s wooing of Sorsby with NIL millions, Hammond says that simply wasn\u2019t the case.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sorsby distraction? What distraction?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Story posting soon about Texas Tech QB Will Hammond, who spoke here in Lubbock today, in this case expressing pride in the team amid the spring and early summer Brendan Sorsby saga. pic.twitter.com\/2g38Nv7e9v<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n