As Texas Tech’s biggest week in years came in with much hope, Joey McGuire walked into the team meeting all pumped up. The players knew he was locked in. And they weren’t wrong. The program finalized a bumper-long-term extension, accompanied by a heartfelt message from the man himself.

“Our success this season is not a one-year plan,” stated Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech athletic director, in an unusual, heartfelt message. “We fully intend to be an annual contender in the Big 12 Conference with our eyes on the College Football Playoff each and every season. We have the right leader in Coach McGuire to keep elevating this program.”

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire just inked a big-time seven-year contract extension as of today. This deal, which will pay him an average of nearly $7 million per year, locks him in through the 2032 season.

After finishing the 2024 season with a bowl game berth, the Texas oil tycoon Cody Campbell decided to go hell-bent on making one of the best teams in the country. Joey McGuire brought a bunch of top-tier defensive units this offseason, including Romello Height, David Stone, and a bunch of pieces on the offense.

It’s all paying off in dividends within the first year itself.

As of right now, they’re sitting pretty with an incredible 11–1 record and a 5th-place spot in the college football rankings. The majority of their wins are by a 21-point margin. It’s the first time in school history they’ve made it to the championship, so the excitement in Lubbock must be through the roof.

McGuire took over as head coach back in 2021, and honestly, he hit the ground running pretty early on. Before this standout year, he had already managed to do something pretty rare: he’s only the second coach ever at the school to get his team into a bowl game in each of his first three seasons.

He even won the first two bowl games he coached:

• The Texas Bowl in 2022
• The Independence Bowl in 2023

In his first year (2022), they went 8–5. The following year (2023), it was 7–6. Last season (2024), they improved to 8–5 again. And this year? A phenomenal 11–1 overall and 8–1 in conference play so far. That gives him a current career total of 34 wins and 17 losses.

Before he was leading a college team, McGuire was a legendary high school coach in Texas. He spent 14 years at Cedar Hill High School, where he won three state championships. He then moved on to Baylor as an assistant coach before Texas Tech snagged him for the head job.

It’s a similar situation to that of Mel Tucker at Michigan State. He received a 10-year, $95 million contract extension from the team after a breakout 2021 season, where the team finished 11-2 and won the Peach Bowl. Therefore, McGuire’s success reaped rewards.

With this new contract, it looks like he’s set to make even more history with the Red Raiders. It starts with this Saturday’s rematch against Kalani Sitake’s BYU in the Big 12 title game.

Texas Tech vs BYU: Joey McGuire’s squad to run them down again?

Texas Tech is a huge favorite going up against BYU this Saturday. Pretty much everyone expects the Red Raiders to take home the trophy.

The oddsmakers are all in on Tech, making them about a 13.5-point favorite. That means they’re projected to win by nearly two touchdowns, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, to be frank. When you look at the betting odds, Texas Tech has somewhere around an 81% chance of winning the game outright.

So, why the enormous gap in expectations against the 11-1 team? Apart from the No. 5-ranked tag, the Red Raiders are literally a threat in every aspect of the field. Their defense is just lights-out, allowing the fewest points in the entire country.

Additionally, they had already faced BYU once, back in November, and trounced them, 29-7. The agreement among analysts and statistical models is that Texas Tech is a heavy favorite to win. If they win, they are basically guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff with a first-round bye.

For BYU, it’s essentially a Hail Mary situation if they want to secure a spot in the playoffs. The widespread consensus is that Texas Tech will bring home the championship hardware this weekend.