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Max Olson
LUBBOCK, Texas — Joey McGuire walked out of the private jet terminal in Waco, Texas, sat down in his car and pulled out his phone.
His wife, Debbie, was at home on that Sunday in November 2021. Their children, Reagan and Garret, were living in New York City and Charlotte, respectively. So he dialed up a video call for his family.
He saw their smiling faces and paused, trying to find the words.
«Well, you’re looking at the next…»
«He didn’t even get it out,» Debbie said, «before we were all screaming like, ‘Oh my god!'»
Four years ago today this family’s dream came true ❤️ pic.twitter.com/qw44J5pEgs
— Raegan McGuire Tocco (@Raeganmcg) November 8, 2025
The next head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders had been a true underdog candidate at the start of the search process. To folks outside the Lone Star State, he was a relative unknown.
This wasn’t how these searches normally go. A longtime high school football coach with no college head coaching, coordinator or playcalling experience almost never gets to make the leap to the big job.
This particular candidate turned down a college head coaching opportunity in 2019 and spent the next two years living with regret, not knowing when he’d get another shot. But here’s the thing about McGuire, according to anyone who knows him well:
If you get Joey McGuire in the room, he’s going to get the job.
Texas Tech interviewed two sitting head coaches in Jeff Traylor and Sonny Dykes. Some powerful people wanted Mike Leach or Art Briles. Tech officials visited with prominent alumni and coordinators on the rise, including future Texas A&M coach Mike Elko.
But after one sit-down with the magnetic McGuire, the members of Texas Tech’s search committee were undeniably smitten.
«I’ll never forget when it ended and he walked out, we were all like, ‘We found our guy,'» deputy AD Tony Hernandez said.
Four years and one month later, inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the McGuire clan was back together wiping away tears and confetti as they celebrated Texas Tech’s first-ever Big 12 championship.
As the Red Raiders prepare for the next biggest game in school history, a Capital One Orange Bowl CFP quarterfinal against No. 5 Oregon on New Year’s Day (12 p.m. ET, ESPN), McGuire continues to prove he was the perfect hire for fixing Texas Tech football.
«It’s absolutely crazy,» McGuire said. «We knew this was a good job, but who would imagine this?»
wasn’t shy about saying so. When Campbell was appointed to Texas Tech’s board of regents in the spring of 2021, he and Hocutt met and buried the hatchet.
«I said, ‘I’m not here to fire you. I’m here to work with you,'» Campbell said. «That’s my purpose, to make this place great. As long as that’s his goal too, we’re going to be just fine.»
«You’re always going to know where you stand with Cody,» Hocutt said. «He’s going to be very direct, which I appreciate. For Cody, it has always been about Texas Tech and it has all been about winning.»
Hocutt and Campbell rebuilt trust that summer while working closely together on realignment, NIL and stadium renovation plans. When it was time to pull the plug on the Wells era that fall, amid a 13-17 record in three years, Hocutt brought Campbell and fellow regent Dusty Womble into his search committee alongside Hernandez and football staffer Sammy Morris. It was a critical moment for Texas Tech to reset and achieve alignment with a hire that unified the fan base.
«We’ve got to get this right,» Hocutt said after firing Wells. «Bottom line, we have got to get this right.»
McGuire, a Baylor assistant at the time, was not at the top of the list when their work began on Oct. 25, 2021. The committee started with UTSA’s Jeff Traylor, arguably the hottest coaching candidate in the state. The Roadrunners were 8-0 and in the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history under their second-year coach. The East Texan possessed an appealing background for the Tech job as a respected former Texas high school football coach at Gilmer High School, where he won three state titles, who’d gained Power 5 experience working at Texas and Arkansas.
harbored hard feelings about Leach’s tenure.
«Leach was a little bit polarizing for the fan base,» Hernandez said. «Some people would’ve been completely on board and others wouldn’t have. It would’ve been a difficult hire that would not have unified the fan base, in my opinion.»
Texas Tech sources told ESPN that a few influential voices also wanted the school to seriously consider Art Briles, the former Baylor coach who’d been exiled from college football since 2015 following the school’s sexual assault scandal. Hernandez said they never contemplated meeting with Art or his son Kendal Briles.
Texas Tech interviewed two alums in USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. The committee visited with Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. And the final candidate they met with during the search process was Mike Elko, the then-defensive coordinator at Texas A&M who, this season, led the Aggies to the College Football Playoff as head coach.
So why in the world did they go with McGuire?
top defensive line in the sport. The million-dollar free agents they bet on all paid off this season.
McGuire aced his coaching hires, too. First-year DC Shiel Wood is a Broyles Award finalist. New OC Mack Leftwich built the No. 2 scoring offense in FBS at 42.5 points per game. The duo came in this offseason with a combined two years of Power 4 coaching experience but proved to be perfect fits for taking the next big step as a program.
In 2025, though, winning isn’t just about good hires and recruits. Relationships and retention matter in this increasingly transactional era. Campbell believes McGuire’s high school mentality and genuine father-figure-type approach with players are invaluable ingredients in the Red Raiders’ rise.
«From Day 1, it was all about we can win because we’ve got good players, but that’s not why we’re going to win,» said special teams coordinator Kenny Perry, a fellow longtime high school coach. «We’re going to win because the culture’s right and that locker room is right.»
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McGuire took on that assignment himself, confiding in Perry that he’d need to be more of a culture coach than ever to glue everything together. The process began with weekly breakfasts between blended groups of new and returning players in the offseason. Defensive tackle Lee Hunter said those meals helped him get to know his new brothers and learn their «why.» They built on those bonds over basketball, billiards, haircuts and hanging out at McGuire’s house.
«Love is our competitive advantage,» Rodriguez said. «How much we love each other, that’s how much harder we’re willing to play. We want it to show up every Saturday. These guys are flying around together. What’s in the water over there? It’s really just how much we care about each other.»
The right football coach, the guy everyone can get behind, helped create institutional alignment and momentum unlike anything Hocutt has experienced. From the board of regents to the chancellor and president to the AD to the major donors and stakeholders down to the coaches, they’ve never been this unified before.
«I think it doesn’t happen without Joey,» Hocutt said.
The state-of-the-art $242 million Womble Football Center and the substantial NIL war chest were proof enough, but they view this first playoff run as just the beginning. And from where McGuire’s sitting today, in his luxury corner office overlooking Jones AT&T Stadium, there’s not a better job in America.
Texas Tech rewarded McGuire with a new seven-year contract earlier this month worth more than $51.9 million, plus incentives. After the deal was done, he called Campbell to express his gratitude.
«You know, you didn’t even have to do this,» McGuire told him. «I’m never leaving.»
