Head coach Joey McGuire has spent the 2025 season reminding everyone that the Texas Tech football team can be a national player in the NIL era. On national shows, he has been blunt about how aggressively the Red Raiders attacked recruiting and the transfer portal, leaning on major donor Cody Campbell to upgrade the roster, especially on defense, with headliners like pass-rusher David Bailey and linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
The result is an 11-1 team on the doorstep of a Big 12 title and a realistic College Football Playoff shot, a scenario almost no one projected back in August.
That surge is now backed by a long-term contract. Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire has agreed to a new seven-year extension with the Red Raiders, running through 2032 and eventually paying him north of $7 million annually, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, as relayed by On3.
BREAKING: Texas Tech and head coach Joey McGuire have agreed to a new 7-year deal, @RossDellenger reports🌵https://t.co/xOG2doDpwl pic.twitter.com/ZYD0RlVpbq
— On3 (@On3sports) December 2, 2025
The timing is no accident: the deal was finalized just days before No. 5 Texas Tech (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) meets No. 11 BYU in the Big 12 Championship Game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Locking McGuire up for the long haul sends a clear message to recruits, boosters, and rivals. Tech is not a one-year comet; it intends to live near the top of the new-look Big 12.
The administration is effectively telling McGuire: keep doing exactly what you are doing in roster building, player development, and NIL strategy, and we will fund it and protect it. That level of alignment is rare, and McGuire’s staff has already proven it knows how to convert resources into wins.
Health is part of that push, too. Before the regular-season finale at West Virginia, Texas Tech expected to have key pieces like wideouts Reggie Virgil and Leyton Stone, quarterback Behren Morton, and defensive lineman A.J. Holmes available, per On3’s Pete Nakos. Getting a nearly full-strength roster back on the field is vital with a conference title game and potential CFP berth looming.
If the Red Raiders finish the job against BYU and crash the playoff, McGuire’s extension will look like a bargain. Even if they fall just short, Texas Tech has planted its flag: the face of its football future is locked in through 2032, and the rest of the Big 12 has to plan around that reality.
