How Texas Tech bought its way into college football’s national scene | Opinion
Texas Tech with influential booster Cody Campbell is trying to do what Oregon did with Nike founder Phil Knight, and spend its way to national relevance.
The plan could work.
Long before the Ducks joined the Big 10, and the “Big Timers” club with Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Alabama and the few others that run college football, the University of Oregon was famous because it allowed “Animal House” to be filmed on its campus.
There were decades when Oregon was just another team, on the Wrong Coast of college sports. The Ducks are a monster now because in the ‘80s and early 90s, Knight fearlessly invested in his alma mater, and all of his Nike millions created an identity for a program that previously didn’t have one.
Campbell, who played at Tech and in the NFL, made his money in oil and gas, is doing the same thing for his alma mater. Led by Campbell, no program in college football has spent more money on facility upgrades, and now on players, like the Red Raiders.
“What do people think of when they think of Texas Tech? The transfer portal,” Tech receiver Caleb Douglas said on Tuesday during Big 12 media days. “And probably dollar signs.”
“That is true. That is very true,” Tech quarterback Behren Morton said.
“Joey got some money! They spending that money!” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said on Wednesday.
Tech is on a timeline that says it’s time for a bump in the record, and a bigger ROI. That won’t fall on Campbell, or athletic director Kirby Hocutt. It’s on coach Joey McGuire.
Joey McGuire’s immediate expectations
Here are the minimums for McGuire in 2025: Ten wins, a first for Tech since 2008. On the list includes at least flirting with reaching the Big 12 title game, a feat the team has never achieved, and the college football playoffs.
“That is absolutely correct; it’s about that time for us to do it,” Douglas said. “We’ve always had the same expectations, but (the money) will help us realize those expectations. Bringing in a different caliber player.”
McGuire is the most successful football coach Texas Tech has had since the late Mike Leach, and clearing that bar is now officially no longer good enough. McGuire is in his fourth year in Lubbock, and he’s had a winning record in all three seasons. A 23-16 record with two bowl wins is pretty good.
“Greater Than” Senator Tommy Tuberville, Kliff Kingsbury and Matt Wells was once a point of sale, and relief, but now they are neither.
Tech has spent a lot of money to land players in the transfer portal; they added more than 30 transfers in the past year to upgrade the roster. This includes, among others, linebacker Romello Height, who has played at USC, Auburn and Georgia Tech.
“I understand how important this year is,” McGuire said Tuesday. “I would rather be here than a place hoping like crazy everything goes right just to win four or five games. (The) players shouldn’t feel the pressure. Let us (coaches) have the pressure and see if we can’t go out and beat those expectations.”
He gets Lubbock, and the Red Raiders community. At a place like Texas Tech, those are vital attributes.
He’s also been entrusted by the Red Raiders administration to put Tech in a place it’s never been previously. This is a community that wants him to succeed because he’s one of theirs. But they want to succeed first.
Texas Tech’s long-range goals
Cash creates expectations, ask the L.A. Dodgers. Or the Yankees. The Mets.
“We still have to perform. The money doesn’t perform,” Height said. “We are the ones who have to make it happen. They can pay us all we want, but we have to make the things happen.”
Techies should not expect a 2025 national title, but a seat with a decent view is not unreasonable. It took Oregon well over a decade, and a few coaches, to reach its current spot near the front, but the Ducks are consistently a top 15 program and in the highest tier of college sports.
That is Tech’s unannounced, long term, goal.
Before the NCAA announced what effectively amounts to “a salary cap” for Division I athletic departments earlier this summer, a few programs took advantage of the window of an uncapped period where they could offer players vast sums without limits.
But when those limits are enforced, Tech has made it clear it plans to be one of those programs that will go above and beyond the minimums with NIL deals. Tech recently landed five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo of Mansfield Lake Ridge, the top ranked recruit in Texas for the class of 2026. He reportedly agreed to a three-year contract worth a reported $5.1 million.
“That’s the game of NIL these days,” Morton said. “We are using our resources just like everyone else is using their resources. We have a donor who can use his resources to help us get players. ... This day and age is different, and it’s a wild.”
Thanks to Phil Knight this plan worked for Oregon.
It could work for Texas Tech.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM.
