Today, a new era for Texas Tech football begins as Joey McGuire makes his debut as head coach. That makes the whole day for those who have been indifferent to the program and for its fans to come back and embrace it. In other words, it’s time to reinvest emotionally in the program.
If you’ve been numbed by the slow decline of the past 12 seasons, the sting of poor coaching hire after leach after leach, the lack of interest in your tenured years…I get it. And I don’t blame you.
The simple fact is that the Texas Tech football program has been in disarray since the day Mike Leach was fired in December 2009. Three consecutive poor coaching hires have curtailed one of the most unlikely success stories in college football. And along the way, a large portion of the Red Raider population got fed up with the idiots who came to define this program and simply stopped caring.
Given the poor coaches who have led this program over the past decade, it’s easy to see why many Tech fans have turned their allegiance to baseball and basketball. Tommy Tuberville never wanted to be in Lubbock and openly complained about the fans, the weather and the facilities. Instead of trying to unite a fan base deeply divided by the Leach saga, he launched the ship for Team 5 at the first opportunity he got.
Kliff Kingsbury was a popular hire as Tuberville’s replacement, but he wasn’t ready to be a college head coach. Worse, instead of being the face of Tech football, he withdrew from the community as his tenure ended. And there was a slight problem with his lack of effort on the recruiting trail, which he admitted after his firing.
Meanwhile, Matt Wells is simply not cut out for a Big 12 head coaching job. And the fan base knew it from the beginning. Moreover, his seemingly endless in-game gaffes and inability to pick up any moves on the field or on the recruiting trail were so maddening that he became the most unpopular Texas Tech football head coach in the modern era.
As a result, this fandom has felt disunited since the first days of the Obama administration. The closest he came to pulling in that direction was the first year of the Kingsbury era (2013), but those good feelings quickly dissipated when Tech went 4-8 in Cliff’s second season on the job. And a few years later, he’ll be at the center of a heated and painful debate over whether he deserves to keep his job.
The sad reality is that Tech football has been a source of pain and shame for 12 seasons. Along the way, programs like Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State passed Tech in the conference standings, leaving Red Raider fans to wonder how long this program’s decline will last.
The good news is for those who still haven’t fully bought in, who still haven’t found a way to give their hearts back to Texas Tech football, today is the day to do just that. All who bleed red and black today must come together and look to a brighter future.
McGuire is different. There’s something intangible about him that makes him the most magnetic and intriguing Texas Tech head coach since Spike Dykes.
Unlike Tuberville, he considers tech his dream job. Unlike Kingsbury, he has embraced being the face of the program. Unlike Wales, he was wanted by the fans.
So give your heart to Texas Tech football again. Of course that’s a risky proposition and sometimes you wish you hadn’t. But that’s the beauty of sports.
Still, it’s safe to hope for a Red Raider rebirth. After all, there are all signs to suggest that this program is on the fast track to being healthy again.
McGuire united the fanbase before coaching a game. He is working on a top-25 recruiting class for 2023. Meanwhile, since his appointment, more than $200 million has been pledged to the program for facility upgrades. Moreover, tech boosters have built one of the country’s most progressive and innovative NIL coalitions.
When McGuire interviewed for the Texas Tech job, he laid out a personal game plan for how to turn around the program’s prospects. He titled it “Awakening the Sleeping Giant.”
Now is the time for Texas Tech fans to step up and get involved in this process. This is a new day, the dawn of a new era.
It’s time to get back to Texas Tech football and give your passion for what McGuire is building. Now is the time to passionately reinvest in the most important program on campus. Time to put down the tortillas and pick up your guns. It’s time to believe again in the magic of Jones Stadium.
It’s game day in West Texas and the beauty of new beginnings, one that finally sees the Red Raiders return to national prominence, shines on the fields of the South. So in the words of Coach McGuire…Let’s Gooooooooooooo!
