Usually at this point of the season, Joey McGuire is focusing on the upcoming recruiting class to bolster the Texas Tech football team.
While that’s still the case with the 2026 recruiting class, the Red Raiders have also made plenty of waves on the 2027 circuit. The latest headline came during the team’s 35-11 win over Houston when five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster announced his commitment to Tech.
The Cedar Hill product became the latest high-level player to pledge his allegiance to McGuire, joining previous commitments of LaDamion Guyton (five-star edge rusher), and fellow defensive linemen K’Adrian Redmond (four-star) and Antonio Underwood (three-star).
Getting early commitments has been a boon to Tech’s recruiting rankings. So far, the Red Raiders’ 2027 recruiting class ranks fourth in the nation, according to 247Sports.
However, Texas Tech has also seen the downside of getting early commitments. Earlier this season, the Red Raiders earned a pledge from five-star offensive lineman Cooper Hackett, who has since flipped his commitment to Oklahoma.
McGuire said Monday the Texas Tech coaching staff talked about this very topic in their staff meeting earlier in the day. Landing the early commitments is nice, and boosts Tech’s profile while chasing other recruits. That, however, is just one half of the battle. The other half is keeping those players for the 18 months or so until they can sign.
“The one thing I told our guys is it can’t just be about money,” McGuire said, “because the guys that we’re recruiting against and the guys we’re recruiting, they all have money. Everybody has the same amount of money that they’re using. …”
While Texas Tech made waves in the NIL sphere of the new college landscape, the revenue sharing model, brought about by the House Settlement, has essentially leveled the field in how much money schools can offer players.
“They have the same money that they can offer the kid that we’re offering the kids, so what’s the difference?” McGuire said. “It’s got to be the relationships that you have.”
McGuire said Tech coaches have their own list of players whom they keep in touch with throughout the season and during allowed contact periods. That open line of communication is part of the focus in keeping these early commits locked in with Texas Tech and not looking elsewhere in the meantime.
“I think it’s important that, we have a text list that goes out every Monday, that you’re texting the players that you’re supposed to be texting,” McGuire said, “that you’re communicating with the parents, that they feel like they’re part of this family already before they get here.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Why Joey McGuire says Texas Tech football’s high school recruiting ‘can’t just be about the money’
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
