For Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire, being college football’s newest “villain” is a role he’s embracing as he continues to make his mark in Lubbock. A high school legend who transitioned and excelled within the collegiate ranks, McGuire is no stranger to the constant hypocrisy that makes up this great game.
If there’s no villain, there’s no game, and for the idea that Texas Tech would dare to play by the same rules as everyone else, they have been cast as the antagonist for this season’s narrative. Quick question. Who cares?
Let’s not act like the Brendan Sorsby saga was some insult to the game. Let’s face the facts. The greats did in their way, and each great has a plethora of dirt on their shoes. Before people chastise McGuire for his approach, do they hold the same contempt for Barry Switzer? Tom Osbourne?
So let’s get serious. What is villainous about Texas Tech? That they tried to make an ineligible player eligible, using every advantage they had? Not exactly shocking or new. That they have access to massive amounts of funds to build their program? NIL is legal, and players have been getting paid for decades. The ratio of broke college students and sports cars on campus has always been at a highly questionable rate, so we can’t accuse Tech of abusing the system. Even the old guard is admitting to illegally paying players now that they don’t face impunity. Just because they didn’t touch the bag doesn’t mean they weren’t involved in moving the money.
Here’s the truth. The crime that Tech dared to commit is that they dared to be great. To challenge the elite, to act in the same manner as teams in the Big Ten and SEC. There’s an elitist mindset in college football, and the old guard is desperate to hold on to their position. The modern SEC and some aspects of the Big Ten are in the same danger of becoming what the USC Trojans and Miami Hurricanes became in the 2010s. A shell of their former self.
That has never been more prevalent than the clear destruction of the hegemony the conferences held over recruiting. Tech isn’t supposed to get the players that those programs used to get, and they’re not prepared for the realities of the modern landscape. But it’s not just those powers that be that resent Tech; it’s the power of those who were supposed to become the relevant forces in the Big 12 after the departure of the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns that resent them too. Tech became the team they wanted to be.
Regardless of how anyone feels about the Red Raiders, beloved was never going to be one of them. Overlooked, disrespected, pitied. Lubbock was never going to feel the love of college football. The reason is that the masses hate those who have more resources. There’s no underdog story. Tech was in a better position to adapt to changing times.
Tech didn’t trigger NIL; Tech didn’t launch conference realignment. All they did was compete, and yet they’re held to a standard that others aren’t. That’s the game. Tech isn’t the first team to deal with this, and they won’t be the last. Those who succeed do so because they simply do not care about those opinions, because often they have a coach who becomes the villain in someone else’s story, by being their hero in theirs.
Nick Saban is the hero for Alabama, but the villain for others, especially Auburn. Curt Cignitti is Indiana’s savior, but a curse on college football. Neither man cares about the narrative; they’re too focused on the product. McGuire appears to be the same, and that’s exactly what Tech needs if they want to turn a flash-in-the-pan season into a new era of dominance.
With Miami’s resurgence, Ole Miss’ rise, and new characters becoming championship players within the sport, the Red Raiders’ financial advantage will be a source of jealousy as power and influence shift. It will also be a source of noise from the media, especially if Tech isn’t blowing out every opponent. If Tech is to stay focused, they need a man willing to embrace it all in order to write his own story. McGuire is taking every step to write his.
At the end of the day, none of it matters…except results. Rules bend, rules change. People talk, people complain. That’s the nature of the game. Those who lose are those who try to adhere to some code that doesn’t exist in reality, or when they try to be someone they’re not. McGuire wrote his own path, and now he writes his own rules. It’s time to see if he can write Tech’s name on a national title in what could be college football’s most shocking performance yet.
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This article originally appeared on Red Raiders Wire: Joey McGuire’s embrace of villainous role is what Texas Tech needs
Reporting by Brock Vierra, Red Raiders Wire / Red Raiders Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brock Vierra, Red Raiders Wire | USA TODAY Network
