Big 12 Media Days are underway at Frisco, and Joey McGuire was one of the most important figures at the event. Ahead of the 2025 season, Texas Tech stands as one of the most promising teams in the conference. The off-season was a flurry of activities for McGuire and Co., having made some key roster changes and player additions. He spoke about some key elements set to majorly impact his 2025 campaign, which is poised to see a higher finish than that of 2024.
Joey McGuire’s opening statement
Opening his session at the podium, McGuire first took a moment to address recent events impacting Texans before shifting focus to his team.
“It’s exciting to see everybody. Whenever we’re here at media day, that means football is just right around the corner. Before I talk about my team, being a proud Texan, and being nowhere else, I just want to, again, we put this out the other day, but our prayers are with everybody in Central Texas. I have family that live in those areas and have had different alumni reach out to me, that have had young ladies and kids going to different camps. And so I just want to say that at Texas Tech, we’re praying for you guys. I can’t imagine – Debbie and I talked about it as parents, of what they’re going through, and just want to know that you are in our thoughts and our prayers.
McGuire then veered to expressing pride in representing Texas Tech and introduced the players he brought to the event.
“I’m honored to represent Texas Tech. I’m honored to represent our administration and the best AD in the country in Kirby Hocutt. We’re really excited. We brought six players with us to represent Texas Tech. Our quarterback, Behren Morton. Our wide receiver, Caleb Douglas, our outside linebacker, Romello Height. The preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Jacob Rodriguez. Lee Hunter, our defensive tackle, and then Cole Wisnewski, our safety. Really excited about what they’ve done [to] help bring this new team together. We have had a great spring. We have had a great summer, and man, we cannot wait for camp to start. And we cannot wait for the season to start.
On Caleb Douglas’ development this offseason, and his preparation for 2025
“Yeah, I’m excited. Caleb Douglas, you know, I’ve known him for a long time, recruiting him out of high school. He’s really developing as a big-play guy. You know, he really came on strong in the Big 12. I think he had five 100-yard games in the Big 12 last year and, you know, had a 100-yard game against Arkansas. He had a good spring. He’s one of the guys that, you know, has an opportunity with a big year to declare early for the draft. And if he does that, it means he had a great year, and that’s good for the Red Raiders. But I’m just really proud of him.
Beyond his on-field contributions, McGuire highlighted Douglas’s growing influence in the locker room.
“And one of the reasons he’s one of the six that we brought is because of his leadership that he’s shown in offseason, and the voice that he’s developed in that wide receiver room. He’s become a real leader. He and Coy Eakin are the two leaders in that room, and, [I’m] excited about the season that he’s going to have.”
Joey Mcguire on Texas Tech’s activity-filled off-season, and 2025 expectations
“Yeah, it’s been a fun off-season. We were really aggressive whenever it came to the portal and meeting some of our needs for the football team. I’ve been really proud of those guys for, you know, I always look at like, what’s the feel in the locker room culturally, the standard that we practice at. But then other things, like this is the third semester in a row that we’ve had a 3.0 or better as a GPA. And we brought in all those new guys. A lot of them have already graduated from college, but are still taking 12 hours, and we’re able to do that in the classroom.
“I know there’s a lot of expectations on the team. We look at it as opportunities. Jack Richards, a good friend of mine, went to Texas Tech. Son played at Texas Tech, and he sent me that text. He says, ‘Expectation and/or opportunities. It’s all perspective.’ And we look at it that we have a great opportunity. I think this conference is really strong. There’s a lot of teams that have some big opportunities this year to really make a statement. And we’re planning on being one of them.”
On his hopes for Zach Kittley and Mack Leftwich
“Yeah, I think Mack, you know, I knew Zach was going to be a head coach. You know, he has those qualities. And I’m excited for him. You know, I want to be around guys that want to move up, that want to be coordinators and want to be head coaches. I see the same thing in Mac. You know, he’s a coach’s kid, just like Zach was. And he understands, you know, what it takes to lead a team. I’ve been really impressed. I’m excited to go into a game with him, I’ve seen what he’s doing, you know, whenever he attacks our defense. But I’m ready to see what he did.
“But, you know, you look at, there are two young guys that have had a lot of success. Kittley had a lot of success at Western Kentucky and had a lot of success at Texas Tech. And Mack has done the same thing. He did it at Incarnate Word. He did it at Texas State. And I know he’s really excited about the offense that he has to lead. But I really do think Mack will be a head coach. I’m hoping I get to keep him for at least three years, like I got to keep Kittley. But I expect him to be a head coach someday.
Joey Mcguire on his recruitment campaign for Micah Hudson, and expectations for him
“Yeah, thank you for that question. You know, whenever the portal opened up, I called his mom and I said, ‘I’m going to reach out to Micah [Hudson],’ because his mom didn’t want him to leave. And she said, ‘You don’t have to worry about reaching out to Micah. He’s coming to see you face to face.’ And I said, ‘Well, I can give him a call. She goes, ‘No, whenever he left your office, whenever he got in the portal, he did it as a man and he’s going to come back and talk to you face to face.’ And you know, the first thing I did before he even started talking, I said, ‘Micah, let me open up and tell you what I feel like I did wrong and what I would do different if I could do it over again.’”
According to McGuire, honesty helped rebuild the relationship, and he’s excited about Hudson’s role moving forward.
“And I think that really, we’ve had a really good relationship. It got strained at the end, and I think that really kind of opened that, you know, took some of the barriers down. Maybe he was worried that I’d be upset with him. And, he’s been good, man. We really, you know, right now through the spring and the summer, our mindset as a team is ‘Make the main thing the main thing.’ And the main thing is ‘Be on time.’ And then the second part is when you walk into the building or walk on the football field, empty the tank. This is the standard we’re going to practice at. And that’s all I’m asking out of these guys right now. And he’s done that this summer, and so I’m glad to have him back. [I] think it’s going to be a great story.”
On the impact of Jacob Rodriguez’s return to Texas Tech
“Yeah, it was huge. You know, we had the conversation. And he and his wife came into my office, [sat] down with [us] — we do a PowerPoint presentation for guys that are eligible for the draft and all the information that we get from the NFL and from the scouts. [We] sit down with him and his wife and, you know, walk through where we thought he would go and what the benefits would be for him coming back. And man, I’m just glad he made the choice to come back. You know, he is such a rock star when it comes to our culture, and our building, and the way we work. I mean, he’s a pro. You know, he understands, and we’re always searching for people’s ‘why.’ When you have older guys like him who’s married, it’s easy to know his ‘why.’ And so, we were able to use that and make sure he came back. And so, I was excited, very honored that he was named Pre-season Defensive Player of the Year. And now he knows he’s got to go back it up.”
Joey Mcguire on Lee Hunt’s journey at Red Raiders so far, and hopes for his future
“Yeah, if you hadn’t got to talk to Lee, man, he’s bigger than life, man. He’s got such a great personality. The one thing that we didn’t want to do whenever we brought all these new guys in, some of these guys have been leaders on their previous teams. And so we wanted to make sure that we gave them a voice. We gave him a voice. But he’s been incredible. [I] have high expectations just from the standpoint of the level that he can play at and his ability. But I will tell you this. One thing that’s fun coming into work every day is, we knew that we brought in some really good football players. But we brought in some great men. Like that’s been by far the biggest thing that [stands] out. [We] have brought in some really good men that have really helped our culture grow, and create this team chemistry. And so, really proud of that.”
You can watch Joey McGuire’s interaction with the media here.
The post Everything Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire Said During Big 12 Media Day appeared first on EssentiallySports.
