If you think the Red Raiders are rolling into 2025 with just a fresh coat of paint after going 8-5 in 2024, you’re out of your mind. We’re talking about a full-blown, grease-under-the-fingernails rebuild that’s given the rest of the Big 12 second thoughts. CFB analyst Joel Klatt thinks this crew is geared up to crash the College Football Playoff party. And his advice to Joey McGuire? Take a page straight out of Coach Prime’s playbook.
Texas Tech’s 2024 season was one heck of a rollercoaster. Sure, they put up 37.6 points a game, which was fourth-best in the nation. But the defense? Let’s just say they handed out touchdowns like free samples at Costco, giving up 34.8 a night. That 8–5 finish came with high-octane wins. Like a 52–51 overtime thriller against Abilene Christian. And some flat-out defensive meltdowns, including a 59-35 home loss to Baylor. But 2025? Different story. They’ve got a defensive unit stacked like a Vegas poker table. All courtesy of a jaw-dropping $25 million war chest.
On August 8th, the Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt jumped on The Joel Klatt Show and put it bluntly: “Joey Maguire has some serious expectations right now… They’ve got the number two ranked portal class to LSU… a quarterback that’s back… improve a little, and you’re gonna take a substantial step forward.” Translation? This team is aiming straight for the Big 12 crown.
McGuire’s portal work wasn’t just aggressive. It was reckless in the best way possible. No. 2 transfer class in the country. Romello Height from Georgia Tech. David Bailey from Stanford. All-MAC wrecking ball Skyler Gill-Howard. Oh, and five-star wideout Micah Hudson, who runs routes like he’s late for a flight. Add QB Behren Morton’s 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns from last year, and you’ve got an offense scarier than an IRS audit.
Joel literally expects Joey McGuire to look at Deion Sanders’ 2024 campaign: “Colorado took a little bit of a step forward, and all of a sudden they went from—what was it?—four wins to nine wins. Well, Texas Tech could do something similar, in particular if they can get any fix on their defense whatsoever.”
Klatt’s comparison to Colorado’s Deion Sanders wasn’t a throwaway line. The Buffs flexed Rivals’ No.1 transfer class in the 2024 season. Prime took a 4-win Buffs squad, gutted it, hauled in 41 transfers (eight of them four-stars), and jumped to nine wins in one season. Klatt’s point? Tech could pull the same stunt, if that defense gets its act together.
With Oklahoma and Texas long gone, the Big 12’s wide open. ESPN ranks Tech’s 2025 schedule as the fourth-easiest in the conference. FanDuel sets their win total at 8.5, with the over sitting at -140. Vegas is betting they clear it. But this isn’t just about padding the record. It’s about finally pushing for double-digit wins for the first time since 2008. NIL cash might get you in the door. Like the $5.1 million they dropped on five-star OT Felix Ojo. But winning is what keeps the lights on.
Anything less than 8 or 9 will not be acceptable. Just look at the schedule above! The only thing Joey McGuire needs to sweat over is ASU. Outside of that, it’s a clear road map to an 11-win playoff season. If 2025 isn’t the year they kick the door down, you have to wonder if it ever will be.
Texas Tech snatches 5-star from the class of 2027
As if the present wasn’t wild enough, the future just got a nuclear upgrade. On August 7, Texas Tech went straight into SEC territory and stole a gem: LaDamion Guyton, the No. 2 player in the 2027 class and top-ranked edge rusher, out of Savannah, Georgia. And they didn’t just beat out Georgia. They snatched him from right under the Bulldogs’ nose, along with Tennessee and Florida State.
Guyton’s commitment is one of the highest-rated in program history. Benedictine Military School’s star pass-rusher has length, bend, and a first step that’ll make Big 12 quarterbacks sleep with one eye open. This pledge also caps off a stretch of momentum that’s turned Lubbock into a recruiting hotspot. Stadium and facility renovations totaling $242 million have given Tech one of the slickest setups in the nation.
Add in the $25 million reportedly being pumped into the roster this year, and you’ve got an arms race most programs can’t match. If McGuire turns all this into wins, Texas Tech will be a major force for years to come.
The post Joel Klatt Urges Joey McGuire to Mirror Coach Prime’s Plan After $25M Shake-Up Hits Big 12 appeared first on EssentiallySports.
