Texas Tech football is preparing for the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. Tech's staff is simultaneously gearing up for Jan. 2, when the transfer portal opens.
Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire said recently he expects to sign seven to 10 players this off-season from the NCAA transfer portal.
McGuire fleshed out the numbers a little more on Wednesday, Dec. 17, saying a quarterback and multiple defensive front-four players are "1A and 1B" on the priority shopping list.
Finding a quarterback for 2026 became a sudden, unexpected need when heir apparent Will Hammond underwent surgery in November for a torn knee ligament. The rehab likely will butt right up against the opening of preseason practice next August. A team eager to defend the Big 12 championship it just won can't afford uncertainty at quarterback going into spring practice. Not if it has the means to fix the problem, at least.
Tech already has been linked to Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, a Corinth Lake Dallas graduate who this year has passed for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns with 5 interceptions. He also rushed for 580 yards and 9 touchdowns, and this week he announced plans to have his name in the portal. He's an option, assuming he doesn't declare for the NFL draft.
Texas Tech leads the FBS in rushing defense and turnovers gained and ranks third in scoring defense. A big reason is a front four that includes edge defenders David Bailey and Romello Height along with tackles Lee Hunter, A.J. Holmes and Skyler Gill-Howard. All except Holmes are on their last year of eligibility, though Tech is seeking an eligibility-clock extension for Gill-Howard.
Regardless how that turns out, the defensive front will need help. It would be good, McGuire said, to get at least three more — one defensive tackle, two edge defenders — from the portal.
"We've seen, whenever you've got a dominant defensive front, everybody's better," McGuire said.
"Feel really good about the secondary," McGuire said, "because we've got so many guys coming back. (Defensive coordinator) Shiel (Wood) is kind of bouncing back and forth: Do we move (star safety/outside linebacker) John Curry back in (to inside linebacker) or keep him where he's at — which, he's played extremely well. The Big 12's changed so much, an 11- and 12-personnel conference, that you love having a big strong safety out there, so then we'd probably look for a vet linebacker."
In football lingo, 11 personnel refers to a formation with one running back and one tight end and 12 personnel means one running back and two tight ends. Keeping Curry, listed at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, in the spot he played this season provides a physical presence against Big 12 tight ends.
Tech's wish list by position is a moving target. Coaches, general managers and players across the country are awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the NCAA's redshirt rule that allows athletes four seasons of competition in five years.
The plaintiffs in Patterson v. NCAA have asked U.S. District Judge William Campbell for an injunction allowing them to play a fifth season next year. The lawsuit pertains narrowly to those five players — three from Wisconsin, one each from Nebraska and Vanderbilt — all of whom are running out of eligibility having played four seasons without redshirting.
The same federal judge in the same Tennessee court last year ruled in favor of Diego Pavia when the Vanderbilt quarterback sought an additional year of eligibility based on having started his career at a junior college. The NCAA, to forestall more lawsuits, immediately responded with a blanket waiver allowing all players running out of eligibility during the 2024-25 school year another year of eligibility if they began their careers at non-NCAA schools.
Patterson v. NCAA could have a trickle-down effect on Tech starting wide receivers Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil, both of whom, like the plaintiffs, are seniors who haven't redshirted.
Campbell hasn't issued a ruling in the case since a hearing Monday.
Some guidance on Patterson v. NCAA is expected before the portal opens. If the court doesn't grant the plaintiffs injunctive relief, and if the NCAA doesn't follow by opening the door to five years to play five, Douglas and Virgil will be out of eligibility when the season ends. Tech's staff then would pursue a receiver in the portal.
"A lot of it's going to depend," McGuire said. "The injunction is going on right now for the five for five. The NCAA said that it'll only be for those five players in that lawsuit, which will be extremely interesting, because we already know what's going to happen (if the judge rules for the plaintiffs)."
The Red Raiders also are awaiting a ruling on an eligibility-clock extension for offensive lineman Hunter Zambrano, who's been limited to three early-season games this year.
"We're waiting on his medical (hardship waiver)," McGuire said, "but it should be a slam dunk. That's almost like getting a portal guy."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Joey McGuire lists 1A and 1B on Texas Tech football portal priorities
Category: General Sports
