Cody Campbell on Brendan Sorsby backlash: Texas Tech is a 'target,' draws hate for being a 'disruptor'

Billionaire Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell is going on the offensive after his alma mater has come under fire for its support of star quarterback Brendan Sorsby following Monday’s injunction ruling.

The embattled Red Raiders QB received a temporary injunction Monday that deemed him eligible to play the 2026 college football season, reversing the NCAA’s permanent ban for his admitted gambling activities over the past five years, including betting on his own team at Indiana in 2022.

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That controversial ruling set off a firestorm of visceral reactions from all across the college sports world, including from within Texas Tech’s own conference. Rival Big 12 athletic directors reportedly voiced their displeasure with the decision during a heated Tuesday conference call with league leaders.

Campbell dismissed those reactions as little more than jealousy.

“It’s because the college football world doesn’t believe Texas Tech should be as good as we are. We’ve been a disruptor, just like Indiana has. So we’re a target,” Campbell told Outkick‘s Dan Dakich on Wednesday. “If this had happened at LSU, people would have said, ‘ah it’s LSU.’ … But it happened at Texas Tech and people don’t want to compete with us.

"We're a target… if this had happened at LSU, people would say ah it's LSU… but it happened at Texas Tech. They don't want to play because they know [Sorsby] is good and they don't want us to be as competitive."

Cody Campbell on schools trying to boycott playing Texas Tech pic.twitter.com/V1G84a9rEH

— Don’t @ Me (@DontAtMeDD) June 10, 2026

“Of course ADs in the Big 12 are saying crazy things (like) they don’t want to play us,” Campbell continued. “Well, they don’t want to play us because they know (Sorsby’s) good. They don’t want us to be as competitive, they want to have a better chance at winning the conference. So they’re inherently conflicted in their opinion.”

Following the ruling, Kansas State AD Gene Taylor called the decision “f***ing bulls***,” and revealed Big 12 ADs had previously discussed a potential boycott of the Red Raiders’ athletic program: “This is greater than the Big 12,” Taylor told Yahoo! Sports. Georgia and Nebraska‘s ADs issued memos to their entire athletic departments restricting any team from scheduling the Red Raiders moving forward. The Big Ten is reportedly considering a similar tact during an upcoming conference call, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt released a strong seven-paragraph statement earlier Wednesday defending the university’s support for Sorsby.

“I understand the frustration,” Hocutt said in a statement aimed at his colleagues across college sports. “This situation is hard, it is new, and there is no perfect answer. The system we’re operating within is binary, but the situation is not. We are open to ongoing conversations about how to best handle these issues as an industry going forward. We will continue to be transparent in our decision-making. Most importantly, we will keep doing what we have always done, put our students first.”