Culture over cost defining Texas Tech in 2025
In an era where the transfer portal endangers team continuity, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire is maintaining an importance on, what I’ve defined as culture over cost for his team.
Who better to speak on this, truly, than McGuire. The Red Raiders were one of the most active teams in the winter and spring transfer portal windows.
They’ve replenished and replaced nearly every position on the roster. McGuire’s culture, rooted in “The Brand” has been as important now more than ever with heavy roster implications.
“It’s been a really fun offseason, we were really aggressive whenever it came to the portal and meeting some of our needs for the football team,” McGuire said on stage at the 2025 Big 12 Media Days Tuesday. “I’ve been really proud of those guys. We always look at like, what’s the feel in the locker room? Culturally, the standard 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. We brought in all these new guys, a lot have already graduated from college but are still taking 12 hours. We’re able to do that in the classroom. I know there’s a lot of expectations on this team. We look at is as opportunities.”
Culture built on long-standing pillars, new additions
Finding culture players in the locker room for the Red Raiders is not difficult. Quarterback Behren Morton and preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jacob Rodriguez are easy candidates to take the reins. But the Red Raiders did not choose to bring in unproven talent in the portal.
A vast majority of the portal picks were proven, experienced personalities. Melding those personalities has been made a bit easier by one of the largest– physically– players in the newcomer group.
“He’s bigger than life man,” McGuire said, referencing defensive tackle Lee Hunter. “He’s got such a personality. The one thing we didn’t want to do whenever we brought in all these new guys, some of these guys have been leaders on their previous teams. We wanted to make sure that we gave them a voice. We gave him (Hunter) a voice. He’s been incredible. We have high expectations, just from the standpoint of the level that he can play at and his ability.
“I will tell you this, one thing that’s fun is coming into work everyday and we knew we brought in some really good football players. But, we brought in some great men. That’s been, by far, the biggest thing to stand out is we have brought in some good men that have really helped grow and create this team chemistry. We are proud of that.”
