The Saturday Column With No Name (Still Taking Suggestions And Sponsors…)
Texas Tech Football continues to acquire top talent from not just the portal, but the high school ranks. The Red Raiders set off some July 4th Fireworks Friday when the number one rated OT in Texas said he’d be taking his talents to Lubbock and not Austin or somewhere else. It sent shockwaves around college football recruiting circles, mainly because Mansfield Lake Ridge OT Felix Ojo didn’t have Texas Tech in his top four going into the weekend. Well… things changed.
We’ll talk about Ojo and what he could mean to the ’26 class more this week on The Daily Broadcast… today we want to talk about the one thing Texas Tech is doing better than most schools around the country the last year or so… and it’s really simple, but something that escapes so many…
Last week I heard a great quote from a professional sports bettor. I wish I could remember which one so I could give them credit. But I can’t. The quote goes something like this:
One of the greatest skills in sports betting, business or life involves the ability to discern and aggregate information, distill that information into action and then allocate the right amount of resources and revenue to maximize the return on said information.
Boom!
That’s exactly how Texas Tech has been operating the last few years.
Give great credit to Head Coach Joey McGuire for bringing in James Blanchard from Baylor to be your General Manager for football and letting him do his job. Blanchard has created a structure that most schools can’t or won’t emulate. He has nearly complete control over talent evaluation and then allocation of $$$ for “NIL” and now the shared revenue model after the House Settlement. Way ahead of most schools.
Blanchard oversees the information, how to understand it then how to allocate the money Texas Tech has to bring to bear on the market place. It’s so much like an NFL franchise approach, but so many schools have been unable to do it. They still act like the Tight Ends coach is the guy out there evaluating all talent for a region and then recruits those players regardless of position. Those days are over.
Reports out there say Texas Tech is going to pay Ojo 5 million dollars or so over the next 3 seasons. We love the multi-year contract. We love they’re paying an offensive lineman big numbers. NFL teams have understood that allocation of cap-money for years. OT’s get big money. Kickers don’t.
The roster construction by Blanchard mimics the best of the NFL. And that’s exactly what college football teams must do now. Over-pay for a QB and leave yourself short at other positions and it won’t matter. Some schools don’t get this…
So, once again, Texas Tech fans should feel emboldened about the business model created by Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt, HC Joey McGuire and being executed by James Blanchard.
Will it automatically translate into 10-wins this year?
Nope.
But it’s the best chance you’ve ever had in your lifetime as a Texas Tech Football Fan to have that happen . Better than 2008 and better than 1976 or ’77. Why? Because this is a repeatable process, not a one-off confluence of events, luck and yes, solid recruiting, but short-lived.
We’ll close with this thought.
Any school, any football program, can do exactly what Texas Tech is doing right now. From Texas to Alabama, Notre Dame to LSU…any school can do what Texas Tech has committed to do right now to win in college football. It’s all legal, all above board and all sustainable, even with the so-called revenue sharing model created by House Settlement. N.I.L. isn’t going away, just shifting and changing a bit.
So, the price of poke is clear right now in college football.
Texas Tech is ready to play.
The question becomes, are other schools ready to sit at the table with the Red Raiders… We shall find out.
Enjoy your Saturday and we’ll see you Sunday with our 5 Things We Know column. Feel free to comment, share on social media and thank all of our great sponsors in Raiderland!
Hyatt
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