This question was posed to national college football writer Stewart Mandel of The Athletic today in his weekly Mandel Mailbag:
What do you think of Texas Tech dominating the transfer portal? How sustainable is that, and is a Big 12 title a realistic goal for 2025? — Andrew G., Houston
I think it’s awesome. For all the complaints, NIL and the transfer portal have one overwhelmingly positive effect on the sport: It’s allowing non-traditional programs to become nationally relevant. Ole Miss signed the top-ranked transfer class on 247Sports last year, and now Texas Tech is on top in the early stages this year. It’s become a refreshing antidote to high school recruiting, where the same small group of bluebloods dominate the market every year. And that’s because collectives are spending far more money on transfers than high school kids.
The key of course is, at least under the current model, you need donors willing to foot the bill. Texas Tech definitely has them. As Justin Williams and I wrote about last summer, the co-founder of their collective and his wife, a former Tech softball player, gave $1 million to woo Stanford softball ace NiJaree Canady. Big gets in football so far include Georgia Tech edge-rusher Romello Height, USC’s breakout freshman running back Quinten Joyner and UCF All-Big 12 defensive lineman Lee Hunter. While no dollar amounts were disclosed, proven pass-rushers are usually some of the most expensive guys.
I have no idea whether the Red Raiders will contend in the Big 12. You saw this past season how difficult it is to forecast such a flattened conference. Texas Tech had a promising 8-4 regular season in which it beat both of the teams that went onto the conference title game — Arizona State and Iowa State — and starting quarterback Behren Morton is expected to return.
Going into the upcoming Liberty Bowl against Arkansas, Joey McGuire’s three-season record is 23-15. That may seem modest, but it’s actually the highest winning percentage (.605) of any Tech coach since Mike Leach’s 2009 ouster. But expectations will be higher in 2025 after this spending spree.
What do you think of Texas Tech dominating the transfer portal? How sustainable is that, and is a Big 12 title a realistic goal for 2025? — Andrew G., Houston
I think it’s awesome. For all the complaints, NIL and the transfer portal have one overwhelmingly positive effect on the sport: It’s allowing non-traditional programs to become nationally relevant. Ole Miss signed the top-ranked transfer class on 247Sports last year, and now Texas Tech is on top in the early stages this year. It’s become a refreshing antidote to high school recruiting, where the same small group of bluebloods dominate the market every year. And that’s because collectives are spending far more money on transfers than high school kids.
The key of course is, at least under the current model, you need donors willing to foot the bill. Texas Tech definitely has them. As Justin Williams and I wrote about last summer, the co-founder of their collective and his wife, a former Tech softball player, gave $1 million to woo Stanford softball ace NiJaree Canady. Big gets in football so far include Georgia Tech edge-rusher Romello Height, USC’s breakout freshman running back Quinten Joyner and UCF All-Big 12 defensive lineman Lee Hunter. While no dollar amounts were disclosed, proven pass-rushers are usually some of the most expensive guys.
I have no idea whether the Red Raiders will contend in the Big 12. You saw this past season how difficult it is to forecast such a flattened conference. Texas Tech had a promising 8-4 regular season in which it beat both of the teams that went onto the conference title game — Arizona State and Iowa State — and starting quarterback Behren Morton is expected to return.
Going into the upcoming Liberty Bowl against Arkansas, Joey McGuire’s three-season record is 23-15. That may seem modest, but it’s actually the highest winning percentage (.605) of any Tech coach since Mike Leach’s 2009 ouster. But expectations will be higher in 2025 after this spending spree.
