Texas Tech built ‘best team money can buy.’ And Big 12 coaches have thoughts

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By David Ubben, Justin Williams and Chris Vannini

FRISCO, Texas — Texas Tech has become one of the splashiest stories of the college football offseason thanks to the money poured into its 2025 roster. And opposing Big 12 coaches have taken notice.

“They’ve built the best team money can buy,” one conference head coach told The Athletic. “But if they don’t win the Big 12, holy cow.”

He was among a dozen Big 12 head coaches The Athletic interviewed about Texas Tech’s spending spree at the league’s media days this week, offering anonymity in exchange for their candor. The responses ranged from good-natured to cynical, with at least a touch of jealousy.

“Good for them. Hell, if I had Cody Campbell, I’d be doing sleepovers at his house,” said one coach of the Texas Tech billionaire booster who has become a significant figure in college sports. “‘Hey, best buddy. How can I help you?’ You sh—in’ me? I don’t blame them. If you’re gonna buy a player, buy the right one. And they bought some good ones.”

The program, which has benefited from an influx of name, image and likeness spending in recent years, doubled down this offseason. Texas Tech athletes will earn roughly $55 million in NIL across all sports in 2025-26, including $20.5 million in direct revenue sharing under the recently approved House settlement. Tech star softball pitcher NiJaree Canady is entering her second year with a seven-figure deal, and men’s basketball standout JT Toppin is back on a deal worth more than $3 million. But a large chunk of that money is invested in a football roster that added 20-plus transfers — many highly coveted — and retained a number of core players with the help of frontloaded NIL deals from the Matador Club collective, co-founded by Campbell and fellow alum and oil magnate John Sellers.

It’s a massive investment for any school, particularly a Big 12 program that is not a traditional blue blood. But Tech, coming off an 8-5 record in 2024, isn’t shying from it.

“I do think people feel a little threatened,” Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said in an interview with The Athletic. “The last box (to check) is, Texas Tech has never won the Big 12, never played in the Big 12 championship. That’s why this year is so critical.”

The players are embracing it as well. “I love the bull’s-eye we got on our back,” senior quarterback Behren Morton said.

Count Colorado coach Deion Sanders, a longtime admirer of McGuire from their high school coaching days, among those paying attention.

“Yeah, Joey got some money! Spending that money! I love it,” Sanders said Wednesday from the Big 12 event’s main stage. “Can you send a few of those dollars to us so we can get some of those players, too?”

Others were less enthused.

“I mean, it’s childish. I think it’s, ‘Hey, look at me,’” said another coach. “I don’t think it’s good for college football.”

Six coaches said they wished they had similar financial support and would do the same if they were in McGuire’s (very expensive) shoes.

“It’s awesome if you got it,” said one coach. “I wish I had it, oh, my gosh.”

“Good for them,” said another. “I’m jealous.”

Others scoffed at the extent of the spending and how it might impact the locker room.

“Ridiculous. …They’re not just outbidding, they’re outbidding (other teams) by 3X,” said one coach. “Wild, but it will be interesting. If the players are good kids, about the right things and about winning, I think it’ll go great. If they’re about themselves, the first time adversity hits will define them.”

Another suggested that “the pressure that’s going to come with all the money Texas Tech spent is going to be tough.”

A couple of coaches questioned the sustainability and legitimacy of the dollar figures being thrown around, with one calling it “asinine.” Another mentioned conflicting reports over 2026 offensive line recruit Felix Ojo, who committed to the Red Raiders last weekend and agreed to a three-year revenue sharing contract. Ojo’s agent said the deal is worth $5.1 million, but multiple program sources told The Athletic it’s worth $2.3 million with the potential to increase.

Another coach expressed frustration that Texas Tech’s roster was being paid 10 times what he was paying his players.

“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t even know how it’s possible,” said the coach. “Those are big numbers. There will be a lot of young men taking pay cuts when they get done playing college football.”

A few coaches stressed that NIL spending doesn’t always buy wins, with one stating: “Let’s see how it plays out. Complaining, b—ing, whining, nobody wants to hear that.”

A different coach was more realistic about the advantages in a conference in which most schools don’t have anywhere near the same level of resources. That doesn’t prevent others from competing on the field, as evidenced by Arizona State winning the league title in 2024 with a roster budget that ranked in the “middle to lower middle” of the Big 12’s 16 teams, according to Brittani Willett, the president of the Sun Angel Collective, in December. But financially, perhaps only BYU’s booster network has the capital to keep pace with Tech, with the coach comparing it to the payroll disparities in Major League Baseball.

“Some people are going to spend like the Yankees and Dodgers and some people are going to spend like the Rays and the Royals,” he said. “And that doesn’t mean we all don’t have a chance. But it’s tough.”

It’s also unclear how the House settlement will impact those disparities. The frontloaded NIL deals this offseason were a one-time way to supplement the new financial model that started on July 1, which caps a school’s revenue sharing at $20.5 million in the first year and aims to restrict the lucrative “pay for play” NIL deals popularized by collectives. If the settlement works as intended in future years, this should curb third-party NIL spending and level the financial playing field, though many coaches remain dubious the richest programs will fall in line.

“Some schools are not gonna let it happen. They’ve done it one way, and they’re gonna keep doing it that way. They don’t want the gap to get closer,” said one coach.

If that’s the case, Texas Tech seems poised to keep spending in a sport that has long favored the fortunate — to the envy of those vying for the Big 12 throne.

“If it simply boils down to whoever has rich boosters wins football games, that’s bad,” said a coach.

But every man has a price.

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” he said. “If we had that money, I would have wanted to do the same thing.”

(Photo of Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire: Raymond Carlin III / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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