Big 12 Media Days: Joey McGuire Explains Texas Tech's New Offense
ARLINGTON, TX — Texas Tech is a true wild card in the Big 12 this season with a new staff and a new scheme. Well, maybe not a “new” scheme, but rather a return to old ways.
The Red Raiders finished last season 7-6 after a 34-7 bowl win over Mississippi State. The seven-win campaign officially ended the Matt Wells era in Lubbock, as Kirby Hocutt opted to hire Joey McGuire.
McGuire comes from Baylor, which boasted one of the best defenses in the Big 12. Prior to coaching the Bears, McGuire was widely regarded as one of the best high school football coaches in America. One of McGuire’s first hires on the Tech staff was Western Kentucky offensive coordinator Zach Kittley.
Kittley originally started at Houston Baptist after finishing his graduate assistant role at Texas Tech. He led a turnaround that saw HBU transform into one of the best passing offenses in the country, while quarterback Bailey Zappe became a household name.
McGuire mentioned the desire for balance in his opening press conference as the head coach of the Red Raiders. Kittley is an offensive prodigy in the college football world, but balance isn’t the first word that comes to mind when thinking of an elite air raid mindset. McGuire offered clarification on the direction of the offense and the group’s identity as a whole.
"It's interesting, whenever I talked to him, the one thing about Kittley is he'll say we have air raid concepts but we're not a true air raid," McGuire explained. "Where I fell in love with him, in the interview, he said, 'Coach, I'm going to find our best 11 players, I'm going to get them on the field, and we're going to score a lot of points.'
"He said, 'You know, whenever I was at Western Kentucky, it was our best 11 players. We had four really good receivers.' At Texas Tech, we have three really good tight ends. So it's going to look a little bit different."
The move seems to have some parallels to when Bob Stoops took a chance on Lincoln Riley, hiring him from a Group of 5 school in Eastern Carolina. The offensive minds from that level have proven to be some of the very best in college football. Texas Tech is hoping they found the next prodigy.
"I'm a defensive coach, so we're going to play complementary football," McGuire said. "But at the end of the day, you've got to score one more point than your opponent to win the game, and he's going to figure out how to do that."
The Sooners have all season to prepare for Kittley’s new-look offensive attack. Oklahoma and Texas Tech square off in Lubbock on Nov. 26, OU’s last game of the regular season.
