Tech's Joey McGuire demands change to current CFB Calendar

Texas Tech Head Coach Joey McGuire demands change to current CFB Calendar citing current calendar is a premier issue in the sport.

Texas Tech Head Coach Joey McGuire during a football practice | Texas Tech Athletics

LUBBOCK, Texas — There is no secret that there have been a lot of changes in College Football in the last decade. The addition of the 12-team College Football Playoff has been one of the newest changes to the sport. Since its inception, the playoff format has been both praised and criticized by many within and outside the sport. Today, Texas Tech Head Coach Joey McGuire criticized the current College Football calendar, demanding changes to the format on the Andy & Ari On3 show this afternoon.

NEW: Texas Tech's Joey McGuire criticizes CFB calendar: 'Everything we do is backwards to me'👎

“Indiana is the only team in the last two years that has been able to handle the 25-day layoff... We’re trying to dig into how can we practice different. I heard Dan Lanning had a… pic.twitter.com/a0bDxvXnUo

— On3 (@On3) February 20, 2026

McGuire led the Red Raiders to a 12-2 record en route to the program's first-ever Big 12 title, and Tech’s first 12-team CFP appearance last season as the fourth seed, earning a first-round bye.

The Red Raiders' postseason ended prematurely in the second round in the Orange Bowl. Tech was shut out 23-0 by No. 5 Oregon, becoming one of seven teams to be knocked out after having a first-round bye in the tournament. Host Andy Staples asked McGuire what he learned from his team's performance since that afternoon in the Orange Bowl.

“We are still in the process with that until we get the calendar fixed, and I don’t know why that's not the number one priority out of everybody. I keep hearing about NIL, or eligibility, and I keep hearing about maybe changing the transfer portal. Until we get the calendar fixed everything we do is backwards to me, and are just putting bandaids over issues.” McGuire said.

“So what we are trying to learn right now is how Indiana did it, they were a great football team so that's one, they had great players, but Indiana is the only team in the last 2 years to navigate the 25 day layoff against another team that did not have a 25 day layoff.”

The Red Raiders Head Coach continued on to mention different methods of practicing to keep players ready for a playoff game, whilst figuring out how to navigate such a big window without a game. McGuire later doubled down on the issues with the current format when asked about what was lacking in the Orange Bowl and what adjustments have since been made.

“We chose the worst day possible to play our worst football on the offensive side of the ball...” said McGuire "I can say it was the 25-day layoff, but Indiana figured it out, so they did a better job than we did. That something we really do have to figure out is how we can be at our best, and that's what's unfortunate, that I wish everybody involved understood there is a great model in every level of football except for our level of football of the way the playoffs are being played.”

The Tech Head Coach went on to praise Oregon for their overall performance, whilst citing that as a collective they would continue to figure out what truly went wrong, and that the bye was not the only reason his team did not move on. He would also emphasize the importance of having football be played only in the first semester, emphasizing how the FCS National Championship is played in early January, while the current CFP calendar has the National Championship played at the end of the month.

McGuire would go on to give his version of what the postseason should look like after being asked what his ideal calendar would look like.

“What I would do is I would move zero week so that this last year everyone would play on August 23rd, we would play it out like that the conference championships would be played on Thanksgiving, and you start playing the playoffs the next week so if you have a bye you have true bye just like in the regular season.” said McGuire “If you did it that way this year you actually would have had the National Championship on January 1st then the issues with the portal don't come into effect.”

Nonetheless, McGuire has been one of the many coaches across the country to openly talk about the issues with the current CFB Calendar, whilst being open about whether changes are made, new things will always pop up.

“It is one of those deals that everyone in the room would sound like an easy move, but I know there are contracts and different stuff like that,” said McGuire. “If it's not this year in 2027, we should already be talking about this, and it should be fixed by 2028 because when you move other stuff, and you keep some stuff the same, we don’t know the issues that we are gonna have.”

After everything changes will continue to change as time moves on in College Football. How those changes will fix certain aspects or take away others is a question only time will tell.

However, the Red Raiders will hope to build off a defining year as McGuire and his team push for the programs first ever National Championship.

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