$26.6 million head coach agrees to 7-year extension with major college football program

While coach firing season has arrived with a vengeance, there are also coaches getting rewarded in this season. Instead of getting kicked to the curb, some fortunate coaches are getting raises and extensions on their contracts. One such case is Texas Tech boss Joey McGuire, who signed an extension through 2032 with an annual salary climbing to over $7 million per year by the end of the contract.

McGuire's Back Story

McGuire is a Texas native who has never coached outside of the state. After years as an assistant at Baylor, he was hired for his first head coaching role at Texas Tech. After going 8-5, 7-6, and 8-5 in his first three years at Tech, this season, the Red Raiders have jumped to 11-1 and seem likely to reach the program's first-ever College Football Playoff.

McGuire's Old Contract

McGuire had previously signed a six-year contract after the 2022 season, his first with the Red Raiders. That contract included a total payout of $26.6 million. With annual increases, the value of McGuire's old contract was slated to peak at $4.6 million in the 2028 season.

McGuire's Rank among Big 12 Coaches

McGuire's $4.55 million salary for 2025 ranked him 51st among FBS coaches according to USAToday's database. That salary was 10th among Big 12 head coaches, and was barely half of Deion Sanders's conference-leading rate. That ranking also doesn't include BYU coach Kalani Sitake, who may well have out-earned McGuire, but whose private school affiliation means that no public data was circulated regarding his contract.

Tech's 2025 climb

Tech was very active in the transfer portal heading into 2025, grabbing a transfer class that 247sports ranked second-best in the nation (behind only LSU). Among the most notable players that the Red Raiders added was edge rusher David Bailey from Stanford (16 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks in 2025) and Georgia Tech linebacker Romello Height (9.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in 2025).

Tech is ranked third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 11.3 points per game. The Red Raiders are sixth in yardage allowed (258.9 yards per game) and are fifth in the nation in QB sacks (37). McGuire is the rare assistant coach who coached on both sides of the football, but spent most of his years on defense and has honed the Red Raiders, including Heisman candidate LB Jacob Rodriguez, to a finely-tuned machine. With Tuesday's announcement, he's not slated to continue that work for several more seasons ahead.