​Texas Tech drew considerable criticism from the broader college football world for its handling of the Brendan Sorsby situation this offseason. The transfer quarterback was ruled permanently ineligible after he admitted to placing more than $90,000 in sports bets, including bets on his own team during his time at Indiana. He later sued the NCAA and obtained an injunction to play this fall. The Red Raiders initially backed Sorsby, but as the Big 12 threatened legal action against the school, Sorsby eventually departed the program and withdrew his lawsuit. In a conversation with CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson at Big 12 media days this week, coach Joey McGuire said he might have acted differently if he could have foreseen the reaction to the Sorsby saga. “If I would have been able to have a crystal ball and see in the future, as far as would they have had a supplemental draft, I would have probably said (earlier), ‘Brendan, let’s don’t do this. Go to the supplemental draft,’” McGuire noted.
McGuire acknowledged that the backlash from other Big 12 programs was stronger than expected, and he added that Texas Tech probably wouldn’t have added Sorsby in the first place if not for Will Hammond, a backup who started two games last season, recovering from a torn ACL. “I would have brought in a vet, just because that’s such a young room, you know, I would, we would have done that, but the whole point of bringing in Brendan was, whenever in this day and age, you have the amount of money invested in a roster, you’ve got to make sure that you’re protecting that money from the standpoint of how are they going to come back from the injury, you’re hoping that they come back 100% and ready to roll, but you never know, because different people respond to different injuries,” McGuire explained.
Hammond was expected to miss the start of the 2026 season, but McGuire offered some hope that he could be ready to start by Week 1 during media days. It appeared Texas Tech could have been the focal point of the sport’s biggest offseason storyline, but at least publicly, McGuire seemed glad to have the Sorsby episode behind the program.
For further updates, follow College_Wire on X and College_Wires on Threads, and like College Sports Wire on Facebook to stay informed on ongoing college sports coverage, notes, and opinions. This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire, conveying McGuire’s reflections on the Brendan Sorsby saga and its implications for Texas Tech.