​FRISCO, Texas — Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire said the program has operated as normal amid the disruption caused by the Brendan Sorsby gambling saga. The 54-year-old Texas native credited the university’s leadership and its boosters as he addressed Big 12 media days, explaining how he has navigated an offseason he never anticipated in his early coaching days. “We’ve all been in this together,” McGuire said. “I have good mentors, and I have a very strong football team. If you were to walk into that building right now, or even in January at any point during this saga, the football side of it, you wouldn’t think that anything was wrong or that anything was different.”
McGuire again defended the school’s support of Sorsby, including the plan to keep him ready to play even after the Cincinnati transfer acknowledged betting on Indiana games when he was a freshman with the Hoosiers. Sorsby spent the last two seasons with Cincinnati before joining the defending Big 12 champion Red Raiders on a lucrative NIL deal. The quarterback ultimately abandoned a legal fight to regain eligibility after the NCAA suspended him for gambling and has said he will wait until next year to enter the NFL draft.
Texas Tech, which went 12-2 last season, stood behind Sorsby as he sought rehab for his gambling issues and pursued legal action against the NCAA to reclaim eligibility. “I’m not going to ever change that I’m going to have my players’ backs,” McGuire said. “It’s really easy to tell a mom or a dad that you’re going to be there to help their son grow into the man he’s supposed to be, and then all of a sudden, when adversity hits, or something like the situation we had, to turn your back on them.”
McGuire said he spoke with Sorsby in the past couple of days, and that Sorsby is currently working out in the Dallas area, where he played high school football. He added that Sorsby should be able to make occasional trips to Lubbock and will have access to the university’s athletic facilities. “My biggest reason for wanting to be there is because I have addicts in my family,” the coach said. “Some of them are no longer with us. But the most important thing for me right now is that he continues to get help so there’s no relapse, and that he can become the person and the player he’s meant to be.”
Tight end Terrance Carter Jr. said he maintained contact with Sorsby during the offseason, a relationship that began to grow quickly and deepened over time. “When we found out he was going into rehab, I sent him a quick text: ‘I love you, bro,’” Carter said. “We still text a lot to this day. Our relationship is strong. It’s more than just football for me. Being there for my brother—that’s all I can do.”
Quarterback Will Hammond logged limited in-game action, starting twice and coming off the bench once for an injured Behren Morton before tearing the ACL in his right knee.