Coach Prime lauds Texas Tech football's Joey McGuire for portal haul

FRISCO — The mutual admiration between Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire and Colorado coach Deion Sanders broke new ground on Wednesday, July 9, this time over their ability to add new talent to their rosters at warp speed.

Texas Tech has garnered national attention the past several months, first while mining the NCAA transfer portal for 22 players, many of them highly ranked, then after landing national top-five recruit Felix Ojo, an offensive tackle from Mansfield Lake Ridge, to a reported seven-figure deal over three years.

On Day 2 of the annual Big 12 media days, Sanders was asked if he’d kept up with the Red Raiders’ recent developments.

“Yeah, Joey got some money,” Sanders said boisterously from a stage at The Star. “Joey, where you at, baby? Spending that money! I love it. I love it. Once upon a time, you guys (media) were talking junk about me going in that portal. Now when everybody’s going in the portal, it’s OK. It’s cool when they do it. There’s a problem when I do it. Ain’t that a rap song?”

Sanders, a polarizing figure since Colorado hired him in December 2022, was commenting on a subject he’s plenty familiar with. He initiated massive roster turnover as soon as he was hired. He had a 2023 portal class ranked No. 1 by 247Sports, in part based on its quantity (52 commitments). CU’s portal class in 2024, this one with 43 commitments, was ranked No. 8.

Colorado took another 33 portal commitments this offseason, a group ranked No. 19 by 247Sports, but Tech’s collection is No. 2. Tech’s haul being fueled by the spending of The Matador Club has suddenly brought outside scrutiny onto the Red Raiders’ methods.

It was clear from Sanders’ tone and body language that he was having fun with the discussion of the Red Raiders, not throwing stones. One of Sanders’ sons played for McGuire in high school at Cedar Hill.

“First of all, let’s get this straight: I love me some Joey McGuire, one of the best coaches in this conference,” Sanders said. “I’ve seen him excel from high school all the way to where he is now and he’s a winner, and I absolutely love it. You know, I love him because he’s a man of standard.”

Interestingly enough, McGuire came out last month in favor of eliminating the December and April transfer-portal windows and replacing their combined 30 days with one 10-day period in early January. The latter proposal is one FBS coaches unanimously endorsed in January at the American Football Coaches Association annual convention. It still needs NCAA approval.

Colorado beat Tech 41-27 last season in the most hostile environment of the year at Jones AT&T Stadium, and McGuire beefed about officiating after the game. Days after the game, his staff and Sanders’ staff submitted a combined 13 plays for the weekly review by Big 12 officials coordinator Greg Burks, who agreed there were missed calls or incorrect no-calls on five of the 13.

Fan discontent was boiling over in the second half. Sanders recalled the Buffaloes being hit by tortillas, but then Tech fans turned it up a notch by throwing debris onto the field.

“Joey grabbed the microphone and told them to stop throwing at us or it’s going to be some consequences,” Sanders said, “and I love that, and I love Joey.

“I love you, man. I appreciate you. Can you send a few of those dollars to us so we can get some of those players, too?”

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