Joey McGuire doubles down on saying everything 'runs through Lubbock'

When coaches win a massive college football game, they tend to give passionate speeches afterward. Sometimes, fans are lucky enough that those speeches and their equally energizing and outlandish quotes get leaked, which is what happened to Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire following his team’s win over Texas last year.

As part of McGuire’s Hamlet-esque sermon in the aftermath of such a huge program win, he declared that “the country’s going to find out… everything runs through Lubbock!”

That bold statement was fodder for questions at this year’s Big 12 media days, which occurred this week. And when asked about that particular quote, McGuire threw Texas Tech’s Director of Storytelling, Patrick Clancy, underneath the bus. But he also acknowledged that he completely believes what he said.

“I love that question for so many reasons. For one reason because Pat Clancy is here and he is our storyteller for Texas Tech. I told him after that, I said, ‘some things are just for the locker room and some things are for everybody.’ He looked at me and he said, ‘I’m sorry, Coach.’ And I said, ‘You know what, Pat? There’s nothing that comes out of my mouth that I don’t truly 100% believe. So maybe that was for the locker room, but I still believe it.'”

McGuire continued, emphasizing the importance of getting his team to believe in the program’s mission.

“I think that’s such a powerful word, and whenever you have that in a locker room, you can do some incredible things. So I think our players do believe that.

“I do think in 2024 there’s an opportunity for some teams to take a huge step in this conference. It’s going to start this year with what we do, but whenever you have an administration and an alumni base that is behind a university like they are at Texas Tech, you do have that opportunity.”

McGuire went on to tout the current projects Tech is working on as well as the facilities and program as a whole.

“We have a $219 million project going on right now. We’ll have as good a facilities as anybody in the country. We have a very healthy locker room. We have a group of guys that believe in each other.

“I feel like we’re in a really good spot. I can’t wait to get into Big 12 play. And kind of like last year, there’s going to be a lot of really good games, and we’re excited to be a part of them.”

The Big 12 beyond this year is a vast unknown since it loses its top two programs, historically speaking. Well, Joey McGuire sees the realignment as an opportunity to advance his program up the totem pole within what will still be a top football conference.