Joey McGuire on Texas Tech starting faster in 2024, finishing strong again

Things started ugly in 2023 for Texas Tech. But after a 1-3 open with the lone win coming against Tarleton State, the Red Raiders found some form and finished strong, going 5-3 down the stretch.

Head coach Joey McGuire thinks his team can mimic that end of season form — and out of the gate in 2024 — to a much better all-around season. He elaborated on the vision at Big 12 Media Days.

“To get to a fast start, the great thing is we’ve got five of our first seven games are in Lubbock, Texas, and everybody knows it is a really tough place to play in Jones AT&T Stadium,” McGuire said. “So we’ve got a great opportunity to get started on a fast note, and we need to do that this year to get going in the right direction.”

And given the late-season trends being good for the Red Raiders through two seasons with McGuire at the helm, he’s bullish on things getting right in 2024.

“That’s the question we’ve been searching throughout this offseason because we played well at home and we played well late,” McGuire said of starting strong. “We’re 8-2 in November and December games, and we’ve got to continue that because we’ve got some really tough road games late this season. I think the biggest thing is you contribute to being able to play and keep playing throughout the season is our culture. We have a really healthy locker room. Our guys love each other, care about each other and will really step in and keep playing for each other. So I think that’s a big part of it.”

McGuire shared what he wants Texas Tech to be known for

Part of why McGuire wants to be known as a tough team is because it’s tough teams that find ways to win in difficult situations. That, in turn, leads to key wins late in the season and could help Texas Tech to compete for a conference championship.

“I think the biggest thing, you know, being the toughest, hardest working, most competitive team, but it starts with being tough,” McGuire said. “If you’re going to win games on the road, you’ve got to be a tough football team. If you’re going to win games late November and December, you’ve got to be a tough football team.”

McGuire came to Texas Tech ahead of the 2022 season and immediately found success, going 8-5 in his first season. He followed that up with a 7-6 season in 2023, earning a second bowl win in the process. That came after he inherited a struggling Red Raiders team.

“We’re growing — we’re trending in that direction,” McGuire said. “We have not been tough enough to win games on the road. That’s been one of our biggest Achilles heels, consistently being able to win on the road. It’s tough to do that in this conference, but if we’re going to be in the mix, if we’re going to be talked about at the end of the year, playing in the Big 12 Championship, we’ve got to go to Iowa State. We’ve got to go to TCU, and we’ve got to go to Oklahoma State.”

One problem for Texas Tech under McGuire has been finding a way to win games on the road, going just 3-8 in true road games in his first two seasons. Fixing that is going to be a long way to finding the type of success he wants at Texas Tech.

“So we’ve got to find ways to win games on the road. I’m fired up. We’re going to get tested right off the bat against Washington State. It’s going to be a huge game. Mike Leach is getting inducted into their Hall of Fame. So it’s going to be a big game for Texas Tech and Washington State,” McGuire said.