Joey McGuire says his relationship with Texas high schools is ‘huge’ in recruiting

Joey McGuire knows where his roots are. He might have Texas Tech positioned as a dark horse to win the Big 12 this season but McGuire does not forget where he came from — Texas High School Football. A place McGuire spent over 20 years before moving to the college game.

“I’m a high school coach,” McGuire said when talking with On3’s J.D. PicKell. “I get to coach college football. It’s not the other way around. That’s my DNA. When we won the bowl game, Andre Ware said ‘maybe he will look at himself as a college coach.’ I’m like, no. I get to coach college. I’m a high school coach.”

McGuire spent 19 years at Cedar Hill High School, with 14 of them as the head coach. The Longhorns consistently made the playoffs and won three state championships (2006, 2013, and 2014). Eventually, Baylor and Matt Rhule came calling, working as an assistant in multiple different roles, before leaving in favor of Lubbock in 2022.

Just because he left the high school game does not mean McGuire has gotten rid of the relationships he built along the way. It was a huge recruiting advantage while at Baylor and now at Texas Tech. McGuire believes earning the trust of high school coaches is crucial throughout the process.

“It’s huge,” McGuire said. “They know me… I think the respect of that game (Texas Tech’s 17-point win vs. Ole Miss in the Texas Bowl) and the respect of the coaches — it helps. At the end of the day, you’re still recruiting a high school athlete like you did probably the last five, 10, 15 years.

“You’ve got to build relationships with the parents, the coaches got to know you care about them. There’s other people that come into that equation but at the end of the day, it’s still the high school coach having a big voice.”

The relationships are paying off in a big way for McGuire too. Texas Tech currently has the 19th-ranked 2024 recruiting class in the country with 13 commits. Every single one of them is from the Lone Star State. Ranging from West Texas prospects to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and even dipping into Austin.

Right now, four-star Prosper (TX) High School offensive tackle Ellis Davis is the highest-rated prospect. But the Red Raiders are gunning after some big names as well, including Five-Star Plus+ wide receiver Micah Hudson (competing against Texas) and the No. 1 IOL in the On300, Casey Poe (competing against Alabama, Auburn, Oklahoma).

Both Hudson and Poe recently completed official visits to Texas Tech.

In an era where a ton of different factors go into a recruitment, McGuire is making sure the relationship aspect is being prioritized. There might be some other obstacles for Texas Tech to overcome but as a baseline, the in-state high school head coaches are going to trust them.