Joey McGuire reveals what he wants Texas Tech to be known for

Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire is heading into his third season running the program. It’s a team that he has the goal of being known for its toughness.

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,” Joey 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.”

Joey 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. 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 Joey 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.

“But it’s tough. I want to be known as a tough football team that’s very physical, that’s going to play you every single snap.”