Report: Texas Tech names Baylor assistant Joey McGuire next head coach

Just two weeks after firing Matt Wells in his third season, Texas Tech has reportedly zeroed in on its next head coach in Baylor assistant coach Joey McGuire.

It remains unclear when McGuire will officially take over at Texas Tech and when the university will announce the hiring, according to the first report by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Baylor is currently 7-2 and holds a No. 18 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 poll; the Bears are scheduled to host the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Nov. 27, the regular-season finale.

McGuire is currently the associate head coach and outside linebackers coach at Baylor, where he’s been for five seasons. Hired in 2017 by Matt Rhule as a tight ends coach, McGuire was retained by current Baylor head coach Dave Aranda. He later coached Baylor’s tight ends before moving onto his current role.

McGuire’s transition to Lubbock means the longtime Texas football coach will remain in state. Prior to his time at Baylor, McGuire served as the head coach at Cedar Hill High School in Texas, a program that hadn’t won a playoff game prior to his tenure. He took Cedar Hill to 12 straight playoff appearances, four state-championship games and won nine bi-district championships while amassing a 141-42 record.

Five years before his reported hiring at Texas Tech, McGuire made the transition from high school to college as one of Rhule’s first hires. Under Rhule, he helped Baylor turn around its program in three years, going just 1-11 in 2017, then following it up with two-straight winning seasons — 7-6 in 2017 and 11-3 in 2019 — including a Texas Bowl win and Sugar Bowl win. McGuire has aided in a similar rebuild under Aranda, as Baylor went just 2-7 in 2020, Aranda’s first year at the helm; now, Baylor is ranked in the AP Top 25 with a 7-2 record.

With the news of McGuire’s hiring at Texas Tech, the Texas native will take the next step in his coaching career, as he has not yet served as a head coach or assistant coach at the college level. However, McGuire’s connections to local Texas high schools may help Texas Tech’s recruiting efforts in the near future.

According to the aforementioned report from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, a coach that has worked with McGuire in the past labeled him “a people person” that will “create a culture that’s going to last.”

“You’re going to get a genuine person who really cares,” the coach said of McGuire, speaking under anonymity. “That’s why I think everybody loves him, because they can tell he actually cares.” 

Texas Tech replaces Wells with McGuire

McGuire’s hiring came just weeks after Texas Tech fired Wells, the head coach hired in 2019 to take over for Kliff Kingsbury.

Wells had a 13-17 overall record at Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders were off to a 5-3 start in the 2021 season. The news of his firing surfaced days after Texas Tech’s third loss to the season to Kansas State, a game in which the Red Raiders led 24-10 at halftime but got shut out in the second half, losing 25-24.

Sonny Cumbie, Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, took over as the interim head coach after the firing.

Wells had previously signed a six-year deal at Texas Tech that was set to run through the 2024 season; the deal was worth $18.8 million. According to local reports, Texas Tech owes Wells $7 million in buyout fees.