Red Raiders Recruiting: Joey McGuire Proving Early In-State Dominance
The Texas Tech Red Raiders had a promising 4-1 start to the season last year under coach Matt Wells. Through Oct. 2, he had already matched his win total from each of the previous two seasons, as Tech had a 4-8 record in 2019 and a 4-6 record in 2020.
Surely the time for improvement in the program was arriving in Lubbock, right?
But in what might have been considered a premature move, Wells was fired three weeks after his fourth win of the season, and Sonny Cumbie took over as interim coach.
Now enter Joey McGuire, who was hired on Nov. 9 and is all too familiar with life in the Big 12 and in the state of Texas. The 50-year-old spent over 21 years in the Texas high school ranks where he dominated at Cedar Hill (Dallas). He took the Longhorns, who had not won a playoff game prior to his head-coaching tenure, to 12 consecutive playoff appearances, and three state championships. Cedar Hill went back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.
He then spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Baylor. The Bears had a rollercoaster of success during that time, going 1-11 upon McGuire's arrival in 2017 under former coach Matt Rhule, an impressive 11-3 turnaround two years later, to an abysmal 2-7 record in 2020 under Dave Aranda.
And though McGuire was hired prior to the Bears' Big 12 championship and Sugar Bowl victories, he was still a vital part of a Baylor team that had the most wins in school history at 12-2.
Now, he's already laying out the foundation for success in his first role as head coach at the collegiate level - and he's clearly still got his eyes focused on the Lone Star State.
Since his early November arrival, McGuire has added 20 hard commits to the team. But most impressive? Nineteen of them are from schools in the Lone Star State.
Some of the most notable additions have been Post (Post, TX) EDGE Isaiah Crawford, Waxahachie (Waxahachie, TX) cornerback Calvin Simpson-Hunt, Rider (Wichita Falls) athlete Anquan Willis, and Mansfield (Mansfield, TX) safety Brenden Jordan.
There are certain to be many more additions along the way and the team will still take time to develop into a legitimate contender in the Big 12. But with the early in-state recruiting dominance already becoming a staple of McGuire's tenure, the sky is the limit for the Red Raiders in the seasons to come.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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