If one season is any indication, the future of Texas Tech Football is bright under Joey McGuire. The 17th head coach in program history, McGuire led the Red Raiders to their best season in more than a decade in 2022, all the while energizing a fan base with a promising outlook for years to come.
 
McGuire pushed the Red Raiders to their 40th bowl appearance in program history after a 7-5 regular season that saw Texas Tech defeat both Texas and Oklahoma for the first time in program history, record five Big 12 wins for the first time since 2009 and finish 6-1 at home for the first time since that same year. The Red Raiders followed with a memorable 42-25 victory over Ole Miss in the TaxAct Texas Bowl, closing the season with four-straight victories for the first time since 1995.
 
The successful start to the McGuire era featured a fourth-place finish in the Big 12 standings, Texas Tech’s highest since the league went to a 10-team format in 2011. The Red Raiders were 5-4 overall in Big 12 play, making McGuire the first head coach to notch a winning conference record (above .500) in his debut season since David McWilliams in 1986.
 
Add in a recruiting class that ranked in the top 25 of the country, and needless to say, Texas Tech has quickly become a Big 12 title contender in short time under McGuire.
 
Texas Tech’s early success should come at little surprise as McGuire previously helped build a winning program at Baylor following a stellar 14-year run at Cedar Hill High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. McGuire, a 2020 inductee into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor and a 2022 member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame, was named the 17th head coach in program history by Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt on Nov. 9, 2021.
 
McGuire, a native of Crowley in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, created one of the most-memorable turnaround stories in Texas high school football history during his 14 seasons leading Cedar Hill. The Longhorns not only won at a high level under McGuire, but they transformed into one of the state’s most dominant programs with its first state title in 2006 and then back-to-back state crowns in 2013 and 2014.
 
Cedar Hill was an impressive 141-42 during McGuire’s tenure, going from an unknown to a state champion in only his fourth season as head coach. The Longhorns’ dynasty featured 12-consecutive playoff appearances, nine bi-district titles and seven district crowns under McGuire, including another appearance in the state title game in 2012 where Cedar Hill fell to Katy.
 
McGuire’s turnaround of Cedar Hill quickly placed him among the state’s most revered high school coaches as he was named the Texas Coach of the Year by MaxPreps, Dallas Morning News and Chevy Silverado in 2013. He also earned Class 5A Coach of the Year honors that season by the Texas Sports Writers Association (TSWA), Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, the National Football Foundation Dallas chapter and the Padilla Poll. He garnered the honor again from the Padilla Poll in 2014. The Dallas Cowboys also honored him as the organization’s high school Coach of the Year following Cedar Hill’s first state title in 2006.
 
A two-time District Coach of the Year (2005-06), McGuire coached in all but two Under Armour All-America games during his tenure and was the head coach of the 2013 Semper Fidelis All-America Bowl, both events that feature the nation’s top collegiate prospects. He was also the head coach for the north team in the 2014 Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA) All-Star Game.
 
McGuire, at only the age of 31, was promoted to head coach at Cedar Hill prior to the 2003 season following six seasons as an assistant coach. Cedar Hill had not recorded a winning season in the eight years prior to his promotion, a streak he quickly ended with a 6-4 campaign in his debut. McGuire was previously an assistant coach at his alma mater, Crowley High School, during the 1995 and 1996 prior to his move to Cedar Hill. 
 
The back-to-back state titles provided McGuire with several opportunity to depart for the collegiate level, a move he wouldn’t make until after the 2016 season when Matt Rhule contacted him shortly after his hire as the new head coach at Baylor. Needing someone with extensive ties throughout the state of Texas, Rhule hired McGuire initially as his tight ends coach. The move was perfect timing for McGuire, who had remained at Cedar Hill to coach his son, Garret, for his final two seasons.
 
Baylor quickly turned into a Big 12 title contender within three years of McGuire’s hire as the Bears finished 7-6 in only his second season on staff in 2018 after defeating Vanderbilt in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl. The Bears followed with one of its best seasons in school history in 2019 after opening the season with nine-straight wins en route to an appearance in the Big 12 Championship game. Oklahoma edged the Bears in overtime, sending Baylor to an appearance in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and a top-15 final ranking to close the season.
 
Baylor reached bowl eligibility three times with McGuire on staff and was in the midst of an eventual run to the Big 12 crown and a second appearance in the Allstate Sugar Bowl when McGuire was tabbed as Texas Tech’s new head coach late in the 2021 season. McGuire served as Baylor’s associate head coach during each of his final three seasons as he oversaw three different position groups during his tenure: tight ends (2017-18), defensive ends (2019) and outside linebackers (2020-21).
 
No matter the position, McGuire’s room was able to produce Baylor’s top standouts as four Bears heard their names called during the NFL Draft over his tenure. That list included outside linebackers Terrel Bernard in 2022 and William Bradley-King, a seventh round selection by the Washington Football Team in 2021, as well as defensive linemen James Lynch and Bravvion Roy in 2020. Lynch went in the fourth round of the 2020 draft to the Minnesota Vikings, while Roy was taken two rounds later by the Carolina Panthers. Bernard, meanwhile, was a third-round selection by the Buffalo Bills during the 2022 NFL Draft.
 
McGuire has a knack for developing top defensive end and outside linebacker prospects as Tyree Wilson added to his list of former pupils in the NFL following his first season at Texas Tech. Wilson, a first team All-America selection and an All-Big 12 first team honoree, was picked seventh overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, becoming the highest-drafted Red Raider defensive player in program history. Wilson matched Ring of Honor member Donny Anderson as being the second-highest drafted Red Raider in program history (all positions) and the highest in the modern era.
 
Baylor built a strong reputation as one of the top defensive programs in the country during McGuire’s tenure, namely in 2019 when the Bears’ defense featured both Lynch and Roy up front. The defensive line was possibly Baylor’s most-prolific position group that season as the Bears set a program record with 46 sacks, including 13.5 from Lynch alone. Lynch departed Baylor as the Bears’ single-season and career (22) sacks record holder as he was tabbed the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.
 
Following his success helping rebuild the Baylor program, Texas Tech was an ideal fit for McGuire, whose daughter, Raegan, was a recent graduate of the university. McGuire had visited Lubbock numerous times previously either to see his daughter or earlier in life when several life-long friends attended the university.
 
McGuire likes to say he would have attended Texas Tech, himself, had he not met his wife, Debbie. He eventually earned his bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1995. The couple has been highly-involved in the Lubbock community since their arrival, volunteering for numerous charitable organizations, including Covenant Children’s Hospital and through their Women Behind the Brand clinic each August.
 
The couple’s two children are also highly successful in their own walks of life as Garret is in his first season as the wide receivers coach at the University of Nebraska. Garret McGuire, at only 24 years of age, is the youngest FBS assistant coach in the nation entering the 2023 season as he previously served two seasons under Rhule as an offensive assistant with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Prior to beginning his coaching career, Garret was a quarterback and special teams player at Baylor, playing in six games from 2017-20 where he was a two-time Academic All-Big 12 first team honoree.
 
Raegan, meanwhile, is a fashion designer for AMUR in New York City. Her designs have been worn by several high-profile figures, including Natalie Biden, the granddaughter to President Joe Biden, as well as Taylor Swift on her spring 2023 Eras Tour. Raegan and her husband, Joe Tocco, were married in May 2023.

JOEY MCGUIRE CAREER EXPERIENCE
2022-present – Texas Tech Head Coach
2020-21 – Baylor Associate Head Coach (Outside Linebackers)
2019 – Baylor Associate Head Coach (Defensive Ends)
2017-18 – Baylor Assistant Coach (Tight Ends)
2003-16 – Cedar Hill High School Head Coach
1997-02 – Cedar Hill High School Assistant Coach
1995-96 – Crowley High School Assistant Coach



WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT JOEY MCGUIRE

Joe Martin, Executive Director of THSCA
“I am very proud and excited for Joey on being selected the next head football coach at Texas Tech. He is a homegrown product starting as a player at Crowley and working his way up the ranks to head coach at Cedar Hill and eventually as associate head coach at Baylor. He is a past member of the THSCA Board of Directors and has many friends in the high school coaching community across the state. Joey is as good as they come as a coach and we wish him the best!"

Glen West, Assistant Executive Director, Texas High School Coaches Association
“Joey is one of our own. He is a personable friend to many. In the world we live in today where fewer and fewer coaches have fewer communication with college coaches than in the past, this is a refreshing change. We feel there will be an open dialogue with all the high school coaches in the state, and he will get our full support. Joey is never too busy for you. He’s the same guy he was at Baylor as he was when he was the head coach at Cedar Hill High School. Parents will love him. Players will love him. It’s going to be a fun time. We are over the top excited for his hire at Texas Tech.”

Bob Stoops, former head coach at the University of Oklahoma 
“I believe this is an awesome hire as I’ve known Joey a long time since my first couple of years here going to recruit down in the Dallas area. He’s always run a first-class program, always very positive and was always close and connected with his players. The players love playing for him. I think football is relative and you do a great job, at whatever level you’re playing, I think there is no reason you can’t do it at a different level. He got great experience being at Baylor for the last five years, being with Matt Rhule, who I think is a heck of a coach. I believe that Joey is a person that connects, motivates players, and he will connect with the community and high school coaches around the state of Texas. I think he will do a great job.” 

Matt Rhule, head coach of the Carolina Panthers and former head coach at Baylor  
“I think he will be unbelievable ushering in a new era at Tech. I think that he’s one in a million. There are not many people like Joey McGuire as a person or as a coach. I think that there’s not ever going to be a bad day ever in that facility, and those players are going to be developed, they’re going to be loved, they’re going to be honed, and they’re going to be developed in every aspect of their life. He’s going to bring excitement to all of West Texas, especially to Lubbock. For Red Raider Nation, I think he’s absolutely going to be a bolt of energy, throughout the entire athletic department and you guys are going to play really good football, too.”  

Kim Mulkey, head women’s basketball coach at LSU and former head coach at Baylor 
“I am so happy for Joey. Not only is he a great coach, but he has the people skills to recruit. He is well connected to the Texas high school coaches. Texas Tech will love him and his wife, Debbie and their two children.” 

Mack Brown, head at the University of North Carolina 
“I’m thrilled Coach McGuire is receiving this opportunity at Texas Tech because he’s earned it. He was a great high school coach during my time at Texas and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s worked his way to a head coaching position in the Big 12. He’s a smart, innovative coach, who brings deep ties to Texas high school football with him to Lubbock. I’ve always admired him, and if I had a son, I would want him to play for Coach McGuire. I think Texas Tech made a smart decision here and Coach McGuire will do an excellent job for them.” 
 

Lets gooooooooooooo #WreckEm https://t.co/A1lw3CGCnb

— Joey McGuire (@JoeyMcGuireTTU) November 8, 2021