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Inside Texas Tech’s compliance strategy for Brendan Sorsby return to football
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- Inside Texas Tech’s compliance strategy for Brendan Sorsby return to football
As the Big 12 met to discuss what's next in the Brendan Sorsby saga, and the rest of college sports treats Texas Tech like persona non grata following a judge's decision to grant the Red Raiders quarterback an injunction that allows him to play in the 2026 season, the university's leaders recorded a 21-minute podcast that reiterated their "unwavering" support for Sorsby.
During the in-house podcast , Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt and associate athletic director Grant Stovall detailed Sorsby's compliance plan and addressed concerns playing a gambling addict who admitted on betting on his own team could have on the integrity of the sport.
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"I understand where my colleagues are coming from and some of their comments being made," Hocutt siad. "This is a young man… he's made mistakes. And he looked me in the eye this morning again and reassured me that he has done nothing to jeopardize the integrity of a game that he has competed in. He has not given information about a game that he has competed in. He has not jeopardized the competition or affected outcome of a game that he has competed in. So there are sanctions for mistakes. He has made a mistake."
Hocutt and Stovall were joined by TTU president Lawrence Schovanec and football coach Joey McGuire where the four repeatedly cited Sorsby's gambling addiction as a mental illness. That was at the heart of Sorsby's legal defense — a legal defense Hocutt was quick to point out Texas Tech wasn't a part of, nor paid for.
How is Texas Tech monitoring Brendan Sorsby phone, apps?
As part of his compliance, Sorsby will continue outpatient clinical care and individual and group therapy. Texas Tech has put a custodian on his personal finances, which includes a lucrative NIL deal. The school has placed monitoring software on his technology devices that prevents him from accessing gambling sites and monitors any activity on those devices.
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"The morning the injunction was awarded, Brendan immediately came to the football stadium to meet with our IT department, our compliance department to put the monitoring technology on his devices that allows us to monitor the sites that he visits and block certain sites from him going to," Hocutt said. "And he does not have the ability to uninstall those programs that are on his phone."
When will Brendan Sorsby play again?
McGuire said Sorsby being around his teammates and back in the football facility is the best place for his recovery. But the Red Raiders coach said, "We have a long time before we have to think about when he's going to play football again."
"I think right now so many people are pointing the finger, 'He's going to play, he's going to play, he's going to play.' He can play is what the judge said," McGuire said. "What we're trying to do is get him in a healthy space where feels great about what he's doing and deal with this addiction and it's day-by-day."
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The NCAA appealed the temporary injunction , requesting an accelerated appeal. A court date for the full case of Sorsby vs. NCAA is not scheduled until Feb. 8, 2027, as revealed in court documents — two weeks after the college football season concludes with the College Football Playoff championship game.
In the injunction, the judge included a two-game suspension for Sorsby (Sept. 5 vs. Abilene Christian, Sept. 12 at Oregon State). Sorsby's first potential game for the Red Raiders would be Sept. 18 vs. Houston.
But this saga is far from over. Stay tuned.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas Tech has a compliance plan for Brendan Sorsby — here's what it says
