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How Texas Tech football will handle the looming 105-player roster crunch | Don Williams
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- How Texas Tech football will handle the looming 105-player roster crunch | Don Williams
Busy week and month ahead for the Texas Tech football program and coach Joey McGuire. The regular-season finale's Saturday, and the Red Raiders will recognize more than 20 seniors before the 11 a.m. game against West Virginia .
Then comes national signing day on Dec. 4, bowl selection Sunday on Dec. 8 and the opening of the NCAA transfer portal from Dec. 9-28. Complicating matters this year: The preliminary settlement of the House v. NCAA case . Among the provisions are a roster limit of 105 football players and athletics departments being allowed to share more than $20 million in annual revenue with athletes.
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Final approval of House v. NCAA can't come until early April, but coaches are proceeding on the assumption that 105 will be the maximum for a football roster. That means a looming numbers crunch for many teams, Texas Tech 's included.
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There are 98 players on the current Tech roster with eligibility remaining beyond this season. Additionally, the Red Raiders have commitments from 16 players to sign next Wednesday — they'd take one or two more with a yes from the right guy — and McGuire said Monday he plans to add 10 to 12 players via the transfer portal.
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Three current seniors also are eligible for a medical hardship waiver that would restore a year of eligibility lost to injury: linebacker Bryce Ramirez for the 2022 season, linebacker Trent Low for the 2023 season and offensive guard Vinny Sciury for the 2024 season. Rulings on such waivers usually come shortly after the season.
That adds up to 127 to 129, depending on portal adds. It's way beyond next year's anticipated 105, but not quite as cumbersome as it sounds. From Tech's 2023 roster, 20 players with eligibility remaining weren't back in 2024, most departing via the portal. Expect a similar turnover rate this winter, players either leaving of their own volition for more playing time elsewhere or being nudged out with the promise of help finding a new school.
"I want them to be able to go somewhere and play," McGuire said. Referring to the spring portal window from April 16-25, he added, "I look at April 16 as even a bigger date when it comes to some guys that are going to have an opportunity to show in the offseason and in spring football what they can do and that they have a spot on the team."
The process has already started with a moving-on announcement last week from cornerback Miles Thompson, a preferred walk-on who spent two seasons here.
LUBBOCK, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 14: Johncarlos Miller III 39 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders looks over his shoulder as he runs for a touchdown during the first half of the game against the North Texas Mean Green at Jones AT&T Stadium on September 14, 2024 in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Joey McGuire balances developing high-school signees with landing veteran transfers
McGuire's made recruiting and developing Texas high-school players a core principle, but he's quickly adapted to the evolving new model of college football. He recognizes the essential nature of landing "old guys" who "have played a lot of football."
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"This is the hardest thing, I think, for most coaches that are in it for the right reasons," McGuire said. "It changes a lot, how much time you actually have to develop and show that you're developing as a player, but at the end of the day, as a coach, I have a responsibility to this university to field the best team that I can field. And so whenever it gets to revenue sharing, it becomes much more of a business than it ever has been."
Five starters on the Tech offense, plus regular rotation tight ends Jalin Conyers and Johncarlos Miller, and six starters on defense are players pulled from the transfer portal.
McGuire said Monday this winter's portal shopping list includes one running back, one tight end, two to three offensive linemen, two to three defensive tackles and edge players, one or two cornerbacks, a safety and a kicker. Preferably, it'll be a kicker who can punt, because combo players have more value on a tightened roster.
Iowa State Cyclones wide receiver Jaylin Noel (13) gets tackle by Texas Tech Red Raiders' linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (10) and defensive back Chapman Lewis (25) after making a catch during the third quarter in the week-10 NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
Might Texas Tech football tackles leader Jacob Rodriguez declare for NFL draft?
McGuire's staff will start season-ending meetings with every player next Monday. That's not only players at the bottom of the roster, buried below the two-deep with little future, but players at the top of the roster.
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With linebacker Jacob Rodriguez , McGuire will talk over whether he could be a candidate for early entry for the NFL draft. Rodriguez ranks first in the Big 12 and sixth in the FBS with his 113 tackles. He's posted double-digit tackles in six of the past seven games with a bunch of other loud plays mixed in, such as late in Saturday's game at Oklahoma State when he recovered a fumble for a touchdown and sealed a 56-48 victory with an interception.
"Especially if he has another game like he's had," McGuire said, "there's going to be a decision that he has to make."
So saddle up. There'll be a lot more than bowl prep going on in December.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Texas Tech football will handle the coming 105-player roster crunch
