Joey McGuire is in his fifth season at Texas Tech and is 38-18 as a college head coach, all of it in Lubbock, after Friday’s 28-26 win over Houston. He entered 2026 at 35-18 after winning the program’s first Big 12 championship and reaching its first College Football Playoff.
| Season | Record | Big 12 | Postseason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8-5 | 5-4 | Won the Texas Bowl 42-25 over Ole Miss |
| 2023 | 7-6 | 5-4 | Won the Independence Bowl 34-14 over California |
| 2024 | 8-5 | 5-4 | Lost the Liberty Bowl 39-26 to Arkansas |
| 2025 | 12-2 | 8-1 | Big 12 champion, beat BYU 34-7. Lost the Orange Bowl 23-0 to Oregon in the playoff quarterfinal |
| 2026 | 3-0 so far | 1-0, beat Houston 28-26 | Ranked No. 13 |
| Profile | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hired | November 8, 2021, by athletic director Kirby Hocutt. The 17th head coach in program history |
| Born | August 6, 1971, in Texarkana, Texas |
| Before Texas Tech | Baylor assistant from 2017 to 2021 |
| High school career | 142-42 at Cedar Hill from 2003 to 2016, with three state championships |
| Bowl record | 2-1 in bowls, 0-1 in the College Football Playoff |
| Consistency | At least five Big 12 wins in each of his first four seasons and four straight bowl appearances |
What the 2025 Season Changed
The first three years were solidly mid-table: 8-5, 7-6, 8-5, with a bowl trip every year and five Big 12 wins each time. Steady, but not the profile of a program anyone described as a national contender.
Then 2025 produced 12 wins, a school record, an 8-1 Big 12 mark, the program’s first outright conference title since 1955 and its first playoff appearance. The season ended badly, shut out 23-0 by Oregon in the Orange Bowl quarterfinal, but it reset expectations entirely. McGuire has now recorded more Big 12 wins than any coach in the conference since he was hired.
He is also a Texas high school coaching product in a way that still shapes the program, having gone 142-42 with three state titles at Cedar Hill before joining Baylor’s staff. That background is part of why tonight is unusual for him: it is Texas Tech’s first regular season home game on a Friday since 1941, a night he has spent most of his career coaching high school football. Our Texas Tech schedule page has the full season, and the school lists his bio at TexasTech.com.
The Bottom Line
McGuire is 38-18 at Texas Tech across five seasons, with four straight bowl trips, the 2025 Big 12 title and the school’s first playoff berth. He has never had a losing season in Lubbock.