The Texas Longhorns play their final game of the regular season on Friday against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Leading the Red Raiders is head coach Joey McGuire, who is in his second year at the school. Much has been said about their final matchup against the Longhorns as members of the same conference, but McGuire knows the Longhorns well.
McGuire started his coaching career in Texas at the high school level, going back to his alma mater Crowley High School as a defensive line coach. He then transferred to Cedar Hill High School in 1997 and adopted the role of being their secondary coach before being promoted to head coach in 2003. McGuire led the Longhorns (yes, they’re also called the Longhorns) to four state championships, turning a team that hadn’t seen a playoff win into a playoff champion for 12 straight years. McGuire’s record as a high school head coach was 141–42 from 1997 to 2016.
McGuire joined the staff at Baylor University in 2017 as the tight ends coach, then worked his way to associate coach who specialized in defensive ends. During his time at Baylor, the Bears defeated the Longhorns two out of the five times the teams faced each other. Once current Baylor head coach Dave Arranda swiped the head coaching position in 2020, McGuire was shifted to outside linebackers coach.
In November 2021, McGuire would leave Baylor to become the 17th head coach at Texas Tech, arriving more than halfway through the season before truly settling into his role the year after.
2022 was McGuire’s first full season with the Red Raiders, and he took them to an impressive 8–5 record, including their 40th bowl appearance. McGuire led Texas Tech in defeating both Texas and Oklahoma for the first time in program history while also recording five conference wins for the first time since 2009. In the Big 12 rankings, the Red Raiders placed fourth, just under the Longhorns. Texas Tech made the TaxAct Texas Bowl last year and defeated Ole Miss 42-25.
This season, the Red Raiders sit at seventh in the Big 12 with a conference record of 5–3. To start the season, Texas Tech dropped their first two games of the season to both Wyoming and Oregon. Overall, McGuire and his squad sit at 6–5 and are not in the hunt for a conference championship, but are still bowl eligible.
McGuire currently holds a record of 14–10 for college games, but is only in his second year with the Red Raiders, which leaves plenty of time for him to build another team that he can consistently send to the playoffs, just like Cedar Hill.
