FRISCO, Texas — Despite parting ways with quarterback Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was in a rather jovial mood Tuesday at Big 12 football media days.
The Red Raiders, the defending Big 12 champions, initially signed Sorsby out of the transfer portal from Cincinnati, with a reported price tag of $5 million. Sorsby didn’t play a game for Texas Tech as he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after it was discovered he bet on thousands of games, including ones involving his own team, a violation of NCAA rules.
Sorsby received an injunction that would’ve that would’ve allowed him to play after serving only a two-game suspension, but ultimately the backlash from the Big 12 and even attorneys general from multiple states led to Texas Tech deciding to part ways with the talented quarterback.
The saga lasted a few months and was one of the biggest storylines of the offseason, but McGuire said he believed it didn’t have a major impact on the Red Raiders. In fact, he thinks it could be beneficial in the long run.
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“To bring a team together, shared success is part of it. But shared adversity brings you even closer, and the last couple of months we’ve gone through some adversity,” McGuire said. “I do believe if you walked into our building every single day you wouldn’t know anything was going on.”
The daily updates and response to the Sorsby saga were all over social media and TV. How could that constant noise not impact the Red Raiders?
McGuire cited the leadership of the locker room as being the key to blocking out the outside noise.
“A big part of that has been Ben [Roberts] and Sheridan [Wilson],” McGuire said. “We met multiple times, with them being our two captains, and really I talked through this with those guys and how they felt and what we wanted, and they’ve been incredible. I’m really fortunate. We got a really strong leadership group.”
Wilson was an All-Big 12 offensive lineman, while Roberts was an All-Big 12 linebacker. Wilson said the toughest part wasn’t the outside noise, but how it impacted Sorsby.
“Obviously with that recent news it broke our hearts,” Wilson said. “We lost a friend of ours, someone that we care about deeply. But if anything the whole situation, everything on social media, has really just brought this team closer together. We don’t really pay too much attention to the outside noise.
“All we’re worried about is what’s happening within the facility and the family.”
While McGuire leaned on his leadership group to keep the roster focused, McGuire himself leaned on some of his peers to help him avoid letting the constant chatter affect him negatively.
“There were some funny jabs taken by some coaches, but there wasn’t a lot of coaches that just really came out and said a lot of different things,” McGuire said. “So for my peers, I got a lot of support. [Oklahoma State’s] Eric Morris, the first day any news broke, called me and said I’m just doing a [wellness] check. He’s a good friend of mine.
“[BYU’s] Kalani [Sitake], a great friend of mine, said the same thing. [Arizona State’s] Kenny Dillingham made a joke in the group text, and he called me and said, ‘You know I was just kidding?’ I said, ‘Kenny, dude, I get it, man.’ So for me, I had so much support for my peers.”
Who is the next QB?
With Sorsby gone, the Red Raiders are going all-in on the Will Hammond era. Hammond was a four-star recruit out of Austin who has shown flashes in his two seasons in Lubbock.
“Will is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” Roberts said. “The second that he got in the building as a freshman, he was working harder than the starters. He’s always tried to be the guy, and he’s worked to be that guy.”
Hammond has appeared in 12 games and started three, throwing for 1,151 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 348 yards and seven touchdowns.
“Really fortunate to have a guy like Will Hammond,” McGuire said. “If Will doesn’t go down against Oklahoma State, we [would’ve] taken a veteran quarterback, but we felt like we had our starting quarterback.”
Hammond tore his ACL against the Cowboys, which opened the door for the Red Raiders to pursue Sorsby.
“With the amount of money that’s being placed in these rosters, we felt like if there was any setback injurywise, we couldn’t take a chance that he’s not going to be ready,” McGuire said. “We’ve been fortunate that he hasn’t had any setbacks.
“If you ask Will Hammond throughout this process, he would tell you he was our starting quarterback and wasn’t going to back away. He’s a unique individual.”
McGuire cited his performance against a ranked Utah last season as one of the reason he’s optimistic about what Hammond can do behind center.
Hammond completed 13 of his 16 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 61 yards on eight carries on the road.
“I remember that game. I feel like most people in that situation would be freaking out,” Wilson said. “A freshman coming into a big game like that against that crowd, most people wouldn’t handle it too well. But Will was ready to go, and everyone was like, ‘OK, bet, we’re ready to go. We’re ready to die for this guy.’”
When will Will Hammond be ready to start?
It’s clear that Hammond has the full support of the coaches and players despite it being unclear when he’ll get his first start this season.
Hammond is still recovering from his injury, and Texas Tech was initially targeting a return in Week 3 against Houston on Sept. 18. But at media days, McGuire told ESPN that there’s a chance Hammond could be available for the season opener against Abilene Christian on Sept. 5.
Hammond has plenty of talent and won’t need to do much initially with the Red Raiders returning so much production from last year’s offense, including All-Big 12 tight end Terrance Carter Jr.
But the Red Raiders didn’t just bring in Sorsby because of Hammond’s injury. The program also wanted a quarterback who could elevate the offense and ensure that what happened in the 23-0 defeat to Oregon in the College Football Playoff wouldn’t happen again.
With Hammond under center, assuming he’s healthy, Texas Tech has more than enough to repeat in the Big 12. But can Hammond be the spark that Texas Tech was expecting Sorsby to become?
Or will the Red Raiders regret not holding the line on Sorsby despite the pressure?
