LUBBOCK, TX — Joey McGuire became familiar with the adage “If you build it, they will come” while he was a 31-year-old head coach at Cedar Hill High School.

He heard that legendary Longhorns basketball coach, David Milson, gave his locker room and offices a makeover and wanted to see for himself. The first thing McGuire noticed was the trophy case and how full it was; Milson led Cedar Hill to a state championship game in 2004 and retired with nearly 700 wins.

McGuire was envious because the football team wasn’t as highly-decorated. He inherited a program that hadn’t posted a winning season in eight years and had never won a playoff game. He told Milson as much, proclaiming that, “I need some of these trophies. We’ve got to win.” 

Milson thought McGuire had his order wrong. He told McGuire to build the trophy case first. The winning would follow. McGuire immediately called the maintenance workers and pointed out an old inlet that used to hold pay phones and asked if they could build him a modest trophy case. It didn’t have any trophies to hold, but it could illustrate the intentions of the young, ambitious ball coach. 

That trophy case wasn't bare for long. Cedar Hill won its first district title in 2005, McGuire’s third in charge, and made the playoffs for the first time in program history. The Longhorns won their first of three state championships under McGuire the next year. He’d be the head coach for 14 seasons and leave with 141 wins, seven district titles, and 12 straight trips to the playoffs. 

The trophy case in Lubbock when McGuire took over the head coaching job at Texas Tech in November 2021 wasn’t exactly empty, but it wasn’t overflowing. Take away the individual awards and the team trophies for the Red Raiders would’ve likely fit in that old pay phone inlet that housed the first trophies McGuire won at Cedar Hill. There is even an empty spot in the trophy case at Texas Tech with a plaque that simply says "believe." An ode to building it before it happens. 

Texas Tech’s last outright conference championship was as Border Conference members in 1955. They shared two Southwest Conference crowns, with the latest coming in 1994, but have never won the Big 12. The closest they’ve come was in 2008 when the Red Raiders tied for the South Division championship with Texas and Oklahoma, but it was the Sooners who advanced to the title game.

And just like his first head coaching gig, McGuire didn’t wait for the success to build a monument. He, along with Dustin Womble, Cody Campbell and other powerful donors in Lubbock, built a cathedral for football behind Jones AT&T Stadium.

A $242 million investment created the largest continuous football facility in the country that includes zero-gravity chairs, a barbershop, the largest walk-through room in American football, and a two-story players’ lounge with a podcast studio. Those same donors chipped in another $50 million for the roster. 

Outsiders balked at Texas Tech’s spending spree, wondering if the West Texas oilmen would get a big enough return on investment to keep pumping cold hard cash into a football program that’s never won at the national level. But if the Week 11 clash with BYU was any indication, don’t expect the profits from the pump jacks in West Texas to dry up for the Red Raiders. 

“This is exactly why we invested into this program,” Campbell said before the game while standing feet away from the ESPN College GameDay set. The first time since 2008 that the flagship preview show of college football came to Lubbock. “I’ve seen what this place is like when we have a winning program. We knew we could create that again with the right resources and leadership.” 

The atmosphere leading into the game was electric. The sideline was overflowing with Red Raider royalty, including Patrick Mahomes, who took advantage of the Kansas City Chiefs bye-week by being the guest picker on GameDay. Danny Amendola, Tyree Wilson, and Tahj Brooks were also spotted walking around on the field pregame. For a day, Lubbock was the capital of the college football universe. They plan to make that a more common occurrence. 

McGuire built a dynasty at Cedar Hill with elite players and a winning culture. He sent 95 players to the Division I ranks and six to the NFL while leading the Longhorns. His teams, like the one he now coaches in Lubbock, held a talent advantage of nearly every opponent. McGuire’s superpower wasn’t winning with less, it was winning with more, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. He’s a master of egos. The perfect man for the job. 

“He is the perfect guy for this job,” Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard said. “This wasn’t the job he took initially, but the job that this place has become, fit like a glove for Joey McGuire because of what he’s done in his career.” 

Campbell and his business partner John Sellers made their fortunes as wildcatters, which are oil men who attempt to find oil in unproven areas. They’ve taken the money from that and are trying to strike it rich with another unproven commodity – the Texas Tech football team. 

The win over BYU puts Texas Tech two wins away from playing in the Big 12 championship game and three wins away from playing in the College Football Playoff. A 12-1 conference championship team would either get a bye to the quarterfinals or host a playoff game in Lubbock. 

Through Week 11 of the college football season, the Red Raiders look like a gusher. McGuire reached the top of his profession in the high school ranks in Year 4. With the resources and talent on his football team, he might repeat that trick in the college ranks.