Texas Tech's Joey McGuire is officially a George Munger Coach of the Year finalist, earning national recognition for transforming the Red Raiders into a contender.
Texas Tech football is officially operating in rare air, and the guy responsible for the altitude just cashed in.
Fresh off delivering the program's first-ever Big 12 Championship Game appearance and a 12-1 record, head coach Joey McGuire has been named a finalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year Award.
It's the latest national acknowledgment that what's happening in Lubbock isn't a fluke ... it's a full-blown transformation.
In just five seasons, McGuire has dragged Texas Tech from "fun spoiler" status into legitimate national contender territory. He's 35-17 overall, with a bowl appearance in every single year he's been in charge.
That makes him just the second coach in school history to pull that off, joining the late Mike Leach.
Inside the Big 12, his body of work hits even harder.
McGuire owns 24 conference wins, tied for the most among current league coaches, and Texas Tech is one of only two programs, alongside Kansas State, to post a winning Big 12 record in each of the last four seasons.
That kind of consistency in a constantly shifting conference is exactly what the George Munger Award is built to honor ... leadership, stability, and big-time results.
Off the field, Tech has gone all-in on a modern model, and McGuire is the face of it.
The Red Raiders have embraced NIL and a forward-thinking revenue-sharing approach, helping them land the No. 2 transfer portal class in the country last cycle.
They're not just keeping up with the sport's new era; they're trying to set the pace.
None of this should shock anyone who watched McGuire's rise.
Before Texas Tech, he turned Cedar Hill High School into a monster, winning three state titles and reaching four championship games.
That success took him to Baylor, where he built a reputation as a relentless recruiter and respected defensive assistant. Lubbock just gave him the keys and got out of the way.
Now, Texas Tech has made it clear he isn't going anywhere.
McGuire has signed a massive contract extension that keeps him in Lubbock through 2032, with a reported $6.5 million salary next season and annual raises up to $7.1 million, plus up to $1.2 million in bonuses.
It blows away his previous deal and sends a pretty simple message:
You want Joey McGuire? You’re going to have to go through Texas Tech's new reality first ... the one where the Red Raiders expect to be in the national conversation every single year.