Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt announced changes to department's plan for next academic year.
LUBBOCK, Texas - If the current makeup of college athletics were to be personified by one program's proactive commitment to name, image, likeness (NIL) opportunities and revenue sharing, it'd be the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the plains of West Texas.
Following unprecedented success in football, basketball and softball over the last few years, that progress has only continued for Texas Tech, but the rest of the country is following suit, too.
As recent as this week, SMU announced its own collective, which has raised a reported $50 million and has projections to bring in another $50 million by the end of the year. Other blue-blood institutions across the major revenue-driving sports have already been involved in these areas, as well, prior to the Red Raiders' surge into relevancy.
Now, this month Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt is announcing more progress in the department's plans for next academic year, including more scholarships, a maximum revenue sharing model for each sport to benefit from, and a public commitment to NIL.
Texas Tech is raising its revenue sharing budget from $20.5 million to $21.3 million, which is the new maximum that's grown 4 percent in accordance to the House vs. NCAA settlement from this past July. Those funds go directly to the Red Raider student-athletes.
The department also commits to adding "about 80 new scholarships worth $2.5 million to non-revenue sports teams and redirect up to $10 million of athletics department revenue toward NIL deals," according to reporter Don Williams of Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
"We at Texas Tech are going to continue to aggressively look for every competitive advantage that's going to allow our trajectory to continue to climb during this unsettled period of college athletics," Hocutt said to a member group of Red Raider Club, the athletic department's philanthropic arm that works closely with its donor collective, the Matador Club.
This, Hocutt explains, is just "bucket one," with more ideas over the next year and a half including direct sponsorship opportunities to student-athletes through NIL initiatives of Tech supporters and donors.
"I'll be direct," Hocutt said. "Bucket one alone is not going to get it done with the level of success that we've experienced this year. Bucket one, we'll compete for Big 12 Conference championships, but if we want to go to the CFP, if we want to go to the Orange Bowl, we want to go beyond, if we want to go back to the Elite Eight and further in basketball, bucket two is how we have to excel."
While Joey McGuire's football program is at the forefront of these competition conversations, all non-revenue-driving programs are expected to reap the benefits, as sports like baseball are anticipating an increase in scholarship money.
McGuire has joined Hocutt on their tour across the state meeting with Red Raider Club members to share about the program's latest developments.
The Big 12 Championship-winning coach believes these enhancements will allow Texas Tech to continue evolving, but he also hopes to flip the script on the reputation the school has garnered recently.
"Last year, we opened our doors, and we were very up front with that we were going all in," McGuire said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"This year, the story has to be that we’re here to stay, and this is how we’re doing it versus that it was about the money, or stuff like that. Let other people talk about that. Let them call the other teams out there, and let them talk about the money they spent.
"We’re not hiding from the money we spent, but we've got to create a narrative that guys are coming here because they want to be here, that this is a great place for players, and guys are playing the best years of their career here."
As McGuire's Red Raiders stormed their way through the conference and earned a berth to the College Football Playoff, he was aware of the noise. Texas Tech's brutal loss to Oregon, 23-0, after idling for nearly a month only amplified the scrutiny about the program not yet reaching elite, sustainable status.
McGuire says it's more than just the money or the athletic facilities that contribute to players coming to Lubbock.
But when it comes to Hocutt managing one of the nation's fastest movers in these modern spaces, it requires usage of as many resources as possible. And a formal plan is now firmly in place.