Forget complex playbooks; the Red Raiders’ turnaround began in the dining hall. By prioritizing nutrition and player relationships, the head coach transformed the program’s culture over shared meals.
One of Joey McGuire's first priorities after arriving at Texas Tech had nothing to do with installing an offense, recruiting the transfer portal or drawing up plays.
It was food.
That probably sounds like an odd place to start rebuilding a football program. To McGuire, though, it represented something much bigger.
Appearing on the Next Up with Adam Breneman podcast powered by USAT, the Texas Tech head coach reflected on some of the conversations he had with players shortly after taking over in Lubbock.
And one complaint surfaced more than any other ... nutrition.
"It's going to sound crazy, but the way they ate, the food," McGuire said. "Literally, we didn't have a full-time dietician. We have two now that are just strictly football."
McGuire didn't hesitate to address it, hiring two full-time dietitians dedicated exclusively to the football program. While the move undoubtedly improved players' nutrition, he explained that wasn't the part he valued most.
Instead ... he kept coming back to everything that happens around the table.
"What is great about that was kind of interesting is think about all of the relationships you build over breaking bread with your guys," McGuire said. "How many times you've sat down with a group of guys and you just talk about life and it's over a great meal."
For someone who has built his coaching career around relationships ... the answer isn't all that surprising.
McGuire has long believed culture is established long before Saturdays arrive.
Throughout his career, he's emphasized creating an environment where players genuinely enjoy being around one another, and he viewed fixing something as simple as the team's dining experience as another step toward accomplishing that.
That's also why this story is about more than just food.
During those early conversations, players told McGuire something they felt needed to change. He listened, acted quickly, and, in the process, showed the locker room their voices mattered.
It's an easy detail to overlook, especially in an era where college football conversations are dominated by NIL spending, transfer portal additions and facility upgrades. Yet some of the earliest building blocks of a program aren't always the flashiest ones.
Sometimes they're found over lunch, where football takes somewhat of a backseat and relationships have room to grow.
