Texas Tech is a notorious spender in college football, but Joey McGuire stated it has far from the deepest pockets.
LUBBOCK -- Texas Tech has found itself in the midst of various points of criticism from those outside of the program, with one of the major gripes being its willingness to shill out big bucks for recruiting talent.
While it is no longer illegal by NCAA standards or particularly uncommon in this modern age of college football, much of the ire seems to be focused on the team hailing from Lubbock.
Head coach Joey McGuire is usually mum on the matter, focusing instead on the culture he is attempting to build and the relationship with athletes beyond their worth on the field.
But the leader of the Red Raiders did provide some insight into the dealings of the program during a recent interview and his comments reveal how much money is being spent or rather how much is not.
On3's Pete Nakos reported that McGuire shared with him that Texas Tech is not the nation's biggest spender when it comes to payments toward players.
"I don't know the exact number, but I know we're not the number one team in the country payroll-wise, and we weren't last year either," remarked McGuire.
"And we're not the number two. There are teams spending way more than us that didn't win a national championship last year."
That point is exceptionally strong on the part of McGuire, as one of the many allegations flying around following the disappointing loss to Oregon was that the season was a failure.
This was rooted primarily in the funds poured into the program and level of talent it netted, which was believed to be able to bring home more than a first-round exit.
But McGuire's comments highlight the sheer amount of other teams with lofty expectations and loaded-up checkbooks that ended up in the same spot as the Red Raiders.
Some, if not most, even wound up a worse position.
Texas Tech does have deep pockets and uses them to benefit the team, that much is a given. But these "buying a championship" claims or allegations that the strategy is against the nature of the sport are unfair, at least to throw just on the Red Raiders.
Especially considering they are not the biggest offenders. While it is not confirmed, these programs that McGuire referenced to be at the top are most likely ones that would be expected to compete regardless of cash.
And that seems to allow them to dodge the disdain hurled at the team that had not won 10 games in nearly two decades prior to last season.
The ultimate goal is obviously a national championship for McGuire and company and they will put their all into achieving it. And that is what every other contender is doing as well, whether they admit it or not.
