After a summer of legal battles, controversy and bold words, Texas Tech begins Big 12 play with a target on its back.
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After an offseason laden with off-the-field drama, Texas Tech is 2-0 as it begins Big 12 play against Houston on Sept. 18. The Red Raiders, following a bit of a scare against Oregon State, have a bone to pick with their conference-mates after trying to add Brendan Sorsby via transfer after it was discovered Sorsby had a gambling addiction dating back to his time at Indiana, when he bet on games he was around the team for.
As a result, a protracted battle between Texas Tech and everyone else commenced. The college football world at large — other schools, pundits, and fans alike — said Texas Tech shouldn’t add Sorsby. And Texas Tech dug its heels in each time, with a big band striking up for a video that ran north of 20 minutes in which AD Kirby Hocutt and coach Joey McGuire were joined by other Texas Tech staff to explain the Sorsby situation.
That video was widely derided, and Texas Tech and Sorsby parted ways less than a week later following a lawsuit from the Big 12 against Texas Tech (that lawsuit has since been dropped). Campbell, however, wasn’t going to let sleeping dogs lie. In the Paramount Plus documentary “The Program,” which chronicled Texas Tech’s offseason, Campbell said of the drama:
“Looking back on it, I know that Texas Tech and I handled everything with integrity, and we did things the right way. I think this is something that could have been handled much more privately. We’re not going to forget about that, and I don’t think they’ll forget about it either when we’re up by 40 and still throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. That’s where the retribution will come.”
Campbell, who serves as chairman of the Board of Regents through January 2027, is one of the most prominent boosters in college athletics.
Cody Campbell, Texas Tech vs Big 12
Texas Tech was polarizing before the Sorsby debacle blew the lid off. With the school spending on high-profile athletes and landing Sorsby in the offseason, a team that made the playoffs last year looked to be even stronger.
However, in April it came to light that Sorsby had bet massive sums of money, including on Indiana football when he was part of the team. As such, Sorsby went to a treatment program for gambling addiction and received a permanent ban from college football, which Texas Tech attempted to fight.
TTU got its wish on June 8, with a judge issuing a temporary restraining order against the NCAA that would have made Sorsby eligible to play. From there, a spider-web of legal battles was backdropped by a call for Big 12 athletic directors to express their discontent with the ruling.
“We had a thoughtful and productive conversation with our athletics directors today as we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said after the call. “Many of our athletics directors voiced their opinions. We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference.”
Reports around the conference itself indicate something less than productive. Some reports went so far as to say it was floated to refuse to play Texas Tech this season.
“I don’t know how serious that was,” a Big 12 AD said, via ESPN, about that rumor. “I think people knew that was a bit of a stretch. But I think we were very serious that if [Sorsby] played in games, those games should not count towards the conference championship and we should hold them out of the conference championship. At a minimum, if he played, they were going to forfeit those games and they couldn’t qualify for the Big 12 championship.”
After Texas Tech put out its video, the Big 12 moved to sue Texas Tech for the Sorsby situation. It backed down shortly thereafter.
Cody Campbell comments
Campbell didn’t take the decision lying down.
He penned a letter to the Big 12, further emphasizing the school’s stance that Sorsby should have been able to play without backlash. He also said Texas Tech did nothing wrong.
He reiterated those comments on “The Program.”
“Looking back on it, I know that Texas Tech and I handled everything with integrity, and we did things the right way,” he said. “I think this is something that could have been handled much more privately. We’re not going to forget about that, and I don’t think they’ll forget about it either when we’re up by 40 and still throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. That’s where the retribution will come.”
Now, Texas Tech has to put up or shut up. Less-than-convincing wins over Abilene Christian and Oregon State call into question just how much running up the score will be happening. But the Red Raiders will be searching for a little extra firepower against Houston and the rest of the Big 12 with Will Hammond at the helm once again in Week 3.