ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Tech megabooster Cody Campbell has made loads of investments in his 44 years. There was actual property for slightly bit early on. Then there was the oil business, which made him a billionaire earlier than he was 40. The ensuing wealth introduced affect; he now has the ear of the President of the US on points in school sports activities.
However as he walked the Texas Tech sideline on Saturday in denims and a crimson quarter-zip as the ultimate seconds ticked down, it was this second that introduced the college’s board chair to tears. Hugs with gamers, coaches, and former Purple Raider gamers like himself.
An unprecedented roster funding from the brand new most well-known booster in school soccer, with others, produced this second: Texas Tech’s first Huge 12 championship. A 34-7 win over BYU, one other dominant efficiency. It’s Tech’s first actual convention championship since 1976 within the now-defunct Southwest Convention (there was a five-way tie for second in 1994 when undefeated Texas A&M wasn’t eligible).
It’s Tech’s first outright convention championship since 1955, within the long-forgotten Border Convention. It additionally means a first-round bye in Tech’s first School Soccer Playoff look.
So, the place does this return on funding rank?
“This one’s within the coronary heart,” a teary-eyed Campbell stated, tapping his chest. “There are a number of issues that make you cash, however this implies loads.”
Texas Tech board chair Cody Campbell and GM James Blanchard, who led the best way in placing this roster collectively, take pleasure in an funding paid off.
Tech’s first outright convention title since 1955. pic.twitter.com/lOr1jDDpKv
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) December 6, 2025
Tech not solely has a group that lastly crossed that convention championship barrier, however it additionally has one able to shake up the Playoff.
As a whole bunch of tens of millions of {dollars} have flowed to school soccer rosters in recent times, nobody was as public about embracing it as Texas Tech. The college needed to. Different applications have spent tens of tens of millions, too — Ohio State’s nationwide championship roster value round $20 million final yr — however Texas Tech needed to pay a premium. It wasn’t a conventional energy with annual paths to the CFP and the NFL Draft. The Purple Raiders had by no means even performed within the Huge 12 Championship Recreation.
Rival coaches have been shocked Texas Tech supplied greater than double the going price for sure gamers. The roster totaled a minimum of $25 million. The defensive position alone was $7 million. A nontraditional faculty doing this upset the apple cart.
“They’ve constructed the very best group cash should buy,” one Huge 12 head coach instructed The Athletic earlier than the season. “But when they don’t win the Huge 12, holy cow.”
They did.
The Purple Raiders welcomed doubters, individuals who questioned if this is able to be a group of mercenaries. As an alternative, they stormed via the Huge 12, now 12-1 total with all 12 wins coming by a minimum of 22 factors. They gained at Utah. They pounded BYU at house. The one loss got here at Arizona State, when the group was with out beginning quarterback Behren Morton. The protection leads the nation with 31 takeaways, together with 4 on Saturday, and it’s third in factors per recreation allowed and yards per play allowed.
“There was no selfishness,” Morton stated after the win. “There was no, ‘I’m making this amount of cash, and I’ve one yr left.’ It has not been in any respect within the locker room. That’s what actually makes us click on. Guys simply need to win soccer video games.”
This wasn’t a one-year cash drive both. 4 years in the past, Campbell, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and different Texas Tech dignitaries met coach Joey McGuire on the airport in Waco to interview him for the top teaching job. The Purple Raiders needed to rent a coach earlier than the season ended, and McGuire took the leap. McGuire was a Texas highschool teaching legend with three state championships at Cedar Hill, and a Baylor assistant on the time. Texas Tech employed him and started offering the sources to begin profitable. Services, employees salaries, and finally, gamers.
4 years later, lower than half-hour north of Cedar Hill up Freeway 360, McGuire gained the Huge 12 championship.
“I’ll be there for the remainder of my life,” McGuire stated, referencing a brand new contract extension he signed final week. “Man, I’m a Texan. I ain’t been wherever else. I’ll by no means be wherever else. I’m proud to be the top coach at Texas Tech, and this group’s not finished but.”
The Purple Raiders will get a first-round bye. They’ll possible be proper again right here at AT&T Stadium for the Cotton Bowl, based mostly on the geography of the highest groups.
Again in June, McGuire instructed Morton that the 2 of them would win the Huge 12 championship and stroll off the Dallas Cowboys’ subject collectively. He’d finished it thrice earlier than, for these highschool championships. For all of the spending Texas Tech did within the offseason, McGuire didn’t look to discover a quarterback to play over the fifth-year senior and Lubbock native. The Purple Raiders believed in Morton all the best way.
Greater than 20 minutes after the trophy had been awarded on Saturday, McGuire waited for Morton. The coach and quarterback discovered one another, embraced as they walked off the sector, heads up, soccer up, Weapons Up.
“We each, at totally different instances, have been beat up for being a highschool coach or being a man that’s injured,” McGuire stated. “We got here out on prime at this time.”
As Campbell walked towards the tunnel, Texas Tech band members yelled out, “That’s Cody Campbell!” Followers in sideline suites needed footage. School soccer’s new class of celebrities is the largest donors. As an alternative of placing a reputation on a facility, they’ll immediately pay for the group.
You may’t put a value on that profitable feeling. A yr in the past, SMU did the identical factor all the best way to the School Soccer Playoff. There’s a New Cash group in school soccer that doesn’t care about another person’s custom. It’s making its personal.
“I believe our likelihood is good,” Campbell stated. “We’ve received a group that may play with anyone.”
