Athlon’s Anonymous Big 12 Coaches Piece Includes Several Interesting Texas Tech Takes
Athlon Sports released its annual anonymous Big 12 coaches survey this week, and Texas Tech was discussed in an interesting way to say the least from other coaches in the conference. While the Red Raiders still received respect as a Big 12 contender, many of the comments surrounding the program leaned skeptical regarding the quarterback situation, roster construction through the portal, and whether Texas Tech can sustain the level of success it reached last season.
“[Brendan Sorsby] is not gonna be able to play, no matter what they say. There’s no way because once you open Pandora’s Box, it’s over.”
“It’s hard every year when you recruit the portal. Obviously, last year, they hit on all four of those D-linemen. Are they really gonna do that every year? I mean, that’s hard.”
“[Backup QB] Will Hammond is talented, but we all know with an ACL, it takes a long time to recover.”
“I think they’re still ultra-talented, so they can still [win the Big 12]. It’s just not gonna be easy. To me, it was BYU vs. Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship. Can you say that now? I don’t know.“
Personally, I found this next quote about BYU to be the funniest of the bunch, and this is no shade to BYU, because they do have a good program and have built one of the more physical programs in the conference. But, “totally different”…?
“At the line of scrimmage, they look totally different than any other Big 12 team.”
Saying BYU looks “totally different” than every other team in the conference in the trenches feels a little ridiculous especially if you compare to Texas Tech specifically. Did these coaches not watch both matchups last season versus BYU?
The Red Raiders just had four defensive linemen drafted including 3 in the top 75 picks, return one of the best offensive lines in college football entering 2026, and once again attacked the defensive front heavily through the portal this offseason. Add in returning talent like Howard Sampson, Jacob Ponton, plus another highly-rated transfer defensive line haul, and Texas Tech has as strong of a ‘trenches’ foundation as almost anyone in the country let alone the Big 12.
If you would like to read all the coaches quotes about each team in the Big 12: https://athlonsports.com/college-football/big-12-coaches-talk-anonymously-about-conference-foes-for-2026
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