Texas Tech Football: 2025 Red Raiders Season Preview and Prediction
Texas Tech Football: 2025 Red Raiders Season Preview and Prediction originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Expectations for Texas Tech are significantly higher than ever before. There is complete buy-in from the coaching staff and donors, evidenced by the multi-million dollar roster investment through The Matador Club NIL collective, along with the recently opened $242 million Womble Football Center. Joey McGuire's seat is far from hot, but the pressure is certainly going to be ramped up to extremes from the media and fans alike, who are asking this one question: If not now, then when?
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[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 College Football Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]
More Big 12 team previews:
Arizona | Arizona State | Baylor | BYU | Cincinnati
Colorado| Houston | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State
Oklahoma State | TCU | UCF | Utah | West Virginia
Texas Tech 2025 Season Preview and Prediction
Previewing Texas Tech's Offense for 2025
Former Texas State offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich assumes that same role for the Red Raiders. Leftwich believes that the Red Raiders will challenge defenses vertically with long-limbed receivers Caleb Douglas and Miami (Ohio) transfer Reggie Virgil.
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Head coach Joey McGuire is confident that a trio of transfers — North Carolina tackle Howard Sampson, Miami (Ohio) tackle Will Jados and FCS Illinois State guard/tackle Hunter Zambrano — can make up some ground for Tech in the O-line arms race.
A stable of running backs will attempt to replace the program's all-time leading rusher, Tahj Brooks. USC transfer Quinten Joyner rushed for 478 yards and three touchdowns last season for the Trojans, while J'Koby Williams showed twitch and speed unlike any seen in Lubbock in some time.
One of the few constants for the Red Raiders is signal-caller Behren Morton, the third-leading passer in the Big 12 last season.
Related: Ranking the Big 12 Coaches for 2025
Red Raiders WR Caleb Douglas Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Previewing Texas Tech's Defense for 2025
New defensive coordinator Shiel Wood's primary objective will be to transform a unit that struggled to stop explosive plays (132nd in pass defense) and generate pressure on the quarterback (99th in sacks). The Red Raiders return a couple of key contributors from last year — linebackers Jacob Rodriguez and Ben Roberts. Together, the pair amassed 210 tackles and will be crucial leaders in Wood's revamped unit.
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Bolstering the line are a number of transfers — defensive tackles Lee Hunter (UCF) and Skyler Gill-Howard (Northern Illinois) and edge rushers Romello Height (Georgia Tech) and David Bailey (Stanford).
The Red Raiders also addressed their secondary via the portal, adding cornerbacks Brice Pollock (Mississippi State), Tarrion Grant (Purdue), Dontae Balfour (Charlotte) and Amier Boyd (UTEP) and safety Cole Wisniewski (FCS North Dakota State).
Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images
Previewing Texas Tech's Specialists for 2025
The kicking duties appear to be secure with the addition of Upton Bellenfant (Buffalo), who converted 18-of-21 field-goal attempts and all 31 of his extra-point attempts last season. Australian senior punter Jack Burgess averaged 42 yards per punt last year. Replacing Drae McCray's return prowess will be a collaborative effort.
National Ranking: 22
More Big 12 team previews:
Arizona | Arizona State | Baylor | BYU | Cincinnati
Colorado| Houston | Iowa State | Kansas | Kansas State
Oklahoma State | TCU | UCF | Utah | West Virginia
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Related: Big 12 Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2025
Related: College Football Rankings: Projecting the Top 25 Teams for 2025
Related: Athlon Sports 2025 College Football Preview Magazine Available Now
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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These guys were supposed to dominate last year, and they imploded.' 'There's a lot of questions here, mainly on offense. [Andy] Ludwig and Cam [Rising] are gone, and they're going with a spread and RPO scheme. It's going to look very different than what we're used to from this program. Kyle Whittingham's teams are defined by their physicality, and this is going to be more of a tempo, bang-bang approach to keep pace in the league.' Advertisement 'Defensively, they're replacing a ton, but that's not as concerning. The staff is great, they're consistent and good evaluators and developers of talent. They've got some dudes in that secondary.' 'If the offense can rebound, the defense will find their footing, too.' Related: College Football's Top 25 for 2025 West Virginia 'Rich [Rodriguez] hasn't been shy about expectations going into his first year back.' 'They need to find that group of backfield workhorses for the system to run. A lot of the guys they brought with them from Jacksonville State are at other positions, so the biggest thing to watch is how fast they lock on their ball-carriers and the QB. If that clicks, everything else will adjust quicker.' Advertisement 'I don't think they have the bodies yet on defense, especially up front. They're going to struggle on that side of the ball, unless they can really jump out on offense and keep them off the field.' 'This is an adjustment year where they can put in the culture and the scheme.' 'If they can lock in the offensive line and find their next guy in the backfield, they could finish ahead of schedule.' Related: SEC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2025 Related: College Football Rankings: Projecting the Top 25 Teams for 2025 Related: Ranking the Toughest College Football Schedules for 2025 Big 12 Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2025 first appeared on Athlon Sports on May 22, 2025
