‘I’ll give him $400K and steal him’ — the wildest NIL quote of the offseason just dropped from a not-so-blue blood, Power 4 program staffer
On Tuesday, Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard put the rest of the college football world on notice. If beating out Texas for five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo wasn’t enough, now the Red Raiders are letting everyone know it’s going to continue unless programs adapt to the new age of recruiting in the NIL era.“We’re […]
On Tuesday, Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard put the rest of the college football world on notice. If beating out Texas for five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo wasn’t enough, now the Red Raiders are letting everyone know it’s going to continue unless programs adapt to the new age of recruiting in the NIL era.
“We’re going to poach some guys,” Blanchard said at Personnel Symposium in Nashville on Tuesday. “I’m going to do senior evals on the 2026 class across the country and if somebody is underpaying an elite guy that has senior tape he might be a four or five-star guy and people are only paying him 100, 200-thousand I’m going to give him three to 400-thousand and go steal somebody.”
Joining the No. 6 overall prospect Ojo in the 2026 class, Texas Tech has also landed commitments from four-stars Chase Campbell, S’Vioarean Martin, and Donovan Webb. Joey McGuire’s class is currently ranked 26th in the country. But, Blanchard has no plans of slowing down this recruiting train in Lubbock.
“Alignment from admins to donors from the coaching staff to the scouting staff,” Blanchard said. “Resource rich university. A group of people that are motivated to see if they can turn Texas Tech into a new-age blue blood.”
In fact, James Blanchard has much more ambitious goals than landing a five-star prospect.
“Be a perennial top-10 in the country,” Blanchard said. “Be a playoff contender every year and dominate the Big 12 every year.”
And Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong thinks the Red Raiders can do it, too. 2027 five-star prospect LaDamion Guyton is scheduled to announce his commitment Thursday. Texas Tech is trending and Wiltfong has entered a prediction for Guyton to pick the Red Raiders.
This is no surprise for those who keep up with recruiting and in particular, Blanchard. The man is a dynamo and motivated to not only change the culture in Lubbock, but the entire recruiting landscape of college football.
“Guyton was heavily recruited by the likes of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee and many others,” Wiltfong said. “But in modern recruiting, Texas Tech has gained its footing on the NIL front and the financial opportunities the program has in place is translating into blue-chip victories on the trail including most recently five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo and four-star receiver Chase Campbell who are the jewels of a 2026 class that ranks No. 25 nationally.”
Steve Wiltfong doesn’t think the hype train stops at LaDamian Guyton, either.
“Guyton would be the Red Raiders’ first commit in a 2027 class that could be special. Two others they are in prime position for top-ranked quarterback Kavian Bryant (top two with Texas) and Rivals Industry five-star offensive tackle Cooper Hackett,” Wiltfong said. “I’ve also added a prediction in favor of Texas Tech to land Hackett. Sam Spiegleman had previously predicted both Guyton and Hackett to the Red Raiders.
“This kind of recruiting has always been Joey McGuire’s vision at Texas Tech. He spearheaded getting the donors, administration and staff on the same page with the goal of becoming a powerhouse.”
McGuire is a players coach and has a booster network which is motivated to compete with the Power 4 juggernauts in recruiting. Can the Red Raiders sustain this success year in, year out? For now, it seems like there is a very focused group of donors who are keen on competing with the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish of the recruiting world.
For now, most will shrug it off. But, if Blanchard has any say in the matter, folks will soon be afraid, very afraid.
