Micah Hudson's Texas Tech story has already had more plot twists than most players get in a full career, and he's only entering year 2. The former 5-star signed with the Red Raiders, transferred to Texas A&M in December 2024, walked away from the Aggies before spring practice even started, then turned right back around and re-committed to Lubbock in April 2025. Now Joey McGuire is finally addressing the chaos out loud.
Speaking with On3's Pete Nakos, McGuire didn't dodge the elephant in the room. He said he and Hudson both made mistakes along the way, and pointed the finger squarely at himself for how it started.
"I put way too much pressure and expectation on him, and he put it on himself," McGuire said, according to Nakos. That's a coach admitting he hyped up a true freshman past the point of being fair — Hudson arrived in Lubbock as the highest-rated recruit in program history, and McGuire reportedly compared him to NFL receivers he'd coached in high school before he'd played a single college snap. That's the kind of billing that can crush a teenager, and it appears to be exactly what happened before Hudson bolted for College Station.
Hudson's freshman numbers never matched the hype — 8 catches for 123 yards in 2024, one start, and a stress fracture that ended his season early behind Florida transfer Caleb Douglas. The disappointment and outside noise clearly played a part in the portal detour, and McGuire's comments suggest the program is trying to reset expectations the right way this time instead of burying him under them again.
McGuire also updated the Quinten Joyner situation, and that one's a much better story. The USC transfer running back tore his ACL in fall camp last year and missed the entire 2025 season before he ever got to suit up for Texas Tech. He's reportedly trending toward being ready for the season opener, and he'll slot in alongside Cameron Dickey and J'Koby Williams in what McGuire has described as a three-man backfield rotation.
Texas Tech spent big to build a roster that's supposed to compete for a Big 12 title, and McGuire knows the pressure that comes with it doesn't just sit on his shoulders — it trickles down to guys like Hudson. How he manages that balance, letting talented players develop instead of anointing them before they've earned it, might say more about this Red Raiders season than any single stat line will.