Texas has a September 9 deadline to back out of its scheduled 2028-29 series with Notre Dame, and if the Longhorns take that exit, Joey McGuire wants everyone to know Texas Tech is standing right there with its hand up.
"If (Texas cancels) we would love to play a home & home (series) w/Notre Dame," McGuire told On3. "I've talked to (Notre Dame coach) Marcus (Freeman). He would love that also."
“If (Texas cancels) we would love to play a home & home (series) w/Notre Dame,” McGuire told @On3. “I’ve talked to (Notre Dame coach) Marcus (Freeman). He would love that also.”
This isn't just about filling open dates. Texas Tech needed 2028-29 opponents after Mississippi State pulled out of its own agreement with the Red Raiders, and a marquee independent like Notre Dame is exactly the kind of national name a Big 12 program leans on to boost its profile. McGuire has already been floating the idea at Big 12 spring meetings, well before this On3 interview, so this is a pitch he's been making for months, not a one-off soundbite.
It also fits the persona McGuire has been building since he got the Lubbock job. Texas Tech has spent big in the transfer portal and turned itself into one of the sport's most disruptive programs, and McGuire clearly wants people to notice the shift in power. He leaned into that in the same interview, comparing his Red Raiders to Rodney Dangerfield crashing the country club in Caddyshack.
Tech is upsetting the old guard, like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack, McGuire told @On3. “We’re walking in the country club - Red Raiders have fun, are loud - and you have a bunch of guys turning around looking & going ‘Man, who the hell is this? And why are they in here?’
"Tech is upsetting the old guard... Red Raiders have fun, are loud - and you have a bunch of guys turning around looking & going 'Man, who the hell is this? And why are they in here?'" That's the branding McGuire wants attached to Texas Tech right now, and landing a Notre Dame series would be the kind of scheduling flex that backs it up on paper, not just in interviews.
For now it's all contingent on Texas actually pulling the trigger, and Austin hasn't confirmed it's cancelling anything. If the Longhorns walk before September 9, they owe a $500,000 penalty and Notre Dame is suddenly shopping for a marquee replacement opponent for 2028-29 — with Joey McGuire already standing in line with Marcus Freeman's number saved in his phone.