Watch: Joey McGuire Talks About His Offensive, Defensive Philosophies
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech’s new head football coach, talked about his offensive and defensive philosophies during his introductory press conference on Tuesday.
McGuire spent more than two minutes talking about his overall philosophies on both sides of the football, during which he also broke down the significant offensive changes that have happened in the Big 12 in recent years.
Carlos Silva Jr. of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, among others, posted the video on social media.
For starters, he told reporters that there’s a lot more ‘11’ and ‘12’ personnel in the Big 12 these days, with 11 personnel being one running back and one tight end and 12 personnel being one running back and two tight ends.
“It’s not the old Big 12, you know?,” McGuire said. “You play Texas, it’s 11 and 12 personnel. When you play Baylor, it’s 11 or 12 personnel, so it’s totally changed.”
It sounds like that’s the type of offense McGuire wants to run at Texas Tech. He talked about wanting to recruit more tight ends and being thrilled to have a 6-foot-9 tight end on the roster. He also talked about how the run game needs to complement the pass game, but also assured Red Raider fans that Texas Tech is going to throw the ball.
“I want to be able to run the football,” McGuire said. “Now that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to throw it all over the place. So the Air Raid, the people that love all that, hey, we’re going to throw the ball and it’s going to be electric.”
Defensively, McGuire said he favored an odd front, meaning a 3-4 defense, which is what Baylor currently runs. He also said he wants to hire the best possible defensive coordinator that he can, and one that understands the conference they’re about to enter.
“I want somebody that has experience in the Big 12,” McGuire said. “It might not be in the last couple years but understands this conference.”
McGuire was an assistant coach for five seasons at Baylor before Texas Tech hired him on Monday. Before joining Baylor in 2017, McGuire led Cedar Hill High School to three Texas state championships, 12 consecutive playoff appearances and a 141-42 record. He was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in 2020.
McGuire’s hiring led two Cedar Hill players to commit to playing for the Red Raiders before McGuire’s press conference on Tuesday — Jalon Peoples and Harvey Dyson.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
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