He did great work when he was here

Texas Tech is giving GM James Blanchard a new two-year deal worth $800K total, per source. Tech officials believe this will make Blanchard one of the highest paid GMs in college football.

— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) August 1, 2024

He did great work when he was here, but he has a huge ego and is really bitter and vitriolic towards Baylor on twitter. Got really butt hurt about the Burns flip and is apparently telling our recruits that their checks won't cash

That dude was awesome. Miss him at Baylor and miss him on this board

He's on the rise

Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard has emerged as Notre Dame's top target for its general manager position, multiple sources tell @On3sports. https://t.co/bLLsKP5Ifh pic.twitter.com/uBB5ZkG8kw

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) January 29, 2025

OK, I will admit ignorance. I have never heard of a "general manager" position in college sports. Is this different from an AD (I assume it is)? But what is the difference between the AD and GM? I have heard in the past of a position called "director of football operations". Is this what it is? Just never heard the GM term used at this level before.

blackie said:

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OK, I will admit ignorance. I have never heard of a "general manager" position in college sports. Is this different from an AD (I assume it is)? But what is the difference between the AD and GM? I have heard in the past of a position called "director of football operations". Is this what it is? Just never heard the GM term used at this level before.

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It's relatively new for the college level due to NIL. Schools and teams are trying to base it on the NFL model of GM. At least, that's my understanding of it from what I've read.

blackie said:

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OK, I will admit ignorance. I have never heard of a "general manager" position in college sports. Is this different from an AD (I assume it is)? But what is the difference between the AD and GM? I have heard in the past of a position called "director of football operations". Is this what it is? Just never heard the GM term used at this level before.

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This is a new type of position with the rise of NIL. Its similar to the NFL where they find talent and I think they help decide how much each player is worth based on their talent etc.

He has a keen eye for talent and was great at initiating those invaluable relationships that gave us an edge as a smaller school with less resources. I also enjoyed seeing him post on the board. He did not mind contradicting the sunshine/company lines that are so often pushed

Good for him. Much rather see him at ND than Tech. He was always good at spotting talent, and his brother was easy to root for.

blackie said:

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OK, I will admit ignorance. I have never heard of a "general manager" position in college sports. Is this different from an AD (I assume it is)? But what is the difference between the AD and GM? I have heard in the past of a position called "director of football operations". Is this what it is? Just never heard the GM term used at this level before.

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I think it is essentially the official title of what was once referred to as the mysterious bag man in the days that paying players was illegal.

Former Tyler Junior College Apache, only recruiter I know that would drop what he was doing and meet you for lunch to talk about a local recruit, those days are over

PartyBear said:

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blackie said:

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OK, I will admit ignorance. I have never heard of a "general manager" position in college sports. Is this different from an AD (I assume it is)? But what is the difference between the AD and GM? I have heard in the past of a position called "director of football operations". Is this what it is? Just never heard the GM term used at this level before.

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I think it is essentially the official title of what was once referred to as the mysterious bag man in the days that paying players was illegal.

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This is an accurate description.
Money, women, booze....his job is to do whatever it takes to get the best talent to sign (and stay) at TT.

You stay classy NCAA........

Well….I didn't say GM's are supposed to be doing all that. Just managing and distributing from what was once called a slush fund.

Daveisabovereproach said:

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is really bitter and vitriolic towards Baylor on twitter.

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Please provide some links so I can put him in his place

morethanhecouldbear said:

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Daveisabovereproach said:

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is really bitter and vitriolic towards Baylor on twitter.

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Please provide some links so I can put him in his place

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I remember some screenshots being posted a couple years back. I think he got butthurt that we didn't give him some promotion or something to that effect, but Baylor still gave him his shot and allowed him to establish himself at the collegiate level, and he's done very well for himself and has made good money. That is why his trash talk always came across as classless to me. Baylor gave him his shot, and that's how he thanks us?

I guess I didn't see when he was named GM at TT?

He was still recruiting and position coach this past season, right?

Are any of these guys coaching and GMing? Only one I've heard of is Andrew Luck and I know he isn't coaching.


…guess I have been out of the loop- didn't realize OP was in August. Had no idea he had stepped out of the traditional coaching role.

Youre a clown said:

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morethanhecouldbear said:

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Daveisabovereproach said:

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is really bitter and vitriolic towards Baylor on twitter.

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Please provide some links so I can put him in his place

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I remember some screenshots being posted a couple years back. I think he got butthurt that we didn't give him some promotion or something to that effect, but Baylor still gave him his shot and allowed him to establish himself at the collegiate level, and he's done very well for himself and has made good money. That is why his trash talk always came across as classless to me. Baylor gave him his shot, and that's how he thanks us?

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Baylor gave him a shot twice actually. He served Rhule first then left with Rhule for the Panthers for a couple of seasons then Aranda gave him another shot annd re hired him only to then leave with McGuire after the first season of stint 2. So given that, his trash talk may be even more classless to some.

Footballscoop is reporting he is very close to bolting for ND. "Finalizing the deal" is how they described it.

BREAKING: Highly coveted general manager James Blanchard is turning down Notre Dame to stay at Texas Tech, @PeteNakos_ reports🌵https://t.co/r6lWIzLpDQ pic.twitter.com/4XyTWgrhXK

— On3 (@On3sports) February 7, 2025

gobears20 said:

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BREAKING: Highly coveted general manager James Blanchard is turning down Notre Dame to stay at Texas Tech, @PeteNakos_ reports🌵https://t.co/r6lWIzLpDQ pic.twitter.com/4XyTWgrhXK

— On3 (@On3sports) February 7, 2025

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That's a nice headline for TT winning a showdown with ND

Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard's new 3-year deal will have total value of $1.575 million, sources told ESPN. https://t.co/g32Dv0XOGP

— Max Olson (@max_olson) February 7, 2025

The bag gets bigger

The most influential general manager in #CollegeFootball.@CravenMike detailed the rise of #WreckEm GM @jkbtjc_53, who says he's got a top five job in the country right now at @TexasTechFB:https://t.co/wJVaN6gdf5 pic.twitter.com/jtxeu0wBm7

— Dave Campbell's Texas Football — TexasFootball.com (@dctf) May 31, 2025

I really need to get out more.

boognish_bear said:

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The most influential general manager in #CollegeFootball.@CravenMike detailed the rise of #WreckEm GM @jkbtjc_53, who says he's got a top five job in the country right now at @TexasTechFB:https://t.co/wJVaN6gdf5 pic.twitter.com/jtxeu0wBm7

— Dave Campbell's Texas Football — TexasFootball.com (@dctf) May 31, 2025

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National championship? I thought ND lost

I saw an article yesterday in which he claimed Tech is like Oregon now. It would be wise for them to do something before they make these types of claims. I would not want Baylor staffers making this type of claim and we have 3 XII titles played for another and have been in the play off picture 3 times over the past 12 years.

I think jkb is good at talent scouting but that's a lot of fancy coverage for what really amounts to "a billionaire just gave us a lot of money so now we're super rich".

Pecos 45 said:

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I really need to get out more.

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I like it when you go to Pecos and write about it. Certainly more interesting than what passes for football around these parts.

Stranger said:

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Pecos 45 said:

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I really need to get out more.

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I like it when you go to Pecos and write about it. Certainly more interesting than what passes for football around these parts.

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The college game I once knew is long gone.
It went by me so quickly I didn't even notice.

Pecos 45 said:

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Stranger said:

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Pecos 45 said:

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I really need to get out more.

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I like it when you go to Pecos and write about it. Certainly more interesting than what passes for football around these parts.

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The college game I once knew is long gone.
It went by me so quickly I didn't even notice.

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you ain't wrong there, neighbor