Rumors up that way indicate Campbell may ditch McGuire for Morris. Morris stated to them he is not going to talk about other jobs especially one his friend has.

In a somewhat related political story I read yesterday, Campbell's place on Tech's BOR could also be in jeopardy with a new administration coming in.

It wouldn't be surprising if Tech misses the playoffs, and, given their roster expenditures relative to the rest of the conference and how weak their 2026 schedule is perceived to be, such an event may prompt a change. At this moment, I doubt anyone outside of Lubbock believes that they will go 3-0 against Baylor, Oklahoma State and TCU.

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

cowboycwr said:

---

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

---

Also, one of the multiple negative impacts of the portal and NIL is with rare exceptions the days of players playing together on the same team for 3-5 years are gone as there is now so much annual roster turnover for everybody.You can buy good to great players in any given year, but you won't have the benefit of the chemistry and camaraderie that naturally develops from players playing together over multiple seasons. IMO this is another reason that seemingly good to even great teams on paper end up under performing per expectations.

Johnny Bear said:

---

cowboycwr said:

---

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

---

Also, one of the multiple negative impacts of the portal and NIL is with rare exceptions the days of players playing together on the same team for 3-5 years are gone as there is now so much annual roster turnover for everybody.You can buy good to great players in any given year, but you won't have the benefit of the chemistry and camaraderie that naturally develops from players playing together over multiple seasons. IMO this is another reason that seemingly good to even great teams on paper end up under performing per expectations.

---

So basically what I just said?

cowboycwr said:

---

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

---

I see the same thing with Manning at UT but he is not a transfer. In many games I've seen him pretty well ignored by teammates. You have a good point in your post. I think NIL is why we see stunning losses the week after the "big" game. i.e. Auburn beating UGA after UGA finally beat Bama. OU losing to someone immediately after upsetting UT. BYU losing to UCF immediately after upsetting ND. Ole Miss losing to terrible Florida team after beating LSU.

What about Senator Ted Cruz' proposed legislation concerning NIL and the portal?

PartyBear said:

---

In a somewhat related political story I read yesterday, Campbell's place on Tech's BOR could also be in jeopardy with a new administration coming in.

---

He''ll just have Paxton investigate and threaten them...


...wait...

...nevermind.

I know money talks, but he does not seem like a guy that would ditch after one year much less for a lateral move. Who would want to put up with college football's Jerry Jones?

I suppose it would depend on whether "Jerry jones" of Tech is going to pay you a UT or Ohio State salary and guaranteed for a long time or not.

cowboycwr said:

---

Johnny Bear said:

---

cowboycwr said:

---

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

---

Also, one of the multiple negative impacts of the portal and NIL is with rare exceptions the days of players playing together on the same team for 3-5 years are gone as there is now so much annual roster turnover for everybody.You can buy good to great players in any given year, but you won't have the benefit of the chemistry and camaraderie that naturally develops from players playing together over multiple seasons. IMO this is another reason that seemingly good to even great teams on paper end up under performing per expectations.

---

So basically what I just said?

---

Closely related to your post, which I agree with by the way but is an add on point (or at least intended to be).

I'm going to hold judgment on Morris until his QB is gone along with this batch of players. He might be great, but I'd like to see him 3 years from now

I think these are his players.

Not that i thought he was in play but Dickert just signed extension with Wake Forest so hes off the board.

I'm surprised he didn't wait a little longer to see what else might open up such as USC.

cowboycwr said:

---

Johnny Bear said:

---

cowboycwr said:

---

Buying talent only gets you so far. You still need a good coach (which they have), good position coaches and coordinators. But lastly the bought talent still has to have a drive, mesh, etc.

I feel like with some teams you are not seeing that last one happen. The players come in and don't get to know the rest of the team. They don't interact. They aren't friends. Especially at QB and WR they don't seem to build the same trust or connection that some seem to have.

Early in the year I feel like we saw that with DJ some. He didn't seem to interact with the team much. Now he does. He also appears to be playing more loose and having fun, letting go on the sidelines, laughing, etc. My wife pointed it out and wondered if Dave had maybe said something about how he (DJ) was the savior of his job/team and put pressure on him inadvertently but the new coach has let him know the pressure is not there.

Obviously no facts to back up the last two paragraphs but I feel both are pretty obvious.

---

Also, one of the multiple negative impacts of the portal and NIL is with rare exceptions the days of players playing together on the same team for 3-5 years are gone as there is now so much annual roster turnover for everybody.You can buy good to great players in any given year, but you won't have the benefit of the chemistry and camaraderie that naturally develops from players playing together over multiple seasons. IMO this is another reason that seemingly good to even great teams on paper end up under performing per expectations.

---

So basically what I just said?

---

If I could add, one of the biggest casualties of the NIL era is roster continuity. Few programs retain the same core players for 2+ seasons anymore. Although teams can assemble rosters loaded with talent, you need time together to form chemistry, trust, and cohesion. One of the reasons talented teams underachieve relative to expectations is the absence of those intangibles.

EvilTroyAndAbed said:

---

I'm going to hold judgment on Morris until his QB is gone along with this batch of players. He might be great, but I'd like to see him 3 years from now

---

Hmm. He took over Incarnate Word, without question one of the worst and most ill-equipped FCS programs, and recruited a 0-star QB named Cam Ward who'd follow Morris to Washington State before eventually landing in Miami and becoming the top overall pick in the NFL draft.

Then he went to North Texas and brought in a walk-on QB who didn't start a single game in high school, and now that QB is also projected to be the top-selected QB in the upcoming NFL draft.

One of his first jobs was co-OC at Texas Tech in 2013 when he coached a walk-on QB named Baker Mayfield who would go on to win the Heisman and become the #1 pick in the NFL draft.

Then the next year he coached a freshman named Patrick Mahomes who would go on to be one of the top QBs in the NFL, winning multiple Super Bowls.

I don't think it's just luck at this point.