Texas Tech football makes shrewd offensive line coach hire
Clay McGuire was brought back home by the Texas Tech football team on Thursday to coach the Red Raider offensive line, which was a brilliant hire.
You can’t tell Clay McGuire that you’re never going home. Originally from Crane, Texas, and a Texas Tech alum, McGuire was named the new offensive line coach on Joey McGuire’s (no related) staff on Thursday. McGuire played football for the Red Raiders under Mike Leach. McGuire has been Texas Tech’s coach for the third time.
The Red Raiders made a wise choice in hiring Stephen Hamby, who served as Texas Tech’s offensive line coach for the previous two years before leaving the team earlier this month.
McGuire ought to be Texas Tech’s improvement.
He was an H-back player for Tech from 2000 to 2004 and later worked for Mike Leach as an assistant coach, graduate assistant, and intern in Lubbock from 2006 to 2009. Following the contentious split between Leach and Tech in 2009, McGuire proceeded to East Carolina, where he served as running backs coach under former Texas Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeil from 2010 to 2011.
He eventually returned to Leach’s staff in 2012, where he continued to coach the offensive line until the 2017 campaign. He returned to Hub City in 2018 to work alongside Kilff Kingsbury as the running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator.
That position didn’t last long, though, as Kingsbury was let go following the season. McGuire was able to secure employment at Texas State for the 2019 and 2020 seasons as the O-line coach. He subsequently served as the O-line coach for USC in 2021 before going back to Washington State in 2022–2023 to continue coaching the O-line.
Jarrett Kingston, a lineman for McGuire, was named an honorable-mention All-PAC-12 in 2022. His USC offensive line allowed the fewest sacks in the conference in 2021. Nevertheless, Washington State regressed last season, ranking ninth in the PAC-12 for sacks allowed—more than three per game. But WSU ranked third in the country in pass attempts per game (43), which contributed to the inflated amount of sacks.
The fact that McGuire has more major conference experience than Hamby is enough to convince someone that he will be a better player. The only places Hamby had coached before moving to Tech in 2022 were Tech (2013–15), Bowling Green (2016–18), and Western Kentucky (2021).
In addition, McGuire has seven more years of experience as an assistant coach. He has worked with renowned offensive coordinators like Leach, Kingsbury, and Lincoln Riley, the head coach of USC at the moment.
Texas Tech’s offensive line performed below average in pass protection during the previous campaign. Tech was an excellent football team at rushing the ball, but they faltered against strong defensive teams like Texas in the regular-season finale, as they only gained 198 total yards and gave up two sacks and five tackles for loss.
To help fix that problem, Tech is not only banking on a new offensive line coach but a host of new players as well. The team brought in three offensive line transfers and a top JUCO signee and all are expected to compete for playing time immediately.
In fact, only one member of last season’s starting offensive line, Caleb Rogers, will return in 2024. What’s more, he’s going to be moved to center from right tackle meaning there will be no returnees in the same position that they played a year ago.
Under Joey McGuire’s watch, the offensive line has been Texas Tech’s biggest area of struggle. Years of poor recruiting at that position group under both the Kingsbury and Matt Wells coaching staffs left the cupboard nearly bare when McGuire arrived.
Thus, the struggles Tech has endured up front can’t all be placed on Hamby. However, there was a need for change in the leadership of the line and that’s what Tech believes will help that group take a step forward. Clay McGuire is a shrewd hire given his major-conference experience and he should help elevate the performance of the O-line at Tech. Here’s hoping that his third stint in Lubbock proves to be his best yet.
