Texas Tech University Athletics
McGuire recognized as Eddie Robinson Award finalist
December 09, 2025 | Football
Joey McGuire picked up his second national coaching honor in as many days Tuesday
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire was named a national coaching award finalist for the second time in as many days Tuesday as the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) selected him as one of its 12 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
McGuire, who was previously selected as a finalist for the George Munger Award on Monday by the Maxwell Football Club, is the lone Big 12 head coach among the FWAA's 12 finalists. McGuire was previously named the AFCA Region Six Coach of the Year a few weeks ago and is also on the watch lists for the Dodd Trophy and Bear Bryant Awards.
Among the finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, six pushed their teams to a conference championship, such as McGuire, and seven will lead their programs into the College Football Playoff. FWAA membership will determine the 2025 recipient based on regular-season performance, including conference championship games, with the winner being announced Dec. 16.
The other finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award include James Madison's Bob Chesney, Indiana's Curt Cignetti, Ohio State's Ryan Day, Texas A&M's Mike Elko, Virginia's Tony Elliott, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, Kennesaw State's Jerry Mack, UConn's Jim Mora, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Tulane's Jone Sumrall.
McGuire has transformed the Red Raiders into a national championship contender this season behind one of the most balanced rosters in college football. The Red Raiders enter their appearance in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals at the Capital One Orange Bowl as the only school in the FBS to rank in the top five nationally for total offense (480.3 yards per game), total defense (254.4 yards allowed per game), scoring offense (42.5 points per game) and scoring defense (10.9 points allowed per game).
The Red Raiders have been built in the mindset of their head coach with a dominant defense and a fast-paced offense that has pushed Texas Tech to a 12-1 record, with all 12 wins coming by at least 20 points. Texas Tech also leads the FBS in both rushing defense (68.5 yards per game) and takeaways (31) defensively, paving the way for the Red Raiders to join only Alabama in 2018 as the only teams in the Associated Press era (since 1936) to record 12 or more wins by 20-plus points prior to a bowl game.
Texas Tech picked up its 12th win by that margin this past Saturday after topping BYU, 34-7, in the Edward Jones Big 12 Championship. It marked the first Big 12 title in school history for the Red Raiders and their first outright conference crown since winning the Border Conference in 1995.
The victory over BYU kept the Red Raiders at No. 4 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, setting up a matchup with either No. 5 Oregon or No. 12 seed James Madison in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day. This is Texas Tech's first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff and first trip to Miami for the Orange Bowl.
The Red Raiders have been the winningest Big 12 programs under McGuire as Texas Tech has won 25 conference games in his four seasons, the most for any league school during that span. The Red Raiders are 35-17 overall under McGuire, which is the most wins by a Texas Tech head coach through 52 games since Pete Cawthon was 36-14-1 at the same point in his tenure from 1930-40.
The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. In 1997, the FWAA coaching award was named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.
