Staff Directory

Kirby Hocutt

Title:
Director of Athletics

Kirby Hocutt has guided the Texas Tech athletics department to unprecedented success since being named the 13th Director of Athletics in school history on March 2, 2011.

Under his leadership the past decade, Texas Tech has developed into one of the nation’s elite athletics programs, a tenure highlighted by not only success nationally but also unprecedented revenue growth, significant investments into the student-athlete experience and a transformation of athletic facilities. Hocutt, now the longest-tenured athletics director in school history, has been at the helm during Texas Tech’s most-successful period in school history where all 17 athletic programs have competed in the NCAA postseason or a bowl game with nine teams finishing in the top eight nationally of their respective sports.

Texas Tech’s success under Hocutt has only been complimented by an athletic profile with a list of achievements such as:

SUCCESS IN COMPETITION
When Hocutt was formally announced as Texas Tech’s athletics director, he stated he wanted to help build one of the nation’s top departments with success across each of the university’s sports programs. Hocutt has raised Texas Tech’s athletics profile, establishing the Red Raiders as not only the premier athletics program in the Big 12 Conference but one of the most-successful departments in the country.

Part of that success has stemmed from one of Texas Tech’s guiding principles – “win every day.” Texas Tech has claimed 33 total Big 12 Conference titles under Hocutt, including 14 the past two academic years alone, which leads all league schools. The Red Raiders combined for eight Big 12 titles during the 2024-25 athletic year, which marked the most in school history, before adding six more during the 2025-26 calendar year.

Texas Tech Football was the highlight of a successful 2025-26 athletic season as the Red Raiders dominated the conference with nine wins by at least 20 wins en route to claiming the Big 12 Championship title and reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time. The Red Raiders were the ninth athletic program to finish their season ranked in the top-eight of their respective sport under Hocutt, joining men’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), women’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), women’s tennis, women’s golf and men’s golf.

Texas Tech has controlled the track throughout Hocutt’s tenure with head coach Wes Kittley’s men’s program becoming the second sport in school history to win a national championship. Texas Tech has been close to raising the national championship trophy several other times under Hocutt as the Red Raider men’s basketball program fell seconds shy of outlasting the 2019 March Madness field, while the softball program under Gerry Glasco has reached the championship series of the Women’s College World Series in each of the past two seasons.

Glasco is one of several notable coaching hires Hocutt has made at Texas Tech, joining the trio of football coach Joey McGuire, men’s basketball coach Grant McCasland and baseball coach Tim Tadlock. Under Tadlock, the Texas Tech baseball program advanced to the College World Series for the first time in school history in 2014 and has since made three return trips to Omaha in 2016, 2018 and 2019. The Red Raiders have been a mainstay in the NCAA postseason under Tadlock with eight total NCAA Regional appearances.

McGuire, meanwhile, has captivated the Red Raider fan base in only four seasons with an enthusiastic energy that has been matched by Texas Tech’s performance on the field. McGuire is just the second head coach in program history to lead the Red Raiders to a bowl appearance in each of his first four seasons, which was capped this past year with Texas Tech’s memorable run to a Big 12 championship and appearance in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals at the Capital One Orange Bowl. In addition, Texas Tech has finished with a winning Big 12 record in each of his four seasons, joining Kansas State as the only league schools to do so, regardless of conference affiliation.

On the court, the Red Raiders have reached the NCAA Elite Eight round three times under Hocutt, including most recently to end the 2024-25 season under McCasland, who has pushed Texas Tech to the NCAA Tournament in each of his three seasons. Texas Tech has become one of the top college basketball jobs in the country not only because of its success the past decade but due to the fan support at United Supermarkets Arena. Texas Tech routinely boasts sellout crowds at both United Supermarkets Arena and Galaxy Stadium, making both venues among the top homefield advantages in college athletics.

RESPECT THE PAST, INVENT THE FUTURE
Not long into Hocutt’s tenure, Texas Tech unveiled in August 2014 the first athletics-specific fundraising campaign in university history: The Campaign for Fearless Champions. The campaign included four components – to enhance athletic facilities, invest in the athletics scholarship endowment, grow the J.T. and Margaret Talkington Department of Student-Athlete Development and provide for the future of Texas Tech Athletics. The more than $500 million initiative ultimately benefited all 17 Texas Tech programs as the most-successful fundraising campaign in athletics history.

It's part of a key component of the Texas Tech athletics department under Hocutt: respecting the past, all while inventing the future.

Soon after the campaign’s launch, Hocutt and Hall of Fame Coach Marsha Sharp created the Talkington Department of Student-Athlete Development to help prepare student-athletes for success after graduation. The department focuses on many life skills for student-athletes such as resume building, etiquette training, interview skills and leadership development. Since its inception in 2014, Texas Tech has been able to mentor thousands of student-athletes through programming such as the Suited for Success series and various internship opportunities across the country.

The student-athlete experience has been a key priority under Hocutt’s leadership as Texas Tech opened the Cash Family Sports Nutrition Center in February 2020. The state-of-the-art facility is the day-to-day dining location for the university’s more than 400 student-athletes, offering on-site meal preparations, a 220-person seating capacity as well as the Dean and Christi Quinn Education Kitchen for Texas Tech’s nutritional staff to educate student-athletes on proper cooking prep and storage.

As part of The Campaign for Fearless Champions, Hocutt provided the vision and the plans to build the $48 million Sports Performance Center, which opened in the fall of 2017. The world-class facility houses an indoor track and field competition venue and the Petersen Family Indoor Practice Facility along with sports medicine, nutrition and strength and conditioning areas. Texas Tech regularly hosts the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in the venue, which has been praised as one of the top multi-sport facilities in all of college athletics.

Texas Tech officially opened the Dustin R. Womble Basketball Center in May 2021, a $32.2 million, nearly 59,000-square-foot training facility for the Red Raider and Lady Raider basketball programs. The facility is easily among the finest in college athletics, providing both programs with their own practice courts as well as a 6,500-square-foot strength and conditioning area, one of the largest of its kind in the NCAA that is on-par with similar team headquarters in the NBA. Texas Tech’s final investment in the facility was the mounting of video boards in both gyms, making the Womble Center the only practice facility in the country at the time with interactive video boards.

Texas Tech closed The Campaign for Fearless Champions with its most-significant investment into now Galaxy Stadium to date with the completion of the $242 million South End Zone Building and Dustin R. Womble Football Center that opened during the 2024 season. The facility – boasting the iconic Double T scoreboard atop four levels – is the largest contiguous football complex in the country, providing McGuire and his staff with substantial investments in player development and recovery as the new day-to-day headquarters for the Red Raiders. Already labeled as one of the top facilities nationally, the South End Zone Building connects to the Womble Football Center and Sports Performance Center, combining for more than 340,000 square feet of space with a blend of world-class modern design and technology elements.

LANDMARK PARTNERSHIPS
In addition to raising Texas Tech’s profile through philanthropic giving, Hocutt has overseen naming-rights negotiations for United Supermarkets Arena and now Galaxy Stadium. Texas Tech secured a landmark 15-year partnership with Galaxy in July 2026 that formally rebranded the home of Red Raider Football to Galaxy Stadium. Similar to other recent large-scale partnerships with Texas Tech Athletics, the collaboration with Galaxy will provide Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities for Red Raider student-athletes through branded activation campaigns and original content, expanding visibility and commercial revenue opportunities. The partnership expands beyond traditional naming rights to include not only NIL support but also high-impact branding, enhanced fan engagement and meaningful community involvement across West Texas.

Texas Tech also launched a historic 10-year partnership with adidas in July 2024 to align the Double T with not only the global apparel and footwear provider but also Texas Tech alumnus Patrick Mahomes II. Under this partnership, Texas Tech will utilize not only the adidas logo but also Mahomes’ signature Gladiator logo, marking the first time an adidas athlete partner’s logo has been featured on official collegiate apparel.

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
Texas Tech student-athletes have excelled in the classroom under Hocutt’s watch, raising the bar multiple times in terms of the highest term and cumulative grade-point averages in school history. Texas Tech student-athletes have combined for at least a 3.0 GPA over 23-consecutive semesters through the 2026 spring term. During this span, student-athletes have set new school records for the highest semester and cumulative GPAs in history.

ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Throughout his tenure at Texas Tech, Hocutt has been prominent on several national committees, possibly none more recognizable than his role on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Hocutt was named to the CFP Selection Committee in 2015 and served as the committee chairman during the 2016-17 seasons. The CFP Selection Committee was responsible for selecting the top four teams in the playoff at the time, while also placing the next group of teams in the remaining New Year’s bowls. Hocutt also wrapped a five-year stint as a member of the NCAA Baseball Committee following the 2023 season.

Hocutt’s success at Texas Tech was recognized in March 2018 as he was named an Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Hocutt was one of four sitting athletics directors at the NCAA FBS level to win the prestigious award.

PERSONAL
Hocutt arrived at Texas Tech following three years at the University of Miami (Fla.) where he was named Athletics Director on Feb. 8, 2008. He previously earned his first opportunity as an NCAA Division I athletics director at Ohio University in 2005 at only the age of 33.

A native of Sherman, Texas, Hocutt also served stints in the athletics departments at Kansas State (1996-97) and the University of Oklahoma (1998-2005). Prior to his time at Oklahoma, Hocutt was the coordinator of licensing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He began his sports administration career as the assistant director of marketing and promotions at his alma mater, Kansas State.

A former football student-athlete at Kansas State, Hocutt was a four-year letterman at linebacker and led the Big 8 Conference in tackles as a junior in 1993. Hocutt, who was elected captain his senior year, was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team following his junior season. The Sporting News selected him in 1993 as one of the nation's top-20 “most underrated” players.

Hocutt earned his bachelor's degree from Kansas State in 1995 and his master’s of education degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2001. He and his wife, Diane, have two sons – Drew Phillips and Brooks Ryan. Drew is a Texas Tech graduate and was a three-year member of the Red Raider football program from 2022-24. Brooks is currently a student at Texas Tech.

THE KIRBY HOCUTT FILE
Date announced as Director of Athletics: March 2, 2011
Birthdate: Nov. 19, 1971
Hometown: Sherman, Texas
Bachelor’s of Science Degree: Political Science, Kansas State University, 1995
Master of Education: University of Oklahoma, 2001
Wife: Diane
Sons: Drew Phillips and Brooks Ryan

CAREER TIMELINE
1995-96 – Internship, College Football Association
1996-97 – Assistant Director of Marketing and Promotions, Kansas State University
1997-98 – Licensing Coordinator, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
1998-2005 – Associate A.D. for External Operations and Sports Administration, University of Oklahoma
2005-08 – Director of Athletics, Ohio University
2008-11 – Director of Athletics, University of Miami (Fla.)
2011-Present – Director of Athletics, Texas Tech University

NOTEWORTHY AWARDS/ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEES (past and present)

Big 12 Athletics Director Executive Committee, 2025-present
NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, 2019-23
Finalist for Athletics Director of the Year (Sports Business Journal), 2020
USA Football Development Model Council, 2019
NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year, 2018
College Football Playoff Selection Committee Chairman, 2016-17
College Football Playoff Selection Committee, 2015-17
Chairman, NCAA Division I Football Recruiting Subcommittee, 2013-15
Big 12 Representative, NCAA Division I Leadership Council, 2012-15
NCAA Division I Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee
Named to Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award in 2010
Orange Bowl Committee, 2009-11

TEXAS TECH'S ALL-TIME ATHLETICS DIRECTORS
2011-current - Kirby Hocutt
1996-2011 - Gerald Myers
1993-96 - Bob Bockrath
1985-93 - T. Jones
1980-85 - John Conley
1978-80 - Dick Tamburo
1970-78 - J.T. King
1960-70 - Polk Robison
1952-60 - DeWitt Weaver
1941-51 - Morley Jennings
1930-40 - Pete Cawthon
1927-29 - Grady Higgenbotham
1925-27 - E.Y. Freeland