"The Deal of a Lifetime"

[ArizonaLonghorn]

This is how programs like Texas Tech, USC and A&M (and doubtless others, but those programs seem to be at the forefront) are reeling in top talent.

Story on ESPN about how Texas Tech built arguably the best DL in college football for a measly $7 million.  I know Texas was after at least two of these cats in the portal last year, Bailey and Hunter.

I'll quote a bit on how they convinced David Bailey to transfer from Stanford to Tech for around $3 million. 

(quote)

LUBBOCK, Texas -- I have the deal of a lifetime for you. Give me a call, bro.

Minutes after David Bailey entered the transfer portal March 28, Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard sent him that text message. The pass rusher from Stanford didn't respond. He wasn't answering calls, either.

Blanchard reached out to Bailey's agent, who informed him that the coveted transfer was leaning toward going to UCLA. But Blanchard wasn't giving up that easily. That night, he tried appealing to Bailey with one more text.

David, give me 120 seconds to have a convo with you. If you're not interested after that, I'll leave you alone.

Bailey remembers he was hanging out at a friend's house on a Friday night, back home after recently graduating from Stanford. He took the phone call out of curiosity. Bailey had been at the top of Blanchard's list of edge rusher targets in December, and the GM was willing to pay whatever he wanted.

Texas Tech wasn't just talking about going to $2 million. They were ultimately willing to make him the highest-paid defensive player in college football with a deal exceeding $3 million in compensation, sources familiar with the negotiation told ESPN. It's possible no defender in college football has earned more in the NIL era.

"I took that call," Bailey said, "and, yeah, everything changed for me."

Within two days, Bailey was on Texas Tech's campus for a visit. He still went on trips to Texas and UCLA, trying to gather as much information as he could ahead of a life-changing decision. But in the end, the Red Raiders made an offer he couldn't refuse.

And just like that, Texas Tech has built what it believed to be the best defensive line in college football. Bailey and Romello Height (Georgia Tech) bringing nonstop pressure off the edge. Lee Hunter (UCF), Skyler Gill-Howard (Northern Illinois) and A.J. Holmes Jr. (Houston) wreaking havoc inside. Five hand-picked players out of the portal who could transform not just their front but their entire defense. ...

The Red Raiders invested more than $7 million to secure these newcomers along the defensive line. They've been worth every penny for a program chasing its first Big 12 title and now ranks No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings ahead of Saturday's game with unbeaten BYU (12 p.m. ET, ABC).

Bailey is the national sack leader with 11.5

/quote

Does Texas need to pick it up a bit with tossing piles of cash around?  We are currently the third highest ranked team from Texas in the CFP standings.

[CJ Vogel]

There have been so many Texas Tech puff pieces over the last 2 weeks. One would think some of these national guys are getting paid in tortillas..

[CHorn427]

 If Texas and TAMU switched their marquee non-conference matchups (Texas @ ND week 2, TAMU @ Ohio State week 1), we would probably still be #1 in the country (if undefeated) or in the Top 5 (if we had lost a game). ND is severely overrated and we matchup very well with them. 
 

That ND win is doing championship level lifting for TAMUs season right now. Other than that, they have nothing but non P4 non conference + the bottom half of the SEC.

The discrepancy between Texas, TAMU and Tech has everything to do with differences in schedule. The difference between Texas and TAMU’s schedule is drastically different than the mainstream SOS/SOR rankings indicate due to hyperinflation of ND. 
 

Tech DOES NOT have the best DL in the country. They just get to go up against Big12 scrub OLs while our DL more than holds it own vs SEC OLs

[Lnghrn]

Tech doesn’t have a deep roster and it remains to be seen how they will compete against teams with deeper rosters if they make the playoffs.  They’ve played very few teams worth a crap.    They can throw out $3m to one guy or $1m to a few guys.  What would their record be in the SEC where those DL would face many more future NFL OL.

[CHorn427]

7 minutes ago, CJ Vogel said:

There have been so many Texas Tech puff pieces over the last 2 weeks. One would think some of these national guys are getting paid in tortillas..

Right? Texas would have been EVISCERATED if they spent as much as Tech only to poop the bed vs ASU. 

[CHorn427]

1 minute ago, Lnghrn said:

Tech doesn’t have a deep roster and it remains to be seen how they will compete against teams with deeper rosters if they make the playoffs.  They’ve played very few teams worth a crap.    They can throw out $3m to one guy or $1m to a few guys.  What would their record be in the SEC where those DL would face many more future NFL OL.

Forget depth- it remains to be seen how well Tech’s front line starters would hold up against teams that are actually talented and not G5 teams with makeup

[LonghornFan4Ever]

Although the thread is referring to this season's Tech team, I would imagine they will be the highest or second highest bidder (behind) Aggy in the Cam Coleman sweepstakes, but like mentioned in a previous thread, the biggest drawback to spending that amount of money on one player is it hurts your depth.  What if that star player you spent big on gets hurt?  It's a catch 22 for sure.

[Burnt Orange Horn]

How can TTU pay two guys $6M with a $20.5M revenue share cap??  🤔

[ArizonaLonghorn]

1 hour ago, Burnt Orange Horn said:

How can TTU pay two guys $6M with a $20.5M revenue share cap??  🤔

Look at the published details of the Felix Ojo 'contract' where it said "this much if we are capped, THIS MUCH more if things stay the same".

Would be very interesting to see how their deals are structured and if the NIL Go and Deloitte people are OKing these third party deals.  Haven't heard many details about the % of deals blocked by NIL Go since early September.

[NothinButDaHorns34]

2 hours ago, Lnghrn said:

Tech doesn’t have a deep roster and it remains to be seen how they will compete against teams with deeper rosters if they make the playoffs.  They’ve played very few teams worth a crap.    They can throw out $3m to one guy or $1m to a few guys.  What would their record be in the SEC where those DL would face many more future NFL OL.

They’ll be exposed if they make the playoffs 

[syracusehorn]

Ultimately, many college players will make more than their counterparts in the NFL. There's a shorter window where good players are more valuable to colleges than to pro teams. 

[jkates]

Good for the kid. Not sure allocating that much to 1 non-QB is going to be the wise move going forward. We shall see.

[HookemTexas]

I can’t imagine that’s good for the locker room if the mercenary doesn’t pan out.

[Tuco Ramirez]

36 minutes ago, NothinButDaHorns34 said:

They’ll be exposed if they play a ranked team.

fify

[HookemTexas]

Tech also doing this in softball and bought a stacked team.  They went from cinderella and the sweetheart team (though with the million dollar pitcher) to the team to hate (more than ou).

[Bobby Burton]

Funny to me that Tech is clearly trying to tell folks how much they are paying players in an attempt to attract others doing the same way in the future. Yet their biggest donor is trying to say he wants a level playing field. Very funny to me. 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

3 minutes ago, HookemTexas said:

Tech also doing this in softball and bought a stacked team.  They went from cinderella and the sweetheart team (though with the million dollar pitcher) to the team to hate (more than ou).

They also spent $4 million to retain star forward JT Toppin for their basketball team.  Toppin was an integral part of Tech making it to the Elite Eight last season.

Edited 2 hours ago by LonghornFan4Ever