Texas Tech HC Not Confident Brendan Sorsby Plays Immediately After Suspension

As part of the injunction that deemed him eligible to play next season despite admitting to gambling on college football, Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby will have to serve a two-game suspension to open the season.

But just because he'll be cleared to play in Week 3 against Houston on Sept. 18, head coach Joey McGuire said that doesn't necessarily mean that's when Sorsby will make his 2026 debut.

"Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire asked from crowd what, if anything, could still happen to prevent QB Brendan Sorsby from playing this season," Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle reported.

"He says Week 3 against Houston is ‘still a stretch.' ‘He's recovering from an addiction … I've sat down with this young man and what he's going through is serious.'"

McGuire's remarks didn't sit right with a lot of fans on social media, many of whom didn't believe what the fifth-year head coach was saying.

To their point, it's hard to see the Red Raiders keeping Sorsby sidelined any longer than he has to be given how hard he and his legal team have fought for him to keep his college eligibility.

Not to mention if Texas Tech has any hope of repeating the success it found last year when the team went 12-2 and made it into the College Football Playoff, it needs Sorsby on the field ASAP.

The decision to allow Sorsby to play next year instead of losing his eligibility and having to enter the NFL's supplemental draft was a controversial one.

Fans, coaches, athletic directors, and everyone in between voiced their frustration with the ruling, which allowed the 22-year-old signal-caller to essentially get what equates to a slap on the wrist after admitting to breaking NCAA rules.

In a statement, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt disclosed that he understands the unrest about the Sorsby situation and the black eye it's given college football.

"I understand the frustration," Hocutt said in a statement. "This situation is hard, it is new, and there is no perfect answer. The system we're operating within is binary, but the situation is not.

"We are open to ongoing conversations about how to best handle these issues as an industry going forward. We will continue to be transparent in our decision-making. Most importantly, we will keep doing what we have always done, put our students first."

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 6:19 PM.