Joey McGuire fielded more questions on the side of the main stage following his press conference. Surrounded by multiple media members, McGuire was first asked about Tyree Wilson, his gigantic outside linebacker.

"I don't know if anybody has seen him yet, but there was a tweet that we put out and somebody enlarged it and said, 'this is a huge human being,'" McGuire said. "There's been two very reputable NFL scouting groups that have shown him - the year that he has if he can duplicate and add to it - then he his a mid-round, first round draft pick. I think in (Tim) DeRuyter's defense you're going to see him shine."

McGuire was then asked about RB Tahj Brooks. He said Brooks needs to be healthy. He started last year healthy then got banged up and made a late return, but he needs to be available every week for them.

He mentioned Brooks is a total buy-in and is even on the leadership council. He's a physical back weighing around 225-228 pounds. He wrapped it up by saying he has a two-headed monster with Brooks and SaRodorick Thompson at running back, but both just need to stay healthy.

McGuire in his return to AT&T Stadium is reflecting on his time as a Texas high school coach, which was a huge talking point when he fielded questions. He said high school recruiting hasn't changed much. But what has changed is the transfer portal.

"Whenever I look at the portal I look at - we want to build from the high school level," McGuire said. "We want to develop those guys. We build a great culture then they're going to stay. They're going to be Red Raiders ... If I don't have a guy that is ready to play then that's when we look at that. That's how we look at it. We want to recruit out of the high school level."

McGuire was asked about NIL and he fully supports it. However, it gets sticky when you mix in NIL and the portal. He said you then get to the point where it's a who is talking to who on who's roster.

He said he used to say all the time in high school - 'hey, I'm going to play with my guys and you play with your guys and let's see what we do on Friday night.'

McGuire reiterated building from the ground up but also mentioned the balance of bringing in transfers. He said they will have a healthy locker room. There will not be a guy in the locker room making a load of money but hasn't played one down for Texas Tech.

Now as far as expectations, it's to play in AT&T Stadium. McGuire said it's his job to accelerate the process of getting to the Big 12 Championship. It starts this year with seven home games including games against Oklahoma, Texas and Houston. He said they can't let those opportunities slip by them being a first-year coaching staff.

That expectation would be quite something being as Texas Tech was picked to finish No. 9 in the preseason rankings. Here's what he said about that.

"The conference champion was No. 8 last year so that should tell you," he said. "The rankings are awesome. It's great for a start but Baylor won the conference and they were picked eighth last year. I honestly believe with what coach (Lance) Leipold in Kansas, bringing in (Brent) Venables who knows OU and what coach (Matt) Campbell's done at Iowa State - this conference - you better tee it up every single week and it's wide open."