Texas Tech’s SECRET WEAPON: How a Billionaire Landman is Fueling Their All-In NIL Bet! 🤯

Can Lubbock be changed by the Red Raiders spending a lot of money to acquire a stacked transfer class?

On the hoods of work trucks at drilling locations in the Permian Basin, Cody Campbell signed some of his first land purchases.

Campbell, a three-year offensive line starter at Texas Tech from 2001 to 2004, went out prospecting without the support of a big investor. Only he and John Sellers, a former teammate from Texas Tech and Canyon High School, were present. Double Eagle Energy is a fitting moniker for the startup that the two Canyon Eagles founded. For the former real estate brokers searching for a new career after the 2008 property market crash, the dangers initially appeared absurd.

Double Eagle made the decision to jump in when the market declined. They spent all of their money looking for leases in the Permian Basin. Campbell and Sellers purchased mineral rights by mining through land registries themselves, as opposed to the big boys who contract out such work. There was no assurance that anyone would succeed. Hell, they were on the verge of going bankrupt rather than becoming billionaires.

“We were the underdog,” Campbell noted. “And we had to find out a way to squeeze out some success amid titans, among huge companies.”

In one fabled tale, they extended a lease by paying $9,800 on a $10,000 credit card to a landowner, who then used the money to purchase a first-class trip to London. Double Eagle was unable to locate a buyer until the last hour before the option expired. The company barely survived thanks to the seven-figure deal.

Then the timing was perfect. When oil prices plummeted, Double Eagle was able to purchase enormous tracts of land. As technology developed, drillers were able to extract a large amount of oil at a lower cost, which increased margins. In one of its largest transactions to date, Campbell and Sellers sold for over $4 billion in cash and stock earlier this year.

Campbell has been searching for investments all of his life. He returns home with his latest. Campbell’s great-grandfather, a fourth-generation Red Raider, was a member of Texas Tech’s inaugural class in 1925. There, his brother and father participated in athletics. He assumed a formal leadership position with the school in April when he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Regents.

He still loves football, though, even after leaving Tech to join the Indianapolis Colts 20 years ago. He was supposed to co-chair a Presidential Commission and has been in President Donald Trump’s ear. He has devoted more time, resources, and energy to Texas Tech football than nearly anybody else. And he saw potential again during the Wild West period of collegiate football.

“College sports are a business more than they’ve ever been before,” Campbell stated. And I believe that for it to work, a commercial mentality is necessary. You must consider every dollar you spend and every action you take to be an investment.

A fan mocked him on social media following a heartbreaking loss to Colorado last season, urging him to “buy us an O-line.” Campbell’s response was straightforward: “I will.”

We had no idea that plan had been implemented months earlier. It is insufficient to make a football team better. It serves as a guide to highlight a whole area.

The Hub City is the name given to Lubbock. All of West Texas is connected by its central location at the Panhandle’s floor. The Midland Basin, located further south, is still one of the world’s most productive oil reserves. The Panhandle, populated by ranchers and cattle, lies to the north. The Metroplex, a dazzling economic powerhouse, lies to the east, while the west serves as the entryway to the American Southwest’s trails.

Texas Tech is located in the middle of the spoke. Since its founding in 1923, it has grown to rank among the most significant organisations in the area. It produces a large number of the physicians, lawyers, and businesspeople that populate West Texas. The expansion of the weather, agriculture, and energy industries has been greatly aided by the university’s research division.

Lubbock’s centre location makes it temporary and prepared to ride the waves of change. Additionally, college football was in full swing.

July 2024 was the month. Campbell convened a meeting in athletic director Kirby Hocutt’s private conference room with general manager James Blanchard, football coach Joey McGuire, and a few other Tech officials. He presented his great idea there.
The objective was to boost the roster in time for the Big 12 race and finish with a top-five transfer class. Money was no object while Campbell was in charge of a group of megaboosters that included Dustin Womble, Gary Petersen, and Sellers.

“It was just analysis of the legal situation and the business situation,” Campbell explained. “We look for possibilities to obtain a competitive edge every day at work. I thought it was just another commercial transaction.

Once, when Mike Leach, Campbell’s former coach, made pea shooter-armed quarterbacks famous, Texas Tech’s inventiveness made it the story of college football.

Leach had at least 11 former players and assistants who later became head coaches in the FBS. After ten years, Patrick Mahomes transformed the brand and is currently the NFL’s top quarterback. However, there hasn’t been much actual success in the victories column for any of the tall tales.

Under Leach, Campbell played offensive line and started in three consecutive bowl wins. It was the program’s highest ranking in almost three decades. He tasted it.

The landman desired more as he saw open areas ahead.

Campbell’s premonition turned out to be foresight. Revenue sharing will start on July 1, 2025, following the formal settlement of the House v. NCAA litigation. There may be an end to the days of college sports teams having completely uncapped rosters. A last-ditch effort was the off-season. And with it, 2025 turns into an investing opportunity that occurs only once in a lifetime. This might be Campbell’s alma mater experiencing another oil boom. Alternatively, the credit card can eventually reach its maximum limit.

“It’s a moment in time and an opportunity that may not exist again in the next decade,” Hocutt stated. “It’s an opportunity to go all in.”

II. The Scout Who Wildcatted
In a past life, Blanchard worked as an amateur scout on message boards, assembling fire hydrants. He was paid six figures for assembling them, including painting them red and fastening nuts and bolts. Blanchard’s attention to detail may have been influenced by this.

After proving himself in the Baylor scouting office, he was hired by Joey McGuire as his first employee when he was hired at Texas Tech. Since then, he has emerged as one of the sport’s most sought-after general managers, most notably for declining Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame offer.

Blanchard’s team assembled a sizable recruitment board of possible transfer targets months before to the portal’s launch. Many of them would leave for the NFL or never make it. It made no difference; the important thing was to be ready. A chain of command would need to be followed by other programs. Texas Tech, no.

According to Blanchard, “Our work is already done,” “We could just get him on campus, we already know what he is, what we’re looking for and what we want to do with him.”

Blanchard also had a look at the roster. The return of star linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and experienced quarterback Behren Morton allowed for the avoidance of high-paying jobs. Blanchard, however, knew exactly where he intended to spend his money after witnessing the Philadelphia Eagles use their outstanding trench skills to trample their way to the Super Bowl.

The growth of collegiate athletics GM: The head coach may be the only person with greater authority as the game becomes professional.
Dodd, Dennis
The growth of collegiate athletics GM: The head coach may be the only person with greater authority as the game becomes professional.
Texas Tech honed their case to the big men while blue-blood colleges scouted for expensive quarterbacks and receivers. For instance, Howard Sampson and Mack Brown, his previous coach at North Carolina, had a close bond. Brown and McGuire, a former high school coach in Texas, are still friends. Sampson, the 14th-ranked player in the country, cemented on his commitment during their FaceTime chat during his visit.

Romello Height, an edge rusher for Georgia Tech, signed up for the transfer portal on December 16, 2024. His agency was contacted early by Texas Tech. Height was on campus in a matter of days. He was immediately astounded by the presentation’s honesty and thoroughness. There was nowhere else he wanted to go. On December 19, he committed and cancelled the remaining trips.

“Like why not?” “Height said.” “You have everything you require. Your coaching staff is excellent. There are players who share your desires. Everything is here, just like man. Everything is present.

Additionally, Texas Tech has one additional secret weapon at its disposal. Just in 2025, the $242 million Womble Football Centre opened. It has state-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment, a huge weight room, and first-rate nutrition services. In addition, it features two player lounges, a barbershop, and more relaxation areas. Shiel Wood, the defensive coordinator, called it the “Football Resort.” It will only get more difficult for competitors to compete with it as more money shifts away from facilities and towards players. It was perfectly timed.

Perhaps even better than anticipated, the pitches performed nicely. Official guests are taken by McGuire to Lubbock’s well-known steakhouse, Las Brisas. He typically orders a peppercorn-crusted, medium-cooked fillet mignon with asparagus and mashed potatoes, which he describes as one of the greatest steaks he has ever had.

McGuire had to change things up with the tortilla-crust chicken penne at a period in December when he was eating out with recruits every day for over two weeks. One man can only consume so much red meat, even if he is a native Texan.

“I mean we’re bringing in people and we had a plan of, this is the number that we need,” McGuire stated. However, you say, ‘We can’t take this guy,’ when we turn around. It simply improves us greatly.