Max Olson
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.
Blanchard knew it when he first spoke with Bailey. “I’m telling you this is going to be the outcome,” he remembers saying. Bailey asked what made him so certain.
“The Big 12 isn’t equipped to deal with this,” Blanchard said.
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 and well on his way to becoming a first-round pick. He and Height, whom Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire lovingly refers to both as “Velociraptors,” are two of the most destructive pass rushers in the sport. Hunter, their star defensive tackle, is enjoying a career-best year. The Red Raiders have generated an FBS-high 175 pressures through nine games and needed just seven games to surpass their 2024 season sack total.
Now, BYU and “College GameDay” come to town in the Red Raiders’ most anticipated and consequential home game since they stunned Texas in 2008. Texas Tech assembled the most talented defensive line this program has seen — and spent all those millions — for moments like these.
“Ever since we walked in the building, I told Lee, ‘Man, this team is going to be special. We’re going to go a long way. This team is going to go far,'” Height said. “Lee was like, ‘We’re going to see.’ But now we all see.”
ROMELLO HEIGHT DOESN’T hesitate to explain why he picked Texas Tech last December.
“I’m not shy to tell you about this NIL,” he said. “It’s all over the internet now.”
Height said he made $250,000 last year at Georgia Tech. His agent was seeking a raise to $500,000 ahead of Height’s senior season, a number he felt was fair market value, but was rebuffed. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound outside linebacker had a good year for the Yellow Jackets after transferring from USC, totalling a team-high 29 pressures off the edge, but finished with only 2.5 sacks. Height insists he wasn’t looking to leave.
“They were like, ‘Nah, we overpaid him already,'” Height said. “So, my agent was like, ‘All right, we’re going to go get overpaid somewhere else.'”
Height was a big priority for Blanchard. He had watched tape of 50 other defensive ends and outside linebackers, and felt strongly that Height had all the traits he was looking for as the top pass rusher available in the December portal period. Blanchard wasn’t concerned about the lack of sack production. The way he sees it, sacks are 1% of the equation, and Height does the other 99% of his job at a high level, consistently forcing QBs to move off their spot.
“People were trying to say it was other guys, but Romello was the best one,” Blanchard said. “Y’all don’t know what y’all are looking at.”
His value in Texas Tech’s estimation: $1.5 million.
“Super jaw-dropping,” Height said.
The Red Raiders made the decision even easier for Height when they signed Hunter. The two were close friends from playing together at Auburn in 2021 and eager to reunite.
Hunter, the massive 6-foot-4, 330-pound defensive tackle from UCF whom teammates nicknamed “The Fridge,” entered the portal after coach Guz Malzahn left to become the OC at Florida State. Hunter had a lot of loyalty to Malzahn, who had recruited him since he was a high school freshman, and felt ready for a fresh start.
He lined up visits to Texas Tech followed by Texas, but committed during his trip to Lubbock. While he felt at home on the visit, he credits his mother for encouraging his decision. He said she has always been good at reading people and their “energy and vibe,” and she was totally won over by the warmth and authenticity of McGuire.
“When your mama keeps telling you something, you got to go with it, you know?” Hunter said. “Probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.”
The next morning, Hunter and Blanchard were at breakfast, and Texas kept calling.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry, Blanch, I gave my word, we good,'” Blanchard said.
Hunter flew to DFW International Airport on his way home to Mobile, Alabama. He said Longhorn coaches were waiting for him at the airport, in a last-ditch effort to get him on a flight to Austin.
“Me and my mom didn’t have much time to talk because we had like 10 minutes to get to the next gate,” Hunter said. “We kept walking. I got on a plane and went to Alabama and came back a Red Raider.”
Texas Tech paired him with two more key defensive tackles in Gill-Howard from Northern Illinois and Holmes from Houston. Many coaches were hesitant to pursue Gill-Howard based on his size (he was listed at 6-foot-1 and 285 pounds), lack of starting experience and concerns he might not perform at the Power 4 level.
Blanchard had stumbled upon him during the scouting process and trusted what he saw on tape, a disruptive player on a top-25 defense who played well against Notre Dame. He felt comfortable taking a chance on Holmes, a 16-game starter who had just played for new Red Raiders defensive coordinator Shiel Wood at Houston. Wood believed he hadn’t come close to reaching his ceiling.
All four of those moves might’ve been more than enough for Texas Tech as it aspired to build the top portal recruiting class in college football. But then, in the middle of spring practice, Bailey hit the portal after Stanford fired coach Troy Taylor.
It wasn’t hard for Blanchard to sell him to Wood. The defensive coordinator said Bailey was a “two-clipper.”
“You watch two clips and say, ‘Yeah, I like him. Absolutely,'” Wood said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘If there’s a possibility of getting this guy to come here and y’all think you can make that happen, please do so. We’ll find a spot for him to play.'”
Height was a big fan of that idea, too. McGuire needed a little more convincing.
“We’re halfway through the spring, and Romello is just unblockable,” McGuire said. “I go, ‘You’re telling me he’s better than him?'”
As they watched Bailey’s Stanford film together, McGuire knew he was a “no-brainer” evaluation just like Height and Hunter. But did Tech really need him? Blanchard kept talking him up and explaining how they could get Bailey enrolled immediately for spring practice. Then, Blanchard brought up the defending Super Bowl champs.
“What would the Eagles do? They’d take another defensive lineman.”
Bailey arrived in Lubbock in time to go through the Red Raiders’ final spring practices. As he watched Height, Hunter and Gill-Howard compete in one-on-ones, Bailey was blown away.
“I’ve never seen a D-line like this,” he said. “I’ve seen some high-caliber skill players. But a D-line like this? This is different.”
BAILEY CAME TO Texas Tech to finally win some football games.
He hasn’t seen anything close to this, enduring three consecutive 3-9 seasons at Stanford. He was underutilized last year, playing 20 to 30 snaps a game and special teams for much of the season. What he sought most in the portal — more than the money — was a team that would play as much as possible.
“I’m playing free and I’m playing fast,” he said, “because I know I got guys around me.”
Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech’s All-America senior linebacker, keeps coming back to the word “unreal” as he attempts to describe what the Red Raiders have put together on defense.
“I’ve never played football like this,” Rodriguez said. “It’s all 11 people on the field flying around and doing their job and executing at a high level. It makes football so simple and so easy. I’ve never had this much fun playing football ever.”
It wasn’t fun for Texas Tech’s offense in practices this offseason.
Offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich said there were a few days when his unit couldn’t get a first down. After Texas Tech’s second spring scrimmage, he overheard tackle Howard Sampson lamenting to Blanchard, “Man, I don’t know, we’re going to suck on offense.” McGuire reminded a frustrated Clay McGuire, Tech’s offensive line coach, that it wasn’t a fair fight for the No. 2 offensive line in practice because Texas Tech’s No. 2 defensive line was made up of last year’s starters.
“Mello and David were running so fast around the edge, beating the tackle so bad, that they were running into each other before they hit the quarterback,” Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton said.
“I’m telling him to slow down, bro!” Height said with a laugh. “It takes me three seconds. It takes him 1½ seconds.”
Any concerns about how these highly paid free agents might be welcomed by this new team were squashed from the start. Morton said the newcomers didn’t act like mercenaries “just trying to get money.” They fit right in far better than most would expect in the increasingly transactional portal era.
“They’ve connected so well with this team that it really does feel like Lee Hunter and Romello Height have been here their entire career,” McGuire said. “I hope they feel that way, that they feel at home.”
McGuire and Blanchard did their homework on these transfers, calling their former coaches to find out everything they needed to know. The process of identifying the right players for Texas Tech went far beyond the tape and included input from a sports analytics firm — as well as from the folks cutting the checks.
Blanchard kept billionaire boosters Cody Campbell and John Sellers involved in the portal process from start to finish, getting together for countless meetings and videoconference sessions where they’d watch film and discuss targets and what it would cost to go get them. Campbell would even queue up film on his tablet to break down at home.
“That was a lot of fun, to be honest with you,” Campbell said.
Campbell, Texas Tech’s board chairman, was a starting offensive lineman for the Red Raiders during his playing days and tends to keep his eyes affixed on the line of scrimmage during games. As exciting as it was to piece together a highly touted portal class, Campbell’s objective from the start was winning in the trenches.
Once Bailey was on board, Campbell was confident they’d assembled the best defensive line in Texas Tech history. That’s what he’s seeing every Saturday.
“They didn’t miss on anybody,” Campbell said. “It helps a lot with keeping donors happy whenever they see that return on investment.”
Blanchard has a theory about guys such as Bailey and Hunter and why they’ve proven to be ideal fits, something he picked up as a scout with the Carolina Panthers in 2020: He likes the best players on losing teams.
All they’ve ever done during their careers is go above and beyond to help make up for the talent around them. They’re used to having to strain, sacrifice and do more for their team to be competitive.
“Let’s put them in an environment where now they’ve got dudes around them,” Blanchard said, “and let’s see what happens.”
As the Red Raiders made their way through the tunnel into Jones AT&T Stadium to a sold-out crowd for a Saturday night kickoff against Kansas earlier this season, Hunter ran beside Height and let out a roar.
“I looked up,” Hunter remembers, “and I said, ‘This is what the f— we signed up for!'”
IT’S A RACE to the quarterback every time Texas Tech’s defensive line gets an opportunity to rush the passer.
“Nobody’s looking at each other,” Height said. “We’re looking at the ball. It’s time to go get it. It’s money time.”
Against Kansas State on Saturday, Bailey burst past the Wildcats’ right tackle on a third down and crashed into quarterback Avery Johnson within 2.2 seconds. In the fourth quarter, Height hunted him down from behind for a sack and forced fumble that Tech linebacker John Curry scooped up for a score.
After a long afternoon of hard hits, scrambles and incompletions in a 43-20 defeat, Johnson was asked if Texas Tech’s D-line was as good as advertised.
“Uh, yeah, I would say so,” Johnson said. “That’s probably the best defense I’ve faced in my three years in college.”
Texas Tech has built a top-five scoring defense thanks to an overwhelming amount of pressure up front.
The Red Raiders have generated 175 pass rush pressures this season, according to ESPN Research, despite blitzing only 20% of the time. Bailey (46) and Height (37) rank first and third, respectively, in edge pressures this season, and Holmes ranks fourth in defensive tackle pressures (18) since stepping in for Gill-Howard, who’s sidelined after undergoing surgery for an ankle injury last month. Together, they’ve already broken Texas Tech’s single-game record with nine sacks against Kansas.
“It’s a tremendous advantage when you can get pressure with four, and that’s what we’re able to do,” Wood said. “We’re able to affect the quarterback with rushing four guys on first, second and third down. It changes the complexion of the game when you can do that.”
From Day 1, though, Wood preached to his players that they had to earn the right to rush the passer. If they wanted to be a championship defense, he said, they had to stop the run. The Red Raiders have the No. 1 run defense in the country, holding six of nine opponents under 100 rushing yards, and have an FBS-high 16 forced fumbles.
But ask anyone in the program why they’re elite against the run and they point to Hunter. He’s doing the dirty work, taking on two or three linemen and creating clear gaps and easy plays for Rodriguez and the linebackers.
“I know I’m going to get two,” Hunter said. “If two people are on me, my linebackers can eat. My brothers can eat. As long as everybody around me is eating and we’re winning, I’m happy.”
Another critical byproduct of the dominance up front: Texas Tech has the most improved pass defense in the country, allowing 111 fewer passing yards per game than a year ago. Tie it all together, like Wood has with sharp in-game adjustments and a variety of creative alignments, and you get a defense that makes game-changing plays and has helped create 88 points off turnovers.
“It’s not easy to get something built and up and running at a high level in Year 1,” Wood said, “We’re sitting here because of the great effort that our players have put in.”
Blanchard knew if he got the right players up front, Tech could overwhelm its conference foes. Over the past decade, the Big 12 has produced two offensive linemen selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Both came from Oklahoma, now in the SEC. The first big test came in the Big 12 opener at Utah, against two potential first-round tackles in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu and an offensive line that Utah’s Kyle Whittingham called the best he has ever coached.
“That week, everybody was hyping us up, saying, ‘Y’all are going to kill them,'” Height said. “I didn’t hear David say a word about killing them that whole week. I dang sure didn’t say a word about killing them. We have a humble mindset going into every game, knowing we just got to do our job.”
The results? Texas Tech’s defense got 19 pressures and forced six three-and-outs and four turnovers in a 34-10 rout.
“I never would’ve believed it if you would’ve said we would lose the line of scrimmage,” Whittingham said afterward. “Never would’ve believed that in a million years. But we did.”
Bailey is performing like a first-rounder and is the No. 12 pick in Jordan Reid’s latest 2026 mock draft. Hunter is Mel Kiper’s third-ranked defensive tackle prospect, and Height is his No. 5 outside linebacker. All three have significantly boosted their draft status at Texas Tech. And that proof of concept is making it even easier for Blanchard to assemble next year’s defensive line.
Texas Tech has landed commitments from LaDamion Guyton, ESPN’s No. 1 outside linebacker in the 2026 class, and top-ranked 2027 defensive tackle Jalen Brewster. And through his daily conversations with agents, Blanchard already knows which potential transfers he wants for 2026.
“We say it all the time now,” McGuire said. “I was literally just saying to him, ‘Blanch, just go get the D-linemen and O-linemen.'”
Texas Tech’s defense used to be a punchline in the Big 12, the second worst among all Power 5 programs in scoring defense over the past decade. Not anymore. The Red Raiders will keep spending and keep bringing blue-chip big men to Lubbock. That’s what it takes to contend with the best and do what has never been done in program history.
“We told Joey to spend what it takes,” Campbell said. “We were willing to do it to be in this position we’re in now.
“We got our money’s worth.”
