He finished as a finalist for the award a year ago. This time he is one of 28 coaches on the list and one of five from the Big 12, alongside Houston's Willie Fritz, Oklahoma State's Eric Morris, Utah's Morgan Scalley and BYU's Kilani Sitake.
The numbers back it up. McGuire sits at 41-18 across four-plus seasons, the most wins by a Texas Tech head coach through 59 games. Since the start of 2025, his teams are 18-2, which ties BYU for third-best winning percentage in the FBS behind Indiana at 22-1 and James Madison at 19-2.
Texas Tech is one of only three FBS programs over the past two seasons to start 6-0, along with BYU and Indiana. Saturday, No. 8 Texas Tech tries to stay unbeaten at Cincinnati, with an 11 a.m. CT kickoff at Nippert Stadium. The Bryant is the only college football coaching honor handed out after the national champion is decided, and the winner gets announced Jan. 27 in Houston.
BYU has lost just twice in two seasons, and both losses came against the Red Raiders.