8 dumbest quotes I've heard in Brendan Sorsby saga as Texas Tech rallies around QB
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Just when you think this Brendan Sorsby saga couldn’t get any dumber, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire opened his mouth.
At least nobody died.
That’s one rationale McGuire floated in support of Sorsby playing college football this season after he trampled NCAA rules for years and wagered on sports, including bets involving one of his previous teams.
Seriously, just stop talking.
Stop pathetically trying to gaslight the college football ecosystem into believing it’s perfectly normal for quarterback who bet on college football to get to play college football, after serving a measly two-game suspension.
I’d have more respect for Texas Tech if it just admitted: It’s relishing being the villain. It wants to win at all costs, up to and including playing a quarterback who bet on college football. So, as long as a judge says Sorsby can play, it’ll play him, because who cares about ethics and rules when a trophy and money are at stake?
Just acknowledge it.
Instead, Texas Tech’s response to a judge ruling Sorsby eligible has been to position Sorsby as a victim of gambling addiction rather than as a yearslong blatant offender of one of the NCAA’s cardinal rules.
“Brendan Sorsby is recovering from an addiction. He’s recovering,” McGuire said.
Good for him.
I don’t dispute Sorsby suffers from addiction, but why does his recovery need to include playing college football this fall?
Amid the fallout of a judge’s injunction that blocked the NCAA from declaring Sorsby ineligible, here are the eight dumbest quotes and justifications to come out of Texas:
∎ McGuire: “As a society, we’ve been OK with other things that happen and allowing players to play, and this has been the one thing that has united people that we’re against, you know? It’s crazy, because it’s not murder.”
My response: What’s crazy is a Power Four coach would say, out loud in public, that, hey, it’s not like anyone murdered someone.
Is that the standard at Texas Tech? So long as you don’t murder anyone, you’re good to suit up?
Never mind NCAA bylaws, I guess, or that athletes sign documentation before every season stating they understand the NCAA’s gambling rules and they would report themselves if they broke the rules.
Sorsby gambled for years. He bet on games involving his own team. He placed thousands of bets that shattered the NCAA’s black-and-white rules on sports wagering. He attempted to evade detection. He didn’t turn himself in. He got caught. Then, he professed to having an addiction and entered a recovery program.
And, McGuire’s response is to say: It’s not like he murdered anyone.
Mercy.
Presumably, if a college athlete committed murder, he’d head to prison, but I guess there’s no telling what some judge in Texas might do. After all, heading to prison instead of playing ball would cause probable and imminent harm to the offender.
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∎ Judge Ken Curry: “(Sorsby) has demonstrated that he will suffer a probable, imminent and irreparable injury if this Court does not issue a temporary injunction, because he will be unable to participate as a member of Texas Tech University’s 2026 football team.”
My response: Wait a second, isn’t that the point of rules? They’re meant to discourage prohibited activity, and, if you break the rules, you can expect consequences.
At least, that’s what I learned in kindergarten.
Maybe, if I had gone to law school like the good judge, I would’ve learned breaking the rules cannot cause me any probable harm.
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∎ Texas Tech mega booster Cody Campbell to OutKick: “Nobody boycotted Penn State a few years ago when that horrible situation happened there, you know?”
My response: Penn State didn’t sue to avoid the consequences.
What happened at Penn State was horrible. Pedophile assistant coach Jerry Sandusky preying on children for years — and the university turning a blind eye — is obviously infinity times worse than rule-breaking sports wagers.
Penn State’s full-system failure is the worst scandal in NCAA history.
The NCAA dropped the hammer, including a $60 million fine and a multi-year postseason ban. Penn State accepted the sanctions and did not appeal.
The situations are incomparable.
Penn State cleaned house at the highest levels of the university administration and within the football program, including firing Joe Paterno.
NCAA sanctions were applied, and not voided by a judge.
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∎ Campbell to OutKick: “The reasons he’s in trouble didn’t happen while he was at Texas Tech.”
My response: This is false. Sorsby, according to court documents, participated in prohibited sports wagering while a student at Indiana, Cincinnati and after he transferred to Texas Tech. He used proxies to help him place bets after transferring to Tech.
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∎ University president Lawrence Schovanec: “Mistakes have consequences. At the same time, here’s a young man with a dream and a vision to pursue a career.”
My response: So, as long as you have a dream and a vision, the consequences should be mitigated?
Also, let’s talk about the consequences.
The judge says Sorsby can be suspended for two games — against Abilene Christian and Oregon State — but that’s it. That’s hardly a suspension. That’s a two-game vacation from playing cupcake opponents, before the Big 12 schedule begins.
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∎ Campbell: “The college football world doesn’t think Texas Tech should be as good as we are. We’ve been a disruptor… and so we’re a target.”
My response: Give me a break. Campbell amazingly pulled off saying this with a straight face.
Who other than Steve Sarkisian had a problem with Texas Tech being good last season? Oregon certainly didn’t mind Texas Tech being in the playoff.
Nobody other than maybe a handful of rivals have an issue with Texas Tech’s uprising. People take issue with an admitted sports gambling addict, who wagered on his own team’s games, suffering the mildest of consequences, despite his actions threatening the integrity of the enterprise.
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∎ Schovanec: “I think we have to recognize the (NCAA) rules in place now were made long before there were millions of young people walking around with a legal gambling apparatus in their pocket.”
My response: True, sports gambling is more accessible than ever. That’s not an argument for weakening rules prohibiting college athletes from betting on NCAA-sanctioned sports. That’s an argument for enforcing the rules to ensure the games’ integrity.
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∎ Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt: “I’ve kept asking myself: How would I approach the situation if this were my own son?”
My response: Evidently, Hocutt would approach it by teaching him rules don’t matter, so go ahead and ignore them, and if anyone tries to enforce the dadgum rules, let’s find us a judge.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brendan Sorsby saga: Texas Tech, judge serve eight dumbest quotes
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