Tulsa QB Kirk Francis picks Texas Tech football from transfer portal
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For the Texas Tech football program, Mitch Griffis filled the bill for what the Red Raiders wanted in a No. 3 quarterback last season: He didn’t complain about sitting behind Behren Morton and Will Hammond and was serviceable when summoned.
Now the Red Raiders need a similar QB next season.
Kirk Francis has answered that help-wanted ad.
Francis passed for 3,045 yards and 18 touchdowns in 18 career games with Tulsa, then hit the NCAA transfer portal and announced his commitment to Texas Tech late Tuesday, Jan. 13. Francis, listed by Tulsa as 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, has two years of eligibility remaining.
His best season came in 2024 when he completed 149 of 253 passes for 1,585 yards with 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Staying in the four-game redshirt window in 2023, he threw for 967 yards and 6 TDs, and in 2025 he passed for 493 yards and 3 TDs with 4 interceptions.
Francis went to Tulsa as a walk-on and earned a scholarship after his freshman season. His great-grandfather, the late Sam Francis, was the 1936 Heisman Trophy runner-up as a Nebraska fullback and was a College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 1977.
What Tulsa transfer quarterback Kirk Francis brings to Texas Tech football
Francis figures to dual redshirt freshman Lloyd Jones III to be the Red Raiders’ third quarterback in 2025. Griffis, who held that role this season, is transferring to East Carolina.
Morton completed his eligibility, and Texas Tech signed second-team all-Big 12 quarterback Brendan Sorsby from Cincinnati to take over as the starter. Hammond underwent knee-ligament surgery in November and the rehab schedule likely won’t have him back until at least the start of preseason practice in August.
That means the Red Raiders, wanting to stay at the level they achieved this year when they won 12 games and the Big 12 championship, need another capable insurance policy.
Francis has three years of college experience and talent. He had a prolific high-school career at Tulsa Metro Christian Academy, passing for 9,599 yards and 115 touchdowns in his varsity career. He led his team to an Oklahoma Class 2A state championship as a sophomore, and his senior year, he passed for 4,384 yards and 58 TDs on a Class 3A state runner-up.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Kirk Francis transferring to Texas Tech football from Tulsa
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