awfulannouncing
Cody Campbell, a Texas billionaire and oil magnate, has become a prominent figure in modern college football due to his financial backing of the Texas Tech Red Raiders and his political advocacy for his vision of the sport's future. Yet like many wealthy and influential individuals, Campbell appears unable to tolerate even minor criticism.
Texas Tech was considered a Big 12 favorite this season, despite the turmoil surrounding exiled quarterback Brendan Sorsby. However, the Red Raiders are now facing tough competition from Utah and BYU and are coming off a brutal blowout loss at Cincinnati over the weekend, leaving their postseason hopes uncertain.
Campbell has publicly positioned himself as the face of the program, and his outsized personality as an outside booster is beginning to wear thin. After the Cincinnati game, he posted a message that seemed more fitting for an owner, coach, or general manager: 'There is no excuse or reason to lose a game like this. We have to be better.'
When producer Brennan Riker of Lubbock sports radio station Double T 97-3 called Campbell out, the booster threatened to take his ball and go home. He tagged one of Texas Tech's athletic department leaders and suggested pulling everyone associated with the school from doing interviews on the station. Such a response is incredibly lame.
Lubbock sports media is not exactly known for being a microscope and an intense pressure cooker like New York or Philadelphia. But this is what happens when college football has been constructed so that someone thinks they now own a program, the media, and maybe even the sport itself.
Key Analysis
There is frequent talk every week about how broken college football is from the likes of Cody Campbell, Nick Saban, and politicians. But whenever the sport does figure itself out, it should find a way to put boosters back in the background where they belong.
Originally reported by awfulannouncing.