Just as college football players are influenced by the NIL and transfer portal to play elsewhere, coaches and staff can be tempted by new programs. That’s true of any business, as competitors try to one-up one another.
According to ESPN’s Max Olson, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are coming off a rather nondescript 8-5 season. So why would Notre Dame be looking to hire their general manager, James Blanchard?
According to On3’s transfer portal team rankings, Texas Tech has the No. 1 class in 2025. The Red Raiders secured commitments from 17 incoming players, 10 of whom were rated four-star recruits by On3.
Blanchard met with the Irish several times but opted to remain in Lubbock.
The highest-rated incoming portal addition, defensive lineman Lee Hunter from UCF, was ranked No. 27 in On3’s portal player rankings.
Blanchard came clean about his player evaluation strategy for Olson’s article.
“You might watch tape and be like, ‘The NFL likes this guy? I don’t really like him.’ Listen, they got way more information than we do,” Blanchard said. “So, take the ego out of it. If the NFL is saying this guy is a sixth- or seventh-round draft pick… let’s lean towards the guys who do this all the time and let’s have an advantage.”
