Brendan Sorsby enters the 2026 season as the projected starter for a Texas Tech team coming off a Big 12 Championship and a College Football Playoff appearance. He joined the Red Raiders following a massive 2025 season at Cincinnati.
Why Quarterback Brendan Sorsby Is Determined to Validate His $6 Million Investment at Texas Tech
Sorsby’s move to Texas Tech brings experienced stability to the program as 2025 backup Will Hammond continues his recovery from an ACL injury. In a recent interview with CFB analyst Adam Breneman, Sorsby shared that he’s currently 235 pounds and focused on the offseason weight room while getting to know his new teammates.
“I try to lift heavy,” Sorsby said. “Whenever we start getting closer to the football, like I won’t body with that. But right now, especially whenever you’re trying to get the buy-in from all the other guys there. I’m trying to prove myself here. I know it comes with the territory of like, ‘Oh, you’re walking in here, big recruit,’… So I’m trying to kind of lift heavy and prove myself to these guys.”
Sorsby’s commitment isn’t surprising given he reportedly secured the largest single-year NIL deal in college football history. His agent, Ron Slavin of Lift Sports Management, confirmed the agreement is valued at nearly $6 million for his final year of eligibility.
The deal was complicated by a lawsuit involving Cincinnati, which also paid Sorsby $875,800 through its revenue-sharing program for the 2025 season.
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From Indiana to Cincinnati and now Texas Tech, Sorsby said he hadn’t expected to land in Lubbock years after attending a camp there.
“I really didn’t think I would,” Sorsby said in early March. “So actually, Abilene Christian is where I thought I would end up coming out of high school because they had offered me right before senior night. So kind of funny that we get to play them, you know, opening up. But I didn’t have a ton of offers.”
“So, whenever Indiana came around in January of my senior year, which is also unheard of, I just kind of bounced on that offer and took it. But I didn’t really know where the career was going to go from there. I was kind of taking it one day at a time, showing up on time and putting my head down and going to work.”
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Sorsby will face his former team, Cincinnati, on Oct. 24 during their 100th homecoming celebration. He accounted for 36 total touchdowns (27 passing, 9 rushing) and 3,380 total yards last season, ranking No. 10 in the PFSN College Football QB Impact Metric with an 88.2 score.
Sorsby is one of the most phenomenal quarterbacks in college football, with 7,208 passing yards and 60 touchdowns, along with 1,295 rushing yards. Analysts have already pegged him as a potential Heisman contender in 2026, given the talent around him in Lubbock.
