Five candidates Texas Tech should target to replace Tony Graystone
Texas Tech didn't wait until December.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt dismissed volleyball coach Tony Graystone on Sunday, bringing an abrupt end to an 11 year tenure and handing the program to associate head coach Alisa Blair on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2026 season.
The timing was surprising.
The decision shouldn't be.
Graystone was given something increasingly rare in major college athletics: time.
Lots of it.
Eleven seasons provided more than enough opportunity to establish Texas Tech as a consistent winner in one of the nation's premier volleyball conferences. Instead, Graystone leaves Lubbock with a losing record at Texas Tech and just one NCAA Tournament appearance, which came in 2021.
Last season might have been the clearest indication of how far the program had fallen. Texas Tech finished 10-20 overall and 2-16 in Big 12 play.
There were occasional breakthroughs during Graystone's tenure. There were promising recruiting classes, a run to the NIVC championship match in 2017, an NCAA Tournament berth in 2021 and a program record crowd of more than 6,000 against Texas in 2022.
What never arrived was sustained success.
And that's the standard Texas Tech should use now.
The Red Raiders are playing in one of America's best volleyball conferences, at a university pouring resources into athletics, in a state overflowing with elite volleyball talent.
West Texas itself produces Division I volleyball players every year.
Too many of them leave.
The next coach needs to change that.
Texas Tech also needs someone capable of creating something that has been missing too often inside United Supermarkets Arena: energy. The Red Raiders have shown they can draw a crowd for the right match. What they haven't created is a consistently intimidating home court environment or a program that has captured the attention of Lubbock.
But before the next coach recruits anyone, there should be another priority.
Keep Sara Bowcutt in Lubbock.
The first recruiting battle has already begun
Bowcutt might be the most important player on Texas Tech's roster, not just for what she is doing now, but for what she could represent for the next four years.
The freshman outside hitter arrived in Lubbock after originally signing with Texas A&M and enrolling early in College Station before entering the transfer portal.
Now she's exploding.
Through her first seven matches, Bowcutt has 111 kills and is averaging 3.83 kills and 4.33 points per set. She also has 59 digs, giving early indications that she can develop into the type of six rotation outside hitter programs can build around.
She has already produced matches of 21, 22 and 25 kills.
This isn't simply a promising freshman.
This looks like a potential cornerstone.
In the current era of college athletics, however, talented players don't automatically remain in place after coaching changes. The transfer portal has changed the equation.
That means Hocutt's coaching search isn't only about finding the person who can recruit the next Sara Bowcutt.
It's about finding the person who can convince this one to stay.
Whoever gets the job should walk into Lubbock understanding that retaining Bowcutt is Job # 1.
With that in mind, here are five names Texas Tech should consider.
1. Kendra Potts, Grand Canyon head coach
Start here.
If Texas Tech wants a proven winner who understands West Texas, understands recruiting and has demonstrated an ability to build championship culture, Kendra Potts checks almost every box.
Potts is now the head coach at Grand Canyon after building West Texas A&M into one of the country's dominant Division II programs. She went 124-24 in five seasons in Canyon, reached consecutive national championship matches and won the 2022 NCAA Division II national championship.
She was named the AVCA National Coach of the Year that season.
Why Potts makes sense
1. She wins.
Potts owns a 161-48 career record as a head coach, a winning percentage north of .750.
At West Texas A&M, winning wasn't occasional. It became the expectation.
Her teams went 14-3 in the NCAA Tournament, won three consecutive Lone Star Conference Tournament championships and played for consecutive national titles.
Texas Tech needs someone who doesn't need to learn how to create a winning culture.
Potts has already done it.
2. West Texas is home.
This is what separates Potts from almost every other candidate Texas Tech could pursue.
She graduated from Amarillo High.
She played at West Texas A&M.
She became a three time All American for the Lady Buffs.
She coached there.
Then she returned and won a national championship as its head coach.
Potts understands Amarillo. She understands Canyon. She understands Lubbock. She understands the high school programs, club volleyball culture and communities that make West Texas volleyball unique.
Texas Tech has watched too much talent leave this region.
Potts could immediately change the conversation.
Instead of convincing recruits that Texas Tech understands West Texas volleyball, Tech could hire someone who helped define it.
3. She can recruit Texas.
Potts' recruiting network extends far beyond the Panhandle.
She helped found Corpus Christi Force Volleyball Club and previously served as recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
She understands both sides of the recruiting process.
More importantly, high school and club coaches throughout Texas know who she is.
That's invaluable.
4. She has proven she can make the jump.
The obvious question when Potts left West Texas A&M for Grand Canyon was whether her success would translate to Division I.
It has.
GCU won 20 matches and reached its conference championship match during her first season, and Potts has continued developing the Lopes into a program capable of competing nationally.
Texas Tech wouldn't be hiring a Division II coach hoping she can handle Division I.
That question has already been answered.
5. She fits what Texas Tech needs right now.
This might be the biggest reason of all.
Texas Tech doesn't just need X's and O's.
It needs someone who can rebuild relationships.
Someone who can recruit Texas.
Someone who can energize West Texas.
Someone who can convince players already inside the building that something special can be built in Lubbock.
And yes, someone who can sit across from Sara Bowcutt and explain why her future should be in scarlet and black.
Potts doesn't check one of those boxes.
She checks nearly all of them.
Why it could happen
The opportunity to return to West Texas and lead a Power Four program could be uniquely attractive to Potts. Texas Tech also has resources and conference affiliation that would give her an opportunity to compete on a stage significantly larger than anything available at West Texas A&M.
Why it might not
Potts is building her own program at Grand Canyon and Texas Tech would have to convince her that the commitment to volleyball extends beyond simply changing coaches.
The verdict
Call her first.
2. Morgan Thomas, TCU associate head coach and recruiting coordinator
If Potts is the obvious West Texas candidate, Morgan Thomas might be the most intriguing Power Four candidate.
Because Thomas already knows Texas Tech.
She spent five seasons in Lubbock from 2016 through 2020, eventually becoming associate head coach and recruiting coordinator before leaving for Pittsburgh and later TCU.
Her career since leaving Tech might be the strongest argument for bringing her back.
Why Thomas makes sense
1. She knows exactly what Texas Tech is.
Thomas wouldn't need a tour.
She understands Lubbock, Texas Tech, the Big 12 and the challenges surrounding this program because she has already lived them.
But she would return with a dramatically different résumé.
2. Recruiting is one of her calling cards.
Thomas helped lead recruiting efforts during her previous stint at Tech, including Top 60 recruiting classes in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
She now serves as TCU's recruiting coordinator.
Texas Tech needs someone capable of winning recruiting battles inside Texas.
Thomas already does it.
3. She has experienced elite volleyball.
After leaving Lubbock, Thomas spent the 2021 season at Pittsburgh.
The Panthers went 30-4.
They reached the Final Four.
That matters.
There is a difference between believing you know what a national contender looks like and actually working inside one.
Thomas has.
4. She helped build TCU into something Texas Tech wants to become.
TCU has reached the NCAA Tournament in each of Thomas' first four seasons in Fort Worth.
The Horned Frogs earned their first AVCA national ranking in program history in 2024 and won a program record 13 Big 12 matches.
In 2025, they beat six ranked opponents.
TCU has become relevant nationally.
Texas Tech hasn't.
Thomas has been part of that transformation.
5. She could provide continuity without maintaining the status quo.
This is where Thomas becomes particularly interesting.
She knows Texas Tech, but she has been away long enough to bring new ideas back with her.
She knows what worked in Lubbock.
She knows what didn't.
And she has spent the past several years learning inside successful programs.
Why it could happen
A Power Four head coaching opportunity at a university where Thomas already has relationships could be a natural next step in her career.
Why it might not
Texas Tech would be handing the program to a first time Division I head coach when proven head coaches could be available.
The verdict
If Tech wants the rising star, Thomas belongs near the top of the board.
3. David Rehr, Houston head coach
David Rehr brings something the first two candidates don't.
More than 600 career victories.
Rehr has won at the junior college level, won conference championships at Division I programs and taken
Houston to the Sweet 16.
His résumé deserves attention.
Why Rehr makes sense
1. He has built programs.
Rehr's career isn't built around inheriting ready made winners.
He has built them.
2. Houston's 2022 season showed the ceiling.
The Cougars went 30-4, won a conference championship and reached the Sweet 16.
It was Houston's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 and its deepest postseason run since 1994.
That's program changing stuff.
3. He understands the Big 12.
Houston entered the conference in 2023 and immediately went 11-7 in league play while reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
There would be no mystery about the level required to win this conference.
4. His Texas network is extensive.
Rehr spent nine seasons at Blinn College before coaching at Arkansas State and Houston.
He has spent decades recruiting Texas.
Texas Tech desperately needs to strengthen those relationships.
5. He has the résumé to command immediate credibility.
National championships.
Conference championships.
NCAA Tournament victories.
A Sweet 16.
More than 600 victories.
Players would know immediately that the person walking into the gym has won.
Why it could happen
Texas Tech could offer Rehr a fresh start with significant resources and the opportunity to rebuild a Power Four program in a state he knows exceptionally well.
Why it might not
Houston has taken a step backward since its NCAA Tournament run, finishing 12-16 in 2024 and 9-20 in 2025.
Texas Tech would have to determine whether those seasons represent a temporary downturn or a larger concern.
The verdict
The résumé warrants the call.
4. Ryan McGuyre, Baylor head coach
Make him say no.
That's the argument.
Ryan McGuyre has already built the kind of volleyball program Texas Tech says it wants.
Why wouldn't Hocutt at least make the call?
Why McGuyre makes sense
1. He built a national contender in the Big 12.
Baylor reached the Final Four in 2019.
That sentence alone should get Texas Tech's attention.
2. Baylor has become remarkably consistent.
The Bears have reached 10 consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Texas Tech has reached one during Graystone's tenure.
That's the difference between occasional success and a program.
3. He knows Texas recruiting.
McGuyre has spent more than a decade building relationships with the high school and club programs Texas Tech needs to recruit.
4. He proved volleyball can matter at a Texas school.
Baylor wasn't Nebraska.
It wasn't Penn State.
It wasn't Stanford.
McGuyre helped turn Baylor into a volleyball brand anyway.
That's the blueprint.
5. Hiring him would immediately change the perception of Texas Tech volleyball.
This wouldn't be a developmental hire.
It wouldn't be a gamble.
It would tell the Big 12 that Texas Tech intends to compete for championships.
Why it could happen
Texas Tech has demonstrated across its athletic department that it is willing to invest when it believes a program can compete nationally.
If Hocutt wants to make a statement, this would make one.
Why it might not
McGuyre has already built what Texas Tech is trying to build.
Convincing him to leave Baylor could require a substantial financial and institutional commitment.
The verdict
You don't know until you ask.
5. Jared Goldberg, Baylor associate head coach
Maybe Texas Tech can't hire the architect.
What about one of the people helping him build it?
Jared Goldberg is an intriguing candidate precisely because Texas Tech would be trying to identify the next successful head coach before the rest of the country does.
Why Goldberg makes sense
1. He understands Baylor's blueprint.
Goldberg has worked inside one of the most consistent programs in the Big 12.
He knows what a nationally relevant volleyball operation looks like every day, not just on match night.
2. He understands the conference.
There would be no adjustment to the realities of Big 12 volleyball.
He knows the programs.
He knows the recruiting battles.
He knows what winning in this league requires.
3. He has Texas recruiting relationships.
Those connections would be critical for a Texas Tech program that needs to make the state, and especially West Texas, a much greater priority.
4. He could bring championship expectations with him.
Culture travels.
Texas Tech should be looking for candidates who have spent significant time inside programs where reaching the NCAA Tournament isn't celebrated as an extraordinary accomplishment.
It's expected.
5. There is upside.
Hiring Goldberg would require projection, though he has head coaching experience you can lean on. He's a former national championship head coach who went 112-28 and 27-0 during the championship season at Masters University and Baylor just hired him as associate head coach in June.
Sometimes the best coaching searches identify who is about to become a major head coach instead of competing for that person after everyone else figures it out.
Why it could happen
A Big 12 head coaching job would represent a significant opportunity for an assistant ready to run his own program.
Why it might not
Unlike Potts, Rehr and McGuyre, there isn't an established Division I head coaching record to evaluate.
That makes the hire inherently riskier.
The verdict
An upside candidate worth investigating.
What Texas Tech should be looking for:
The question isn't simply who replaces Tony Graystone.
It's what Texas Tech wants volleyball to become.
That distinction matters.
If the goal is to simply stabilize the program, there will be plenty of qualified coaches interested in the job.
That shouldn't be the goal.
Texas Tech should want to win.
It should want NCAA Tournament appearances to become normal instead of exceptional.
It should want elite Texas recruits to consider Lubbock before leaving the state or heading to another Big 12 program.
It should want West Texas volleyball players to grow up dreaming about playing for the Red Raiders.
It should want United Supermarkets Arena to become a legitimate home court advantage.
And it should want Sara Bowcutt wearing No. 8 in scarlet and black when the 2027 season begins.
That last part shouldn't be overlooked.
Bowcutt has already shown enough in the first few weeks of her college career to suggest Texas Tech has something special. She originally chose an SEC program in Texas A&M. She has already experienced the transfer process once.
The next coach needs to make sure there isn't a second time.
Because the best way to begin a rebuild isn't always finding your first great player.
Sometimes it's making sure the great player already in your gym doesn't leave.
Texas Tech has the facilities.
It has the conference.
It has the resources.
It sits in one of the most talent rich volleyball states in America.
Now it needs the right coach.
And if Texas Tech is serious about changing the trajectory of the program, the search shouldn't begin with the question of who it can get.
It should begin with the question of who can make Texas Tech volleyball matter.
Then make the calls.
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