The absurd justification for hiring your son—and some deranged LSU emails

Welcome to the second edition of FOIAball. If you enjoy it, please forward it to a friend. We’d love your help in helping us grow.

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In this issue, we’re revealing:

Think back to the Carolina Panthers under Matt Rhule. You probably haven’t in a while, given it’s quite gross.

In 2021, Rhule’s Panthers played three games where they didn’t score a touchdown. In one loss, their leading passer and rusher combined for 127 yards.

A year later, even after Rhule got sacked, things grew bleaker. One week, the team’s top rusher ran for 10 yards. In five others, its lead back never broke 35. Against the Saints, they completed five passes for 32 yards. 

Presented with those figures, and not under any hostage-like duress, would you declare them to be one of a “small group of NFL teams excelling in both passing and rushing?”

Tortured language aside, no. You wouldn’t.

But Texas Tech Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt wrote that in a memo to the university’s president this offseason. He wanted to waive the school’s typical listing period for a job opening because its football program already identified an “ideal candidate.”

After all, if you can get a bottom-tier former NFL assistant whose “high level understanding of offensive schemes” contributed to the 30th and 29th-ranked NFL offense, you’d be silly to do any further due diligence. 

Especially if that candidate is your head coach’s son. 

Coaches hiring their kids has long been part of the college football world, despite it really not being terribly legal. 

Every public school follows state laws regarding nepotism. They’re designed to ensure open positions are staffed with quality candidates and not familial cronies. 

But sons abound. Just this year, Bill Belichick brought his boys to UNC and Rich Rodriguez sired two members of his staff. 

Elsewhere, Dabo Swinney, Greg Schiano, Pete Lembo, Brian Kelly, and Mike Gundy all have offspring under them.

As does Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire, whose son Garret now works for him. 

Well, technically, for his offensive coordinator.

The elder McGuire got his collegiate coaching start under Rhule, joining him in 2017 at Baylor. It was a package deal. Garret, at the time a high school backup, got a spot on the Bears. The younger McGuire barely saw the field while in Waco, earning six total yards on two rushes.

Joey stayed on staff when Rhule left for the Panthers. But Garret, after graduation, got a job in Carolina. 

He started in 2021 as a coaching assistant, earning a promotion to offensive assistant in 2022, the year Rhule got fired. 

Rhule rebounded in Nebraska and rehired Garret to run his wide receivers, making him the youngest position coach at a Power 5 school at age 23. 

Garret stayed with the Cornhuskers for two years until Dana Holgerson came on board in November 2024.

This December, McGuire (dad) brought McGuire (son) to Lubbock. 

As a state institution, the school didn’t only need to justify skipping the proper hiring process. 

It also needed to submit an “Application for Waiver of Nepotism,” which included a “Justification for Nepotism” memo, both of which were obtained by FOIAball, to explain why Garret was uniquely qualified for the role and absolutely not brought on board because of his father. 

While we’re all for inflating our resumes, especially in this economy, our claims can’t be cross-referenced against a database of every football game ever.