Texas Tech football's Joey McGuire gets good news on Jayden Cofield
Jayden Cofield was expected to miss the first half of 2026 season with Achilles tendon partial tear. The timeline's been moved up, Joey McGuire says.
The Texas Tech football staff signed one more defensive lineman out of the NCAA transfer portal than originally planned in January, based on the expectation Jayden Cofield would miss a big chunk of next season recovering from Achilles tendon surgery. Well, maybe not. Tech coach Joey McGuire said on Monday, April 13, that Cofield's projected timeline to return has moved up to perhaps late September.
"We think he could be back as early as the Houston game [Sept. 18]," McGuire said. "If not, the Sam Houston State game [Sept.
26]. He's a lot farther ahead than what we expected, so that just adds depth. When you start looking at it, we're going to have a legit three-deep at both defensive tackles with the guys that we have going through spring and then you add Cofield back in it.
" More: Why Kirby Hocutt is pushing more third-party NIL, a new collective More: Texas Tech football nears end of spring drills: Here's who's stood out Cofield's a 6-foot-2, 330-pound junior from Manor. As a young backup the past two seasons, he's been credited with 23 and 24 tackles, respectively, and 4 1/2 tackles for loss both years. He suffered a partial Achilles tendon tear in Tech's New Year's Day loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.