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Texas Tech football was thrust into a national controversy this week when transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby checked into rehab for gambling addiction.
The program is now facing a new controversy after one of its top donors attracted a different type of controversy in recent months.
Texas Tech alumnus Cody Campbell, a prominent energy industry billionaire and GOP donor, told Pakinomist Digital in an interview that took place Friday, three days before the news of Sorsby entering treatment for gambling addiction, that he has “concerns” with consistency and enforcement of what is allowed in college sports and what is not.
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Cody Campbell stands on the field after the Big 12 Championship game between Texas Tech and BYU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Dec. 6, 2025. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
“I’m concerned about consistency and enforcement. I’m concerned about, you know, the difficulty schools have with, you know, navigating the rules. I mean, most schools don’t even know what the rules are. It’s, it’s not clear what’s legal and what’s not legal,” Campbell said when asked if he has a concern with the current state of oversight in the NCAA.
“I mean, I think the whole governance model right now in college sports is completely broken and ineffective. Nobody has the authority or ability to enforce any rules right now.”
Campbell did not provide further comment after news of Sorsby’s rehab broke.
Campbell got into a heated debate with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark earlier this month over moving a Texas Tech football game to a Friday night, which Campbell publicly called “absurd.” Yormark publicly stated that Campbell “doesn’t run the Big 12” and reminded him that conference decisions are made by officials, not boosters.
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Cody Campbell stands backstage during ESPN’s College GameDay at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas on Nov. 8, 2025. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Campbell spoke about his relationship with the conference commissioners in the Friday interview with Pakinomist Digital.
“The commissioners, you know, I get along better with some of them than others,” he said.
“You know, it seems like some people think that it’s, it might be beneficial for nothing to happen, for chaos to continue because some conferences have, well, I have to say some members of some conferences have benefited from the chaos. And then some people might not want anything to happen.”
“I also have a problem with a commissioner or anyone else who doesn’t care about all the benefits that come from college sports and is only interested in maintaining their own position of power or, you know, the big paycheck they receive.”
Campbell, a Republican who says he aligns with President Donald Trump’s vision to “save college sports” via the NIL and transfer portal regulation, admitted he has been criticized for some of his philosophical beliefs about college sports governance.
Campbell, the focus of several ESPN profiles in recent months as a figure who wants to help in the effort to “save college sports,” admits he has also been criticized for his attempt to intervene in college sports as a whole, as a booster for just a single school.
“I mean, yes, I mean, of course they have,” Campbell said when asked if he has been criticized for his belief in strict regulation of the NIL and the transfer portal.
“But people who say that kind of thing don’t understand that like, you know, the vast majority of the funding that goes to subsidize these massive deficits, the vast majority of the money that goes to support our universities comes from taxpayer dollars. Also, most of the institutions we’re talking about here, the vast majority are publicly owned already. They’re not private entities.”
Campbell believes that, unlike the energy industry, college sports “is not a free market.”
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The Big 12 logo and scoreboard are displayed at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas before the game between Texas Tech and BYU on December 6, 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
“This is not at all the same as a private business like mine that is owned by private individuals,” Campbell said.
“This is not a free market. This is a state-sponsored program that is primarily intended to provide opportunity, provide social mobility and provide leadership development for the entire country.”
