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Texas Tech football was plunged into national controversy this week when transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby checked himself into rehab for gambling addiction.
The program is now facing new controversy, after one of its major donors stirred up a different kind of controversy in recent months.
Cody Campbell, a Texas Tech alumnus, prominent energy industry billionaire and GOP donor, told PK Press Club Digital in an interview that took place Friday, three days before Sorsby’s entry into gambling addiction treatment was announced, that he was “concerned” about the 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 December 6, 2025. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
“I’m concerned about consistency and enforcement. I’m concerned about, you know, the difficulty schools are having navigating the rules. I mean, most schools don’t even know what the rules are. It’s not clear what’s legal and what’s not legal,” Campbell said when asked if he was concerned about the current state of oversight in the NCAA.
“I mean, I think the entire current governance model in college sports is completely broken and ineffective. Nobody has the authority or ability to enforce rules right now.”
Campbell did not provide further comment following the announcement of Sorsby’s rehabilitation.
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 has publicly stated that Campbell “does not run the Big 12” and reminded him that conference decisions are made by officials, not boosters.
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Cody Campbell stands backstage at ESPN’s College GameDay at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas on November 8, 2025. (John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
Campbell addressed his relationship with the conference commissioners in Friday’s interview with PK Press Club Digital.
“The commissioners, you know, I get along better with some than others,” he said.
“You know, it seems like some people think it might be an advantage that nothing happens for the chaos to persist because some conferences have, well, I should say some members of some conferences have benefited from the chaos. And so maybe some people don’t 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 preserving their own position of power or, you know, the big salary they get.”
Campbell, a Republican who says he is aligned with President Donald Trump’s vision of “saving college sports” through NIL and transfer portal regulation, admitted to being criticized for some of his philosophical beliefs on college sports governance.
Campbell, the focus of several ESPN profile articles in recent months as a figure seeking to contribute to efforts to “save college sports,” admits he has also been criticized for attempting to intervene in college sports as a whole, as support for a single school.
“I mean, yeah, I mean, of course they did,” Campbell responded when asked if he had been criticized for his belief in strict regulation on NIL and the transfer portal.
“But people who say this stuff don’t understand that, you know, the vast majority of the funding that’s going to subsidize these massive deficits, the vast majority of the money that’s going to support our universities comes from taxpayer dollars. Also, most of the institutions that we’re talking about here, the vast majority are already public. They’re not private entities.”
Campbell believes that, unlike the energy industry, college sports are “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. (Jérôme Miron/Imagn Images)
“It’s not at all the same as a private company like mine, which is owned by individuals,” Campbell said.
“This is not a free market. This is a government-subsidized program that is essentially about providing opportunity, social mobility and leadership development across the country.”
