Texas Tech football receiver Reggie Virgil on new team, favorite hobby
Wide receiver Reggie Virgil joined the Texas Tech football program as a transfer from Miami (Ohio). Last year, he had 41 catches, 816 yards, 9 TDs.
Reggie Virgil’s recruitment coming out of high school felt, to him, nothing at all like his recruitment this past winter in college football’s transfer portal.
Four years ago, despite earning first-team all-state recognition in Florida, Virgil attracted only two scholarship offers. He chose Miami (Ohio) over Eastern Kentucky.
Four months ago, with his name in the portal, he was fielding calls from Georgia, Oklahoma, Michigan and many others. So many that Virgil was having to ask one coach to hold so he could take a call from another.
“It was a lot going on,” he said.
Good thing a Texas Tech football coach got through, because the Red Raiders are the ones who landed him.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound wide receiver was one of 17 transfers who made up Tech’s highly touted portal class. The Red Raiders made a spot for him with the first unit, bumping two-year starter Coy Eakin from outside receiver to inside receiver and installing at Eakin’s old spot.
His size and speed are two assets that earned Virgil so much attention on the open market. Now his priority is to be more physical. He said cornerback Maurion Horn is helping him in that regard by being scrappy and tenacious.
“I’m a big speed guy,” Virgil said after Tuesday’s workout, “so I really didn’t use my hands that much. Power-four is real physical, so now (I’m) incorporating my hands with my speed so when guys (defenders) tug me, they just can’t hold me. I’ll be able to get them off (by) hand fighting.”
Virgil came into his own just in time. During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Miami (Ohio), he played in 23 games and caught only two passes. Last season, he caught 41 passes for 816 yards and nine touchdowns.
What changed?
“When you’re young, you’re kind of in your head,” Virgil said. “You’re trying to adapt to a different scenery and stuff. Coming out of high school, everyone’s usually the guy. Getting around other guys, it was humbling — like, if you want to be good, you’ve got to really put in work and stuff.”
The two years were a learning experience. Even if his stats in 2022 and 2023 didn’t show it, he was gaining know-how.
“I just let loose,” he said, “because I was more confident after those couple of years.”
With Virgil on one side, Caleb Douglas on the other and Eakin between them, the Red Raiders expect they’ll have an appetite for big plays. Justin Johnson, the Tech assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, said so this week.
“I think one thing you’ll notice is we are going to take some vertical shots down the field, try to create some explosives,” Johnson said, “and take advantage of people vertically down the field.”
Tech coach Joey McGuire says Virgil is one of the fastest players the Red Raiders have had in his three years-plus as head coach.
“Reggie comes in here and he’s done a phenomenal job of taking off, and you can see his big-play threat ability,” Johnson said. “He’s explosive. Culturally, he’s fit in. Always a smile on his face. He’s becoming acclimated to the room really, really great. Not only to our room, but to the team in general.”
The outcome of the House v. NCAA case soon could curb the portal frenzy of the past few years. On Monday, a federal judge could give final approval to the House settlement proposal, ushering in revenue sharing with players and a fair-market-value assessment by Deloitte on third-party NIL offers of more than $600.
ESPN reported Tech donors spent more than $10 million to attract the new portal class. Aware of the seismic changes on the college sports horizon, Tech supporters have spent big to position the Red Raiders for the future. In the fall, Tech opened the new Jones AT&T Stadium south end zone building and a free-standing visitors’ locker room building. After the season, the Red Raiders moved into the new Dustin R. Womble Football Center.
Deputy athletics director Jonathan Botros said recently Tech athletics plans to pay off more than $200 million related to the projects over 30 years.
The facilities have garnered favorable reviews nationally. And within the team.
“I don’t want to bash my old school. It was great,” Virgil said. “It’s just, that’s the difference between G5 and Power-4. These facilities are crazy. A lot of people from my old school, it was hard for all of us to get in the training room, because we shared it with a bunch of other teams.
“Here, it’s like you can get anything you need. Anything you want, you can have it, and you can fix your body, make you feel better. The weight room is humongous. It’s crazy. A blessing for sure.”
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