Texas Tech's $7 million defensive line is paying off

LUBBOCK, Texas -- I have the deal of a lifetime for you. Give me a call, bro.

Minutes after David Bailey entered the transfer portal March 28, Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard sent him that text message. The pass rusher from Stanford didn't respond. He wasn't answering calls, either.

Blanchard reached out to Bailey's agent, who informed him that the coveted transfer was leaning toward going to UCLA. But Blanchard wasn't giving up that easily. That night, he tried appealing to Bailey with one more text.

David, give me 120 seconds to have a convo with you. If you're not interested after that, I'll leave you alone.

Bailey remembers he was hanging out at a friend's house on a Friday night, back home after recently graduating from Stanford. He took the phone call out of curio