Former Texas Tech star CJ Baskerville had his NFL dreams hindered by an injury. Fortunately, one of the Red Raiders’ biggest boosters was able to set him up with an extremely on-the-nose employment opportunity during his first full year in the labor force.
He is going into oil and gas.
If you play college football at Texas Tech, NIL does not only have to exist during your on-field career. The alumni base and its most important donors will help to set you up with gainful and lucrative employment.
Texas Tech’s NIL pool is largely funded by oil.
It is not a secret by now that petroleum was the primary catalyst for the success of the Red Raiders in recent years. During a conversation with Justin Williams of The Athletic, head football coach Joey McGuire said that black gold played a large role in his decision to take the job.
“I always tell people, oil money is real,” McGuire said. “I knew the backing was here (when I took the job). But quite honestly, I didn’t dream of what it would be.”
Texas Tech is the only major college and/or university located on the western half of the Lone Star State. As such, it can tap into the Permian Basin, located about 140 miles to the south. The Permian Basin is the largest oil-producing field in the United States of America. There is a lot of money down that way.
Cody Campbell, a former offensive lineman for the Red Raiders, is among those who profit from the oil. He and former teammate John Sellers co-founded Double Eagle Energy Holdings.
Campbell and Sellers’ company, essentially, builds drilling operations on rented land and then sells those build to other energy companies. Developments have sold for as much as $3-6 billion— with a b.
Campbell spearheaded Texas Tech’s top Name, Image and Likeness arm, the Matador Club. The Matador Club is one of the most wealthy NIL entities in college football… because of oil. It went all-in on the 2025-26 season. Texas Tech spent big money to pull in a stacked class of transfers through the portal and reached the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. The strategy worked!
And the spending is not done yet. Even though the capture of Nicolas Maduro created some financial uncertainty, Texas Tech spent historic money to land quarterback Brendan Sorsby earlier this month.
CJ Baskerville landed a job with.
CJ Baskerville played college football at Texas Tech from 2021-2024. The star safety recorded more than 150 tackles with six interceptions and nine pass deflections during his junior and senior seasons.
Although Baskerville was good enough to play in the NFL, a serious back injury prevented him from reaching the league. Teams were not willing to take a chance. His career was cut short.
But his future is looking bright!
Baskerville recently accepted an in-house landman position with Double Eagle Energy Holdings. Double Eagle, of course, is owned by Cody Campbell.
The same company that is pumping NIL money into the active roster also set up a former player with a job. That’s pretty sweet! If you play college football at Texas Tech, the alumni base will make sure you are well-compensated while you are on the team and after you retire. Like McGuire said, oil money is real!