Texas Tech Megadonor Cody Campbell In Hot Water Over Suspicious Donation That Hurt Brendan Sorsby

If you’re looking to understand how the Texas Tech Red Raiders went from a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 football program to one of the best in the nation, there’s only one man you need to start with.

That man is named Cody Campbell, the co-founder and CEO of Double Eagle Energy Holdings, an oil and gas company located just outside of Dallas.

Campbell, a four-year letterman for the Red Raiders under Mike Leach, currently serves as the chairman of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents and is one of the school’s biggest athletic donors.

Ironically, Campbell is also the leading voice behind the “Save College Sports” movement. But at the moment, it appears he finds himself in a bit of hot water.

Texas Tech Megadonor Cody Campbell Tied To Suspicious Donation

In early June, U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who is running as a Republican in the state of Texas, threatened to sue the Big 12 should it take action to prevent Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby.

Days later, Sorsby withdrew his legal case against the NCAA and forfeited his eligibility. Paxton’s threat appears to have backfired.

But here’s where things get interesting.

Kayla Guo of The Texas Tribune reports that Campbell made a donation of $274,300 just one day before Paxton spoke out against the Big 12.

Scoop: On June 11, Ken Paxton threatened to sue the Big 12 if it sanctioned Texas Tech for fielding QB Brendan Sorsby.

The day before, Texas Tech Regents Chair Cody Campbell, a Sorsby defender, donated $274,300 in support of Paxton’s #TXSEN bid: https://t.co/PFXypvzrz1

— Kayla Guo (@kaylaguo_) July 16, 2026

Now, it’s entirely possible that the timing was coincidental. Campbell is a longtime major GOP donor, and beginning in 2016, he gave $30,000 to Paxton’s state-level campaigns. In this year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, he donated to both Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

So the donation itself is unsurprising.

However, both the size of the donation and the timing are certainly enough to raise some eyebrows.

“This all ended up backfiring spectacularly,” Bruce Feldman of The Athletic posted on X.

“There’s comedy, there’s high comedy, and then there’s whatever you would call Cody Campbell’s very expensive self own,” wrote Georgia Bulldogs reporter Graham Coffey.

Ultimately, as long as the NCAA doesn’t have the power to enforce its own rules, Campbell will keep spending to the hilt to help Texas Tech athletics. But he might want to be a bit more measured about it next time around.