Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard has signed a new three-year contract with the Red Raiders, with sources saying the deal came after he turned down the GM vacancy at Notre Dame.
Blanchard's new deal with the Red Raiders, announced Friday, will have a total value of $1.575 million, sources said, making him one of the highest-paid general managers in the country.
Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish had prioritized Blanchard to lead their recruiting department after Chad Bowden left to become the general manager at USC last month.
Blanchard, 34, has earned a reputation as a rising star in the personnel space over his three seasons at Texas Tech, signing top 25 high school recruiting classes in each of his first two years in Lubbock and assembling one of the top transfer portal classes in the country this offseason.
"The success of our personnel department led by James Blanchard has obviously been noticed nationally with the significant interest he continues to generate annually," Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said in a statement. "We're excited James and his family have chosen to remain Red Raiders and continue the work we started not long ago in building a consistent program that can compete for Big 12 titles. We're much closer today than when we first arrived, and I look forward to continuing to work with James on further building out this roster."
McGuire brought Blanchard with him from Baylor when he was hired in 2021 and promoted him to general manager in 2023. Blanchard signed a two-year, $800,000 deal last summer after being pursued by multiple programs.
Blanchard joined Baylor's recruiting department as director of scouting in 2019 under coach Matt Rhule. He spent one year as a scout with the Carolina Panthers under Rhule in 2020 before returning to Baylor in 2021.