Through all the Class of 2022 eligibility chaos this college football preseason, Tommy Castellanos has somehow perfectly threaded the needle into the transfer portal and now to Texas Tech. On Wednesday, five days after he was granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA for a fifth year of eligibility and access to the transfer portal, the former FSU QB committed to the Red Raiders.
Tommy Castellanos’s 5th year of eligibility looks hard to overturn
The NCAA was recently granted a stay against this summer’s federal injunction from Judge Charlotte Sweeney in a Colorado District Court, which granted a fifth year of eligibility to the entire Class of 2022.
Then, after a Louisiana court granted a temporary restraining order to 16 former college football players who signed NFL contracts this offseason, allowing them to return to college football, two of the sport’s four power conferences responded by instituting punishments for teams that take players from NFL training camps on their rosters.
However, because he was named as a plaintiff in a court case rather than relying on the federal injunction, Castellanos is still technically eligible for the 2026 season. That same TRO also allowed him to enter the transfer portal. And because he only accepted a rookie minicamp invite from the Tennessee Titans this offseason, rather than signing an NFL contract, Texas Tech will likely skirt conference punishment for adding him to the roster, assuming the Big 12 follows the model set forth by the Big Ten and replicated by the SEC.
So, for now, Castellanos is eligible to play in the 2026 season, and he’s replacing Brendan Sorsby in Joey McGuire’s QB room in Lubbock after Sorsby ignited the first round of major offseason controversy with his gambling scandal. Castellanos, who also considered playing wide receiver, the position he tried out for at Titans rookie minicamp, will back up Will Hammond.
Castellanos’ transfer to Texas Tech seems to perfectly close the loop on this year’s offseason chaos, just days before Week 0 kicks off. Now, with the prohibitive Big 12 favorites, Castellanos may also serve as a constant reminder of just how chaotic the offseason really was.
Don’t blame the players for another mess the NCAA created
Strangely, Castellanos could become the face of college football’s fifth-year eligibility mess. With conferences blocking the return of players like former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who requested his release from the Cleveland Browns to join Lane Kiffin at LSU, and other Class of 2022 returners like Indiana defensive end Stephen Daley ruled ineligible by the stay granted against the federal injunction (pending appeal, of course), Castellanos is one of the few and certainly most high-profile college football players one of the few open loopholes.
So, any animosity about the state of eligibility could be directed at Castellanos and Texas Tech, which already positioned itself as a villain through the Sorsby gambling saga. Like him or not, that’s entirely unfair.
The reason Castellanos and others have won lawsuits against the NCAA is that age-based eligibility rules, commonly referred to as the five-in-five model that was instituted this offseason, did not grandfather in the Class of 2022. The plaintiffs have successfully argued an inconsistent application of the rule. Furthermore, they’ve argued that had they known they would have been granted a fifth year, they would have entered the transfer portal and not pursued an NFL career.
As little pity as the average fan tends to have towards the players, particularly ones now making six or seven figures in college, it’s unfortunate that they missed out on a potential earning year that subsequent classes will have, and as annoying as it may be for them to pursue it, it’s yet another case of the NCAA swindling athletes out of money with arbitrary eligibility decisions.
The good news is that this mess is a one-year thing because the age-based eligibility rule itself has seemingly stood up to legal scrutiny. The inconsistent application is the problem, and that only applies to the Class of 2022. So, Castellanos will seemingly carry the torch for one of the strangest offseasons in the sport’s history, and honestly, he may change the fate of a potential national championship contender.
On the field, Tommy Castellanos is a good fit at Texas Tech
With all the off-field drama, Texas Tech is the perfect fit, but on the field, it’s just as seamless. Sorsby’s absence elevated Will Hammond, who is coming off a torn ACL, to QB1 and Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis to QB2.
It was too late in the preseason for Castellanos to join a team and become the Day 1 starter, but with Hammond starting, Castellanos will have time to learn the offense. He may never be thrust into a high-leverage situation, but if he does, he’ll be much more prepared with time to learn Mack Leftwich’s system.
As for that system, Castellanos has his limitations throwing over the middle because of his size, but he’s an engine in the run game and has enough arm strength to push the ball downfield outside the numbers. So, he may take a few plays off the menu for the Red Raiders, but his athleticism will certainly add another element, and leaning on the run game is never a bad idea for a team with a dominant defense, assuming Texas Tech can reach anything close to the level it produced in 2025 on that side of the ball.
He’s probably not a national championship-winning QB. It’s hard to imagine Castellanos winning multiple playoff games. But if Hammond goes down, he should be good enough to get the Red Raiders across the finish line in the Big 12, and it was hard to say the same of Francis. That’s a worthwhile investment for a program spending as freely as Texas Tech.
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