Brendan Sorsby’s college football career is over.
Amid legal challenges to his eligibility after the NCAA tried to keep him off the field over gambling violations, Sorsby and Texas Tech have agreed to part ways, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
Sorsby will enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, becoming one of the most notable supplemental draft prospects in recent memory as teams weigh whether to take the talented but polarizing quarterback.
Here’s what you need to know about Monday night’s surprise development.
Why Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech are parting ways
Sorsby and Texas Tech are parting ways amid legal challenges and intense backlash to the district court ruling that restored his eligibility last week.
While Sorsby is currently eligible and was hoping last Monday’s ruling by a judge in Lubbock would allow him to play in 2026, the decision sparked a wave of backlash from administrators, coaches and media members across the college football landscape.
Athletic directors at both Georgia and Nebraska vowed to boycott Texas Tech by refusing to schedule the Red Raiders in any sport, and the Big 12 sued the school Monday in an attempt to determine whether it had the legal power to sanction the program if Sorsby played.
Meanwhile, the NCAA was still fighting to make Sorsby ineligible again after the former Cincinnati quarterback admitted to gambling violations, including betting on his own team while at Indiana.
Here are more details on how the scandal has unfolded.
Brendan Sorsby gambling controversy
After a lucrative NIL deal brought him from Cincinnati to Texas Tech over LSU and other suitors this offseason, Sorsby shook up the college football landscape when he entered rehab for a gambling addiction in late April.
Sorsby’s gambling violations included dozens of bets on his own team when he played for Indiana as a freshman, and he admitted to using accounts owned by friends and family to avoid detection.
“I lost complete control of my addiction,” Sorsby said in a statement. “I now realize the apps controlled me and I did not control them.”
Despite betting on your own team being a serious violation in the NCAA’s eyes and the organization ruling him ineligible, a district court judge overturned the NCAA’s ruling in a decision that sent shockwaves through college football. After backlash, Sorsby is reversing course and won’t play for Texas Tech in 2026.
What is the supplemental draft?
The supplemental draft is held in either July or early August, with teams getting a chance to select players who didn’t enter the NFL Draft but ran into eligibility issues or a similar change in circumstances.
While the supplemental draft isn’t a common source of talent in this era and sometimes isn’t even held because no prospects enter, Cris Carter, Bernie Kosar, Josh Gordon and Terrelle Pryor are all notable names selected in it.
The supplemental draft works a bit differently than the regular draft in the spring. Teams are separated into three groups, and the order within those groups is decided through a lottery weighted for each team. These are the three groups”
- Teams with six or fewer wins
- Non-playoff teams with seven or more wins
- Playoff teams
In order to select a player, a team must bid a pick, with the highest bid awarded that player. If there is a tie, the winner is the team with the highest pick in the highest group. If a team uses a pick on a player, it forfeits the pick from the same round in the following year’s draft. For example, a team that uses a second-round supplemental pick on Sorsby would forfeit its 2027 second-round pick.
When is the supplemental draft in 2026?
The NFL has not announced a date for the 2026 supplemental draft, though it is typically held in late July or early August.
The league cancels the draft when no players enter, so the date likely won’t be set until after the June 22 deadline even with Sorsby now in the mix.