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The Texas Tech football team signed Hunter Zambrano out of the NCAA transfer portal to be a key player on its offensive line, and by golly, it's going to happen — in 2026 instead of in 2025.
That's assuming Zambrano stays healthy for an extended stretch. For the past two years, that's been a frustratingly elusive mission.
Zambrano played in only two games in 2024 for Illinois State before transferring to Texas Tech and playing in only three games last year, in each case being sidelined early by what amounted to season-ending injuries.
More: Jett Carpenter hopes Texas Tech football stop preps him for the NFL
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The good news: Tech coach Joey McGuire said this week he views the 6-foot-5, 305-pound sixth-year man as the starter at left guard, and Zambrano says he's ready.
"I feel great," he said on Tuesday, April 7, after the Red Raiders' ninth spring workout. "Coming back from another injury, I'm used to it, so I know what it takes to get back from it. I'm just getting my legs under me, but I feel really good. I feel healthy, a hundred percent, ready to go."
His being off the injured list isn't the only change for Zambrano. Exclusively an offensive tackle throughout college, he's now playing offensive guard for the first time since his senior year of high school in Florida. From last year's 12-2 Orange Bowl team, the Tech offensive line returns Sheridan Wilson, Howard Sampson and Jacob Ponton and lost Davion Carter and Will Jados.
Zambrano learned at the start of spring practice he was moving inside. Who told him? "Pretty much everyone," he said. Not hard to fathom.
"We have two really, really good tackles who've played a lot of football," Zambrano said. "We had two guards graduate this year. I was supposed to play last year, but God had other plans. Now I'm here, and they're like, 'We want you to play guard.' I'm here for the team. Do whatever they need."
More: Texas Tech football getting new-look Mack Leftwich in spring practice
More: Who leads in battle for Texas Tech football No. 2 QB?
Between April 2024 and April 2025, Zambrano underwent multiple surgeries: on his core muscles, on both hips, on his nasal passages and a tonsillectomy. The hip problems — torn labrums in both that he had surgically repaired — triggered his early season shutdown two years ago. Still, he was regarded among the top linemen in the portal, a blocker with NFL potential, after the 2024 season.
He'd no sooner pronounced himself fully recovered last August than the injury bug bit again. This time, it happened in a gym: What the Red Raiders call "Fight Club," a summer mixed martial arts program that a few dozen Tech football players take part in.
"I literally just took a step backwards and my back kind of just went out," Zambrano said, calling it a freak injury. The pain didn't go away.
"We did a couple of shots to see if it made it feel better," he said. "Nothing really helped, and then it kind of just got worse and worse, to the point where I couldn't stand up straight, couldn't really move, couldn't feel my legs. It was to the point where either you burn a season for no reason or get a medical redshirt, come back and actually do something."
More: Texas Tech football giving young offensive player a look on defense
More: Is more than Texas Tech football in Malcolm Simmons' future?
Zambrano used the down time to improve where he could: Learning how to deal with adversity and disappointment, becoming a better person, learning the playbook and taking mental repetitions during practice.
Now he's back on the field, trying again to prove himself while learning a new spot.
"O-line's an awkward position," he said. "It takes time to get used to, especially being out for so long with back-to-back injuries. But in the couple of weeks that I've been playing guard, I feel like I've been progressing really well, just learning the timing of everything, because everything happens a lot quicker inside, but I feel like I'm doing really well."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Can Texas Tech football's Hunter Zambrano finally catch a break?
Continue reading...
That's assuming Zambrano stays healthy for an extended stretch. For the past two years, that's been a frustratingly elusive mission.
Zambrano played in only two games in 2024 for Illinois State before transferring to Texas Tech and playing in only three games last year, in each case being sidelined early by what amounted to season-ending injuries.
More: Jett Carpenter hopes Texas Tech football stop preps him for the NFL
More: Peyton Morgan, Malik Esquerra rising in Texas Tech football battle
The good news: Tech coach Joey McGuire said this week he views the 6-foot-5, 305-pound sixth-year man as the starter at left guard, and Zambrano says he's ready.
"I feel great," he said on Tuesday, April 7, after the Red Raiders' ninth spring workout. "Coming back from another injury, I'm used to it, so I know what it takes to get back from it. I'm just getting my legs under me, but I feel really good. I feel healthy, a hundred percent, ready to go."
His being off the injured list isn't the only change for Zambrano. Exclusively an offensive tackle throughout college, he's now playing offensive guard for the first time since his senior year of high school in Florida. From last year's 12-2 Orange Bowl team, the Tech offensive line returns Sheridan Wilson, Howard Sampson and Jacob Ponton and lost Davion Carter and Will Jados.
Zambrano learned at the start of spring practice he was moving inside. Who told him? "Pretty much everyone," he said. Not hard to fathom.
"We have two really, really good tackles who've played a lot of football," Zambrano said. "We had two guards graduate this year. I was supposed to play last year, but God had other plans. Now I'm here, and they're like, 'We want you to play guard.' I'm here for the team. Do whatever they need."
More: Texas Tech football getting new-look Mack Leftwich in spring practice
More: Who leads in battle for Texas Tech football No. 2 QB?
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Between April 2024 and April 2025, Zambrano underwent multiple surgeries: on his core muscles, on both hips, on his nasal passages and a tonsillectomy. The hip problems — torn labrums in both that he had surgically repaired — triggered his early season shutdown two years ago. Still, he was regarded among the top linemen in the portal, a blocker with NFL potential, after the 2024 season.
He'd no sooner pronounced himself fully recovered last August than the injury bug bit again. This time, it happened in a gym: What the Red Raiders call "Fight Club," a summer mixed martial arts program that a few dozen Tech football players take part in.
"I literally just took a step backwards and my back kind of just went out," Zambrano said, calling it a freak injury. The pain didn't go away.
"We did a couple of shots to see if it made it feel better," he said. "Nothing really helped, and then it kind of just got worse and worse, to the point where I couldn't stand up straight, couldn't really move, couldn't feel my legs. It was to the point where either you burn a season for no reason or get a medical redshirt, come back and actually do something."
More: Texas Tech football giving young offensive player a look on defense
More: Is more than Texas Tech football in Malcolm Simmons' future?
Zambrano used the down time to improve where he could: Learning how to deal with adversity and disappointment, becoming a better person, learning the playbook and taking mental repetitions during practice.
Now he's back on the field, trying again to prove himself while learning a new spot.
"O-line's an awkward position," he said. "It takes time to get used to, especially being out for so long with back-to-back injuries. But in the couple of weeks that I've been playing guard, I feel like I've been progressing really well, just learning the timing of everything, because everything happens a lot quicker inside, but I feel like I'm doing really well."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Can Texas Tech football's Hunter Zambrano finally catch a break?
Continue reading...
