LUBBOCK, Texas — Once the biggest controversy of college football’s offseason subsided, everybody outside of Texas Tech’s immediate orbit had the same question: Who is Will Hammond?The quarterback replacing Brendan Sorsby, the coveted transfer deemed ineligible for violating gambling rules, is about as uncontroversial as it gets. Hammond is an Eagle Scout who didn’t play sports on Sundays as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of his quarterback coaches, Brad Stanfield, said Hammond doesn’t even have a TV in his room.“His family’s unbelievable,” Stanfield said. “They’re driving a minivan with 275,000 miles on it, and they love it. They’re just a play-cards, enjoy-each-other, wholesome family. Will’s got that in his blood.”Hammond’s rise as the starting quarterback didn’t happen the way anyone at Texas Tech would have wanted. Coaches and administrators describe Sorsby as a good person caught in the throes of a gambling addiction, and they contend that’s why the school fought vigorously to keep him on the field. Texas Tech’s coaches maintain that the fight for Sorsby’s eligibility didn’t reflect a lack of confidence in Hammond — a top-250 recruit from the Class of 2024 who spent the offseason recovering from a knee injury.Hammond has his own background, personality and leadership style, all different from Sorsby’s. The ability of the team and the quarterback to adapt to each other will go a long way toward determining whether the Red Raiders can overcome a challenging offseason to repeat as Big 12 champions and return to the College Football Playoff.“He’s gotta be Will Hammond,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “He is extremely unique. That’s why people are so drawn to him. He’s a different cat with his personality and thought process.”College QB Tiers: Which quarterback has the highest ceiling?Antonio Morales and Sam Khan Jr.If Hammond hadn’t torn his ACL last October, the biggest story of the offseason might have played out much differently. When he went down, Hammond was starting in place of senior Behren Morton, who was dealing with a leg injury. With Hammond’s recovery timeline uncertain, Texas Tech made an aggressive play for Sorsby, agreeing to a deal that was expected to pay him around $4 million after he threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns last year at Cincinnati.What followed was a multi-part saga that dominated the offseason at Texas Tech and reverberated through the sport. Texas Tech fought to keep Sorsby eligible after he admitted placing more than 9,000 wagers, including bets on Indiana while a member of the team. After weeks of wrangling with the NCAA, Big 12 and NFL, Sorsby left Texas Tech and shifted his focus to the 2027 NFL Draft.Hammond wasn’t hanging on every twist and turn of the Sorsby saga. He always believed he would be Texas Tech’s starter, even when most people assumed the job belonged to Sorsby.“That was always my plan, that I was going to be the guy this year,” Hammond said. “I don’t think anyone could have predicted back in January that it would play out exactly this way, but as a competitor, I always had belief in myself that I was going to be back in this position.”The biggest variable for Hammond was his injury recovery, with initial projections having him returning for Texas Tech’s Big 12 opener against Houston in Week 3. Team doctors cleared him to participate in 11-on-11 drills at the start of preseason camp, putting him on pace to play in Texas Tech’s opener against Abilene Christian.From a talent perspective, Hammond fits the profile of a starting quarterback on a CFP contender. He was a four-star recruit who led the state in passing yards and accounted for 807 yards in a single game as a senior at Hutto High School near Austin. His recruitment took off after the Elite 11 showcase in 2023, with Hammond going throw for throw with Julian Sayin, Dylan Raiola, CJ Carr and other big-time prospects.Because Hammond was considering a two-year LDS mission after high school, he didn’t do all of the intensive college prep that some elite quarterbacks do, Stanfield said. Stanfield knew Hammond had the traits to be successful, but he didn’t anticipate the rush of recruiting interest from schools such as Oregon, Penn State and Texas A&M.“I didn’t think that Will was going to pop off like Will did,” Stanfield said.Now that he’s the Red Raiders’ starting quarterback, Hammond’s next step is to become their undisputed leader, too. Last season, Hammond said, he was “just kind of out there,” not necessarily commanding the huddle or inspiring his teammates to raise their level of play.Hammond is serious, direct and mature beyond his years. If something isn’t right, left tackle Howard Sampson said, Hammond is going to “hit the nail on the head with a hammer.” Hammond’s emphasis this offseason was to become more of a connector, Stanfield said, which means bringing the energy his teammates need in different situations.“You can’t be that robot, monotone guy,” Stanfield said. “You’ve got to be able to go in the receiver room and communicate with the receivers. You can do both. You can be a pro and be able to connect at the same time.”Mack Leftwich, Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator, said Hammond brings “good juice” and knows how to get his teammates fired up, but he also leads in the quieter moments. When he connects with a teammate, it’s not a superficial relationship. Hammond’s injury gave him a chance to step back and focus on cultivating those relationships, which helped the Red Raiders withstand the outside pressure of the offseason.“He does a good job connecting with the guys, where you know they’ve got real relationships,” Leftwich said. “It’s not just fist-bumping here and there. The guys know he cares about them, and he spends a lot of time and is very intentional in the way he goes about that.”Playing quarterback at Texas Tech means joining a fraternity of record-setting passers, including Baker Mayfield, Kliff Kingsbury, Graham Harrell and Patrick Mahomes, whose larger-than-life mural adorns the wall of Texas Tech’s walkthrough area. The Mahomes connection featured prominently in Hammond’s offseason: The two quarterbacks compared notes as they recovered from significant knee injuries, and Hammond also worked with Jeff Christensen, the Texas-based QB coach who counts Mahomes as one of his star pupils.This isn’t the Texas Tech program of the recent past, one known for putting up video-game numbers through the air and giving up yards at almost the same pace. The Red Raiders, ranked No. 12 in the preseason coaches poll, have one of the best front sevens in college football, three talented running backs and an imposing offensive line to ease the pressure on Hammond.With so much talent around the quarterback, Texas Tech doesn’t need Hammond to be Mayfield, Mahomes or even Sorsby. Hammond has gotten comfortable being himself, and the Red Raiders have gotten comfortable with him.“The mentality has been the same the whole time, never to take a backseat,” Hammond said. “I always want to be that guy. I’m just glad to be in this position and have the team around me that I have.”