A college football coach will be a competitor on the upcoming season of The Bachelorette.
News broke last month from the official Bachelorette Facebook page that Texas Tech senior offensive analyst Kirk Bryant was a candidate to appear on the show.
Texas Tech senior offensive analyst Kirk Bryant made the list of potential cast members for the new season of The Bachelorette, which begins filming this week. pic.twitter.com/TXYA2FrY0N
— Max Olson (@max_olson) March 23, 2022
Typically around 35 men or women become candidates to appear on a given season, but three to five get cut before cameras start rolling, according to Reality Steve, the FootballScoop of the Bachelor-verse.
Over the weekend, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire confirmed not only that Kirk B. from Lubbock, Texas, is on the show -- he's expected to win the thing.
"We are going to get shirts, we're going to have an office watch party, we might have an office bracket," McGuire said. "Kirk is the brand. I told him if he doesn't get a rose, that he might not need to come back to West Texas."
Bryant did not return a message from FootballScoop seeking comment.
Coach @JoeyMcGuireTTU confirms that he will watch The @BacheloretteABC this upcoming season to support contestant/coach @TTUKirkBryant 🌹👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/4mUpLKjmDb
— Bradey King (@BradeyKing) April 2, 2022
The Bachelor first aired in 2002 and has since become a reality TV institution. The first Bachelorette went on the air the following year; the upcoming season will be the 19th -- and the first with two Bachelorettes.
👇🌹 SPOILER ALERT 🌹👇#TheBachelorette is BACK like we've never seen it before! See you on July 11, Bachelor Nation! 💍 pic.twitter.com/5fFqz6vqbg
— The Bachelorette (@BacheloretteABC) March 16, 2022
For whatever reason, Bachelorette seasons have much higher hit rates than their counterparts. According to the series' respective Wikipedia pages, only one Bachelor season has ended in marriage, compared to four marriages or long-term relationships born out of Bachelorette seasons.
And as The Athletic wrote in 2020, Football Guys have a long history of success on The Bachelorette. Turns out, the Bachelor mansion is one big locker room, and football players (especially quarterbacks) and coaches are uniquely skilled at building consensus among a bunch of dudes.
“As an athlete, you always try to put yourself in the best position to be successful and that’s what I wanted to do,” Illinois State defensive lineman-turned-Bachelorette candidate Colton Underwood told the site. “I think I just took a very athletic approach to it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying that because that doesn’t take away from genuine feelings and the result of what the show was, it’s more so just protecting yourself and setting yourself up for success.”