After years of fighting for relevance, Texas State football is no longer defined by a losing record and is on the fast track to a new page in the program.

A culture shift has seemingly taken place in the Bobcat football locker room, as in last three years, Texas State went from a bottom-feeder to a program capable of garnering national attention.

“Texas State wasn’t known for being bowl eligible and [winning games], to be able to help change the culture at Texas State and now we have three back-to-back bowl wins, it just means everything,” senior running back Lincoln Pare said. “We have great guys in the locker room and that’s what ultimately pushed us over the edge.”

Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne also appears to be pleased with how far the program has come in the three years since he took the job in San Marcos.

“I think we’re probably further along than most anticipated when I took the job,” Kinne said. “I think there’s a lot of momentum heading into the new conference … I think the way we ended the season, we did that the right way. There’s a lot of excitement, and the guys are ready to go to work.”

Prior to Kinne’s arrival on campus in 2023, Texas State hadn’t had a winning season since 2014 and had never been selected to a bowl game. Now, through Kinne’s first three seasons, the Bobcats were selected to and won three straight bowl games.

In 2024, Texas State garnered national attention as some media outlets and pundits picked the Bobcats to be the Group of Five representative in the college football playoff. While that never came to fruition for Kinne’s squad, the Bobcats played well enough in 2024 to make the expectations for 2025 sky-high.

Going into the 2025 season, Texas State was projected to make the Sun Belt Conference Championship game. However, a five-game losing streak in the middle of the season derailed those hopes for the Bobcats.

Regardless, Kinne said the end of the season was exactly what the Bobcats needed to maintain momentum heading into the Pac-12, as Texas State finished with a 41-10 victory in the Armed Forces Bowl over Rice.

“The team’s excited with a lot to work for, I know we have a chip on our shoulder heading into a new conference,” Kinne said.

Texas State formed an identity in 2025 as one of the most explosive offenses in the country. The Bobcat offense finished fifth in the country in total offense, racking up 472.8 yards per game and 11th in the country in scoring offense, putting up 36.5 points per game.

Texas State’s prominent offense is primed to return to form in 2026, as it will be returning freshman quarterback Brad Jackson, junior wide receivers Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn Jr. and sophomore running back Greg Burrell.

“Its been such a blessing to be able to have [Sparks and Dawn] and then ultimately being able to bring them back [next season],” Jackson said. “Those guys are awesome and they just come to work each and every day.”

Jackson accounted for 3,968 total yards individually, a mark good enough to land him at 7th overall in the country. To go along with Jackson’s massive season, Sparks and Dawn Jr. both tallied over 1,000 receiving yards, a number good enough to land both inside the top-25 receivers in the country.

On the flip side, the Texas State defense wasn’t as effective as the offense, finishing 78th in the nation in total defense, allowing 382.9 yards per game. The Bobcat defense also finished 94th in scoring defense, allowing 29 points per game.

Despite the middle-of-the-pack numbers, where the defense finished was a far cry from its lowest point, as it was statistically one of the bottom 25 units in college football during the five-game losing streak.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, Texas State decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Dexter McCoil Sr., thus beginning the search for a new DC.

The search culminated in the hire of South Alabama’s defensive coordinator, Will Windham. Windham’s defense finished fourth in total defense, passing yards and first down defense in the Sun Belt in 2025.

“It was a person, a scheme and a fit that I was really looking for,” Kinne said. “[Windham] checked all the boxes … I think he’s a home run hire for us.”

On paper, Texas State looks primed to compete immediately in the Pac-12, but a new conference will bring a new set of challenges.

Texas State will have to contend with teams it has very little experience against and will have to overcome the challenges posed by a West Coast schedule, such as a large amount of travel.

The next time the Bobcats take the field, they will be sporting a Pac-12 patch on their jerseys against the University of Texas at Darrell K. Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, ushering in a new era of Texas State football.