Head Coach: GJ Kinne is entering his 3rd year with the Bobcats with a 16-10 record. He’s led Texas State to their two best FBS seasons and the program’s first two bowl victories. Kinne was previously the head coach at Incarnate Word leading that program to the FCS semifinals, and he was also a star QB for Tulsa in his playing days.
Program Outlook: Texas State is located in San Marcos which is in between Austin and San Antonio on I-35, its a huge area in the state and excellent for recruiting. For a long time it was a mystery on why Texas State couldn’t seem to get going, but Kinne changed all of that in a hurry. With Texas State set to join the Pac-12 in 2026 this program’s momentum is at a fever pitch. This has truly become a fascinating program to watch because it feels like they’re just getting started.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Texas State ranks 107th in the country returning 40.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. Key players for the Bobcats starts with the QB which needs to take shape, but Kinne’s track record says that Pitt transfer Nate Yarnell or Auburn transfer Holden Geriner will end up stepping in and playing good football. Chris Dawn was great as a rotational receiver last year but becomes a focal part of the attack, he will be joined by transfers Mavin Anderson (Cal) and Tyrin Smith (Cincinnati). Smith in particular could be really great if he can stay healthy, he starred for UTEP in 2022 but has missed a lot of the last 2 years. RBs Lincoln Pare and Torrance Burgess are primed to shine with bigger workloads this year. While the portal is heavily utilized in most spots the Bobcats are actually very homegrown on the Oline, an area you definitely want to be homegrown! This should be a solid unit. The defense is extremely aggressive and led by defensive ends Kalil Alexander and Jo’Lauson Landry who do a great job pressuring opposing QBs, the interior is a little more uncertain but should hold up. The Bobcats will once again be transfer heavy on the backend, the most exciting transfer at LB will be TCU transfer Terrence Cooks who will lead the way there. The secondary has a great one in safety Ryan Nolan and they have a great talent in Oregon transfer corner Khamari Terrell.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Texas State will face a challenging 2025 schedule. The Bobcats have an opener against an Eastern Michigan program that is typically solid, then comes the Battle of I-35 against UTSA which will be a heated game. The Bobcats then face Arizona State on the road that game was a lot of fun last year. Their FCS foe is Nicholls who may prove to be a solid team at the FCS level, after Texas State only beat Lamar by 7 last year they can’t take this game for granted. The Sun Belt schedule is always challenging but Texas State definitely gets a very tough draw from the East having to face Marshall and James Madison, fortunately the JMU game is at home. Facing both Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road will be tough as well.
Final Thoughts: The Take Back Texas movement is in full force in San Marcos and this is a program that will just keep getting better. Winning the Sun Belt in their last season in the conference would be a great way to go out but the schedule draw is very difficult and they will have a target on their back every week. Consistency will be very important after Texas State missed out on accomplishing more last year thanks to a couple bad games.
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