Early history (1904–1964) Southwest Texas State Normal School first fielded a football team in 1904.
Oscar W. Strahan, for whom the current basketball arena is named, was hired as the university's first director of athletics, and served as the team's first head football coach from 1919 to 1934. He compiled an impressive 72–52–10 record and won three championships (1921, 1924, 1929). Strahan led Texas State into the T.I.A.A. in 1922 and then as a founding member of the Lone Star Conference in 1932.
Joe Bailey Cheaney served as head football coach at Southwest Texas State from 1935 to 1942. The Bobcats went 23–42–6 during Cheaney's tenure. Cheaney was asked to resign following the 1942 season. The university did not field a football team from 1943 to 1945 due to
World War II. Head coaches
George Vest,
Milton Jowers,
R. W. Parker, and
Jack Henry all had tenures as Texas State's head coach. Vest led the team to a conference championship in 1948, while Parker won co-championships in 1954 and 1955. Jowers, for whom Jowers Center (home of the Department of Health and Human Performance) is named, served as head coach twice (1951–1953 and 1961–1964). He compiled a 48–18–2 record, winning over 72% of his games, including a conference championship 10–0 season in 1963.
Bill Miller era (1965–1978) Bill Miller was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in 1965. Miller retired in 1978 as the school's winningest head coach in its history and the second longest tenured head coach. Wacker left Southwest Texas State to accept the position of head coach at
TCU after the 1982 season. Under O'Hara's leadership, the Bobcats shared the conference title and made the playoffs in 1983, losing in the first round. O'Hara was the driving force behind moving Southwest Texas State out of Division II and into Division I-AA, where the Bobcats faced much tougher competition on the field and on the recruiting trail. After the 1989 season, O'Hara joined the football staff at the University of Iowa, where he remained until his sudden death in 1992 at the age of 48.
Dennis Franchione era (1990–1991) Dennis Franchione followed O'Hara, and under his tutelage, the Bobcats had a 6–5 record in 1990 and a 7–4 mark in 1991. Franchione left the Bobcats after two seasons to accept the position of head coach at
New Mexico.
Jim Bob Helduser era (1992–1996) To replace Franchione, the Bobcats promoted
Jim Bob Helduser from an assistant coach to head coach. Under Helduser's leadership, the Bobcats compiled a record of 20–34–1. Helduser was approached by Franchione to join his staff at Texas Christian University as offensive line coach, an offer Helduser accepted.
Bob DeBesse era (1997–2002) Minnesota offensive coordinator
Bob DeBesse was hired by his alma mater to serve as head coach following Helduser's departure. In 2000, DeBesse's Southwest Texas Bobcats rolled up the school's best record in a decade (7–4) and earned a No. 25 national ranking.
David Bailiff era (2004–2006) TCU defensive coordinator
David Bailiff was hired as Matsakis' replacement on February 5, 2004. In his first season as the Bobcats' head coach, he guided them to a 5–6 record. In 2005, they finished the regular season 9–2 and were
Southland Conference Champions. They then won two games in the
NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, eventually losing to
Northern Iowa. In 2006, the Bobcats' were again 5–6. Bailiff left Texas State after three seasons to accept the head coaching position at
Rice.
Brad Wright era (2007–2010) Brad Wright was promoted from running backs coach to head coach of the Bobcats football program after Bailiff's departure. Under Wright's tutelage, the Bobcats compiled a mediocre 23–23 record. Fan support and administration restlessness led the Wright's firing following a 4–7 campaign in 2010.
Franchione's return (2011–2015) Following Brad Wright's dismissal, Texas State University engaged Parker Executive Search to help them find their next head football coach. Finalists included former
Colorado head coach
Dan Hawkins,
Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator
Bobby Jack Wright, former
Minnesota head coach
Tim Brewster, and Dennis Franchione. On January 7, 2011, Franchione was named head coach of Texas State's football program and signed a five-year contract valued at $350,000 per year. This was Franchione's
second tenure with Texas State, having previously coached at what was then Southwest Texas State in 1990 and 1991. His second tenure at Texas State was slightly less successful, as he led Texas State into
Football Bowl Subdivision level football in 2012, joining the
Western Athletic Conference. Texas State then negotiated membership in the more stable
Sun Belt Conference beginning in 2013, after the WAC
stopped sponsoring football. Franchione retired from coaching following the 2015 season. His second tenure with the Bobcats produced a 26–34 record.
Everett Withers era (2016–2018) Former
North Carolina head coach
Everett Withers was hired as Texas State's head coach on January 6, 2016. Withers, who was serving as head coach at
James Madison in the
FCS at the time of his hiring, is the first
African American to hold the position of head football coach at Texas State University. In 2016, Withers' first season, the Bobcats compiled a 2–10 record. The Bobcats broke the all-time attendance record at their home opener on September 24, 2016, with 33,133. In 2017, Withers' second season, the Bobcats again recorded a 2–10 record. Withers entered the 2018 season with an overall record of 4–20. Withers was fired as the head coach for football on November 18, 2018, with a 7–28 record as head coach. Defensive Coordinator Chris Woods became the interim head coach for the season finale.
Jake Spavital era (2019–2022) On November 28, 2018,
Jake Spavital was hired to replace Withers as Texas State's head coach. Spavital previously served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at
West Virginia from 2017 to 2018. The Bobcats lost to twelfth-ranked
Texas A&M 41–7 in the program's first game under Spavital. Under the direction of
Jake Spavital, the Bobcats improved their rushing output by 65 percent, averaging 131.2 yards per game, and averaging 369.7 total yards and 27.7 points per game. These totals were the most yards gained for the Bobcats since 2015 and the most points scored since 2014. The third-youngest head coach in the NCAA Division I FBS in 2021, Spavital took the reins at Texas State on November 30, 2018, after overseeing some of the nation's most prolific offenses. He is Texas State's 20th head coach since the program began. Texas State fired Spavital following the 2022 season. In four years, Spavital's teams went 13–35 overall and did not appear in a bowl game.
G. J. Kinne era (2023–present) On December 1, 2022,
G. J. Kinne was hired to replace Spavital as Texas State's head coach. Kinne previously served as head coach of the
University of the Incarnate Word, as well as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for
University of Central Florida. In his first season, Kinne led the Bobcats to an 8–5 record and their first bowl game appearance in the program's history. Texas State defeated Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, 45–21, on December 26, 2023. ==Conference affiliations==