Texas State football after Jake Spavital: Bobcats pluses, minuses and candidates -

The Jake Spavital era at Texas State is over.

Spavital was fired Sunday at the conclusion of the regular season. His tenure ends with a 13-35 record in four seasons, including a 4-8 record this year. He never won more than four games in a season.

Spavital was hired after two years as West Virginia’s offensive coordinator. After Spavital took the Texas State job, Kliff Kingsbury considered hiring him as the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, but Spavital stayed in San Marcos. With the implementation of the transfer portal, Spavital went heavy on transfers over the past two seasons to fill holes and find a quick fix, but it never came together.

So how good is the Texas State job, and what names could get in the mix? Here are the factors to keep in mind.

It’s been so long since this program had success or an identity

The Bobcats moved up to the FBS in 2012 under Dennis Franchione and went 4-8, 6-6 and 7-5 in their first three seasons, but the bottom quickly fell out. The 2022 season is the Bobcats’ eighth consecutive season with four or fewer wins. There have been only eight winning seasons since the program moved from Division II to Division I in 1984, nearly 40 years.

The current iteration of the program is the only Texas school in the Sun Belt. While the recently expanded Sun Belt leaned on regional rivalries and geography in deciding to expand, Texas State is still out on an island. There are no natural rivalries in the conference. Meanwhile, most of Conference USA’s Texas teams (UTSA, North Texas, Rice) will move to the American Athletic Conference next year and join SMU. Other than playing in Texas, there aren’t as many Texas parts of the program. Almost every road game is out of state.

There’s a new administration, with athletic director Don Coryell hired last year and president Kelly Damphousse hired this year. The athletic department as a whole is successful, winning the Sun Belt’s all-sports Bubas Cup for 2021-22, but football has to get fixed.

Jake Spavital went 13-35 in four seasons at Texas State. (Daniel Dunn / USA Today)

The facilities are very behind, but plans are in place for improvement

The state of Texas is known for its immense and dramatic facilities at the high school level, from indoor practice facilities to large weight rooms. The Bobcats regularly travel to San Marcos High School to use their indoor facility because Texas State doesn’t have one. Spavital said the program has 10 racks in the weight room, while Lake Travis High School has 48.

“I think we have one of the most beautiful stadiums in college football, but our daily operation facility is probably one of the worst in Texas,” Spavital told The Athletic this summer. “It’s been tough recruiting kids — especially high school kids — (who like) the glitz and glamour and facilities and all that stuff.”

It’s become especially notable as North Texas built an indoor facility, Rice has a nice building and UTSA just opened a new facility as well.

The good news is plans are in place for a $37 million south end zone football center with a new weight room, training rooms and more. The hope is to complete it in time for the 2024 season. Bobcat Stadium was renovated in 2012, removing the track around it, and an end zone complex was built in 2002. The stadium was used in the “Friday Night Lights” TV show.

The next head coach will have to rebuild relationships with Texas high schools

Spavital’s decision to go all-in with transfers over high school players rubbed a lot of high school coaches the wrong way. The 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes included just four high school players, seven junior college players and 35 transfers.

“It’s always a touchy subject, but at the end of the day, it’s the right thing for us right now,” Spavital said in the summer.

Spavital is the son of a Texas high school coach and has tried to emphasize that, but high school coaches are a prideful bunch.

“The guy at Texas State, I look at how many guys they’ve taken out of the portal, they didn’t recruit any high school kids,” one Texas high school coach told The Athletic last year. “It’s hard to get them to respond when you’re trying to (inform them about) a kid that has some offers that may be interested in them. You send ’em text messages about a kid, and the only response you’ll get is a ‘Thank you.’”

When Matt Rhule took the Baylor head coaching job, he immediately embraced the high school coaching ranks, hiring some to his staff and developing relationships that helped for a quick turnaround. The next Texas State coach would be smart to do the same.

Where does it rank among open jobs?

There are a handful of open Group of 5 jobs at the moment. Several jobs in the current and future AAC could open as well. That could impact the candidate field. Spavital earned $800,000 a year, a salary that ranked ninth in the Sun Belt. This job offers the state of Texas, which can be appealing to anyone, but there are hurdles.

So what names could get in the mix?

Incarnate Word head coach G.J. Kinne has made a splash in his first year as a head coach. The San Antonio-based school is 10-1 and ranked in the top five of the FCS, and the Cardinals lead the FCS in scoring at 52.9 points per game. Kinne took over a strong program from Eric Morris, but Morris took quarterback Cam Ward with him to Washington State, and now QB Lindsey Scott is putting up eye-popping numbers with 50 passing touchdowns in 11 games. Kinne began coaching in 2017 and spent last year as UCF’s co-offensive coordinator. His stock is rising quickly, but Tulsa, his alma mater, may be in the market for a coach and look at him, too.

Speaking of Eric Morris, the former UIW head coach and current Washington State offensive coordinator, could he look to return to Texas? He’s a Lone Star State native who spent nearly all his career in Texas outside of two separate seasons at Washington State. He built the program into what it is now, including a 10-3 season a year ago. On the other hand, Ward has two more seasons of eligibility at WSU, so there may not be a rush to leave.

Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler has had discussions about this job in the past. He won the spring 2021 FCS national championship and has five top-six finishes since 2014. But the Bearkats are moving up to the FBS next season to be a part of Conference USA. This year’s team went 5-4 in part because a large number of starters are redshirting with Sam Houston not able to compete in the FCS playoffs as a transitioning school. Keeler still needs a new contract for the FBS move. Could Texas State offer more money and some better facilities, or would Keeler stick with a program he’s taken to the top?

North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo was Sam Houston’s offensive coordinator from 2014 to ’16, when the program went 34-10. At UNC, Longo has developed Drake Maye into a Heisman Trophy contender as a redshirt freshman. Maye has accounted for 41 touchdowns with just five interceptions. The Tar Heels were a top-10 scoring offense for much of the season. Longo has been at UNC since 2019 and spent two years as Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator before that.

Former Texas A&M-Commerce head coach David Bailiff could be an experienced option, and he knows Texas State well, previously serving as its head coach from 2004 to 2006. The 2005 team reached the FCS semifinals. The 64-year-old also won 10 games twice as Rice’s head coach and went 23-13 in three seasons at Commerce as the school transitioned to the FCS. He parted ways with the school last week after turning down a contract extension and his deal expired. He would bring deep Texas connections to a school that needs to rebuild them.

SMU safeties coach/special teams coordinator Craig Naivar spent six years as a Texas State assistant over two stints, including the program-best 11-3 season in 2005. Mississippi State running backs coach Jason Washington is a former Texas State player and was on staff from 2011 to ’14, including the program’s two best seasons at the FBS level. West Virginia offensive coordinator Graham Harrell is a Texas native and the son of a Texas high school coach. The former Texas Tech QB spent three years at North Texas before USC hired him as offensive coordinator. Oregon co-defensive coordinator Matt Powledge is a Huntsville, Texas, native and former Sam Houston player who has coached under Dan Lanning, Dave Aranda and Billy Napier in recent years. Los Angeles Rams running backs coach Ra’Shaad Samples was one of the top Texas recruiters while at Houston, Texas and SMU, and the 27-year-old was elevated to assistant head coach at SMU last season.

Former Virginia Tech head coach Justin Fuente is an Oklahoma native with deep ties in Texas and 10 years of head coaching experience. He built Memphis from one of the worst situations in the country into a conference champion in his third season. He won 19 games in his first two seasons at Virginia Tech, but things unraveled down the stretch, though he finished with a 43-31 record there. Fuente’s name has also been around the UAB job and some other potential openings.

South Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite has deep Texas ties and went 15-10 in two seasons as Houston’s head coach from 2017 to 2018. The former Texas quarterback spent six years on the UT staff and three years under Nick Saban at Alabama over two stints. This year’s South Alabama offense ranks 41st nationally in scoring, up from 91st a year ago, and the Jaguars have had their best season in school history, currently at 10-2.

TCU defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie has played a pivotal role in TCU’s undefeated regular season and potential College Football Playoff run. The Stephenville, Texas, native spent 21 years at Stephenville High School, including the last eight years as head coach. From there, he spent six years at Tulsa, including three as defensive coordinator, before TCU hired him. The Horned Frogs shut down Texas this season and have consistently made halftime adjustments to bury opponents in the second half.

(Top photo: Bobby McDuffie / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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