McCoil takes over defense as the Bobcats look to be more physical and disciplined

The Texas State defense will be under new leadership as safeties coach Dexter McCoil Sr. was promoted to defensive coordinator over the offseason following the departure of Jonathan Patke who became the new defensive coordinator for the Duke Blue Devils.

“First of all it is a blessing,” McCoil said. “I’m just thankful for the opportunity to lead. I will be the first to tell you that even though I have the defensive coordinator title, it’s not a me thing. It’s a new thing. I’m only as good as our staff, our kids and what we do together. It’s been a collective group of doing things the right way and getting better each day. I always say that the standard is rising. Every day we come in, no matter if it is meeting time, writing stuff down, the little things, we want to make sure our standards are rising, and it starts with me.”

McCoil, a former Tulsa Golden Hurricane safety and former college teammate of now Texas State Head Coach G.J. Kinne takes over a defense that will have to replace six defensive starters including linebacker Brian Holloway, defensive end Jordan Revels, safety Shawn Holton and cornerback Kaleb Ford-Dement.

Now in charge, McCoil wants to add a level of physicality to the Bobcat defense.

“The expectations and the characteristics of our defense is going to be physical,” McCoil said. “We are going to be tenacious in our effort and attitude. The word for our 2024 defense is going to be disciplined. We will be those three things. If we continue to do those three things, we can go really far this year. The expectation part and all of that stuff – we don’t feed into that. We just try and get better each and every day.”

A major key for the Bobcat defense to maintain success for McCoil is the defense being disciplined not only on the field but off the field as well.

“Discipline is a part of life,” McCoil said. “I’m not in this to coach football. I am a mentor. My goal is to make sure these kids are growing spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is not just on the field discipline, it’s life discipline. For example, being on time for a meeting. If you are not on time for a professional job, they have the right to dock you or fire you. So it’s the little things like that the kids don’t realize at this moment that we are trying to teach them to be disciplined in the moment and that is going to carry over into us being a great defense.”

With the expectations of the Bobcats having risen significantly with Texas State quafilying and playing in their first ever bowl game, McCoil knows in order to reach those goals the defense must earn it.

“We know that we can be a great defense but it starts with the work,” McCoil said. “Nothing will be given to us. We have to take it and in order for us to do that, we have to put in the work everyday. That comes from the top up. Coach Kinne says habits reflect the mission, so everything we do defensively in practice, our habits – on and off the field – have to reflect the mission, which is the conference championship.”

In lieu of the old adage of Iron sharpens Iron, the defense has been tested throughout spring practice going up against a talented Bobcat offense that broke school records and returns seven starters from last year’s team while adding Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud.

Despite going up against a talented offense, McCoil is also a big believer that competitiveness breeds success.

“The competition is of the essence,” McCoil said. “One of the pillars of the defense is competitive excellence. We are competing each day and we want to exceed the expectations of being better. You are only as good as your next play. With Coach Mack running that offense, it is going to be powerful so we get a good look everyday.”

To help with the loss of starters on defense, the Bobcats brought in 11 defensive transfers including Brice Bass of Gardner Webb, Max Harris of Louisiana Monroe, Trez Moore and James Neal of UTEP, and Steven Parker of UIW.

While bringing talented players, McCoil also wanted players that love the game of football and who want to win.

“We brought in some good transfers,” McCoil said. “Our goal is to get guys that love football, and we did that. They love coming to work everyday, sticking together, and forming that unit. They want to win and that’s the biggest thing. ... Each day we are going to continue to get better with those guys.”

Texas State Spring Practice will conclude with the annual Maroon-Gold spring game this Saturday at 11 a.m.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc