TXST FOOTBALL
Texas State signed 19 players from the transfer portal in addition to the 19 high school and junior college players signed in December.
Head Coach G.J. Kinne thanked the Texas State administrators for their help as the Bobcats prepare for a new era in heading into the Pac-12 Conference.
“This go around in the portal was a lot better than a year ago,” Kinne said. “It’s just part of it. Obviously college football is changing every day and with us going to the Pac-12, that was a huge emphasis really starting from last spring to get where we needed to be. Obviously making a couple late pushes to keep on heading in the right direction as far as resources and getting to where we need to go with the Pac-12 and with who’s in the Pac-12. We just needed to play catch up and I thought the administration did a great job of trying to get us to where we needed to be.”
As the Bobcats start preparing for the 2026 season for their first year in the new conference, Kinne likes where his team is at.
“We have some young guys that are hungry, had a year, two or three to develop and now have an opportunity to play,” Kinne said. “Then you add in some pieces that we signed in the portal. Hopefully that sets us up to go into the Pac-12 with a lot of momentum. I really like where our team’s at.
“We had our first team meeting a couple of days ago and I like the energy and the build of the team. We added a lot of really good frames through the high school, and then also in the portal. I think our football team looks drastically better right now than it did a year ago at this time.”
Of the 19 players signed through the transfer portal, 10 are coming in from Power 4 Conference schools.
With Texas State returning numerous starters on offense including Brad Jackson, Greg Burrell, Beau Sparks and Chris Dawn, Kinne’s focus was on the defensive side of the ball and strengthening the line of scrimmage.
“Really a big emphasis on defense, and bringing in the defensive-line,” Kinne said. “I always want to start there, but obviously we lost some really good players there, so that was our number one focus. We felt like we have a bunch of really young [defensive backs] that are going to be really good in Chris Jones, [Cordarian] Powell and Craig Royal then Jayden Bradley and Jayden Lawton, two guys that I think will be unbelievable players.
“So I feel like we had a bunch of really good young [defensive backs] that now have the opportunity to play. So it was really [focusing on] the defensive line. We had some linebackers graduate and one or two leave so I had the ability to sign some linebackers as well. But obviously, the focus was probably more on defense and then just filling in spots on offense.”
The Bobcats will start preparation for the 2026 season later this spring.
Incoming Transfers William Boone | OL | North Carolina Phillip Bradford | DL | McNeese Mekhi Buchanan | DE | Virginia Dylan Cunanan | K | Toledo Jaylen Early | OL | Missouri Tom Flintoff | P | Australia Davian Jackson | ATH | Miss State Rasheed Jackson | OL | TCU Kaleb James | DE | Arkansas Javante Mackey | LB | Arkansas State Chancellor Owens | DL | Arizona Jason Patterson | DL | Texas Southern Michael Patterson III | DB | SFA Shaker Reisig | QB | Boston College Dexter Ricks | CB | Liberty Jordan Sample | LB | Arkansas State Zechariah Sample | WR | Arizona State John Smith | CB | Colorado State Tae Woody | DL | ULM
