BAILIFF IS BACK

Former Texas State Head Coach David Bailiff returns to San Marcos

Texas State head football coach GJ Kinne is bringing back one of the great Bobcats in program history as former Texas State head coach and offensive lineman David Bailiff will join the staff as special assistant to the head coach.

Bailiff, who is also a member of the Texas State Hall of Honor, will assist Kinne and the rest of the staff in all facets of the program, including advising Kinne, community relations, alumni affairs, high school relations, fundraising, and football operations.

“Coach Bailiff is a tremendous addition to our coaching staff and we are grateful to have him join the program once again,” Kinne said. “Coach is a Bobcat through-andthrough, from his time as a player to serving as an assistant coach to being a championship-winning head coach. He has also been a sincere mentor of mine over years, starting back when I was a student- athlete and he was the head coach at Rice. His knowledge of this program, Texas State University and the Central Texas community will help us restore our tradition and take a step towards winning championships.”

Bailiff led the Bobcats as the head coach from 2004 to 2006, leading the team to a Southland Conference co-championship and appearance in the Division I-AA semifinals in 2005. He was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 5 Coach of the Year that season and finished third in voting for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is presented annually to the top coach in Division I-AA/FCS.

Overall, Bailiff has been a head coach in college football for 18 years. He has won two conference championships as a Bobcat – one as a player in 1980 and another as a head coach in 2005 – and was twice named conference coach of the year during his time as the Rice head coach in 2008 and 2013.

“I’m excited to be back with Texas State and the football program,” said Bailiff. “I started this journey at this great university in 1976 as a student-athlete and have enjoyed a few more stops along the way. I’m here to help Coach Kinne and (Texas State Director of Athletics) Don Coryell in any capacity I can. I want to see this university win and go to bowl games, and I also want to help Coach Kinne and this great university’s dreams come true.”

Bailiff was a former student-athlete at Texas State (then-Southwest Texas State), lettering for the Bobcats from 1977 to 1980. He helped the Bobcats have winning records in all four seasons, culminating with the Lone Star Conference championship in his senior season and helping set up the program to win back-to-back Division II national championships in 1981 and 1982.

Bailiff returns to Texas State after serving as the head football coach at Texas A&M-Commerce from 2019 to 2022. He helped the program reach the NCAA Division II Championship Playoffs in 2019, which made him the fourth coach ever to qualify for the Division II playoffs, Division I-AA playoffs, and win an FBS bowl game.

He was also the head coach at Rice (2007-17) and has experience as the defensive coordinator at TCU (2002-03) before his stint as the leader of Texas State football in the mid-2000s. He was also the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at TCU in 2001.

After beginning his coaching career at New Braunfels High School (1982-84) and then going into private business (1984-88), Bailiff joined Texas State as a defensive graduate assistant in 1988. In 1989, he was promoted to the defensive line coach before leaving to take an assistant coach position at New Mexico in 1992.

He later returned to Texas State in 1997 as the defensive coordinator and eventually added assistant head coach responsibilities in 1999 under head coach Bob Debesse. In 1999, he was named the Division I-AA Assistant Coach of the Year by the AFCA.

In 1996, he was elected to the Texas State Hall of Honor.

The Bobcats open spring practice on March 23 and will play their spring game on April 22 at 11 am at Bobcat Stadium.