How Bailiff came back to San Marcos

The story of former player and Texas State head coach David Bailiff returning back home to San Marcos started more than a decade ago with a simple note to GJ Kinne.

“When I was the head coach at Rice, Kinne was the quarterback at Tulsa,” Bailiff said. “At the end of the year, I would select somebody from the opposing team that exemplified everything that was right with college football in regards to character, work ethic, etc., etc. I wrote him a personal note telling him how bright his future was going to be.”

The note was something that stuck with Kinne throughout his playing career and coaching.

“He talked about the way I played and how I carried myself,” Kinne said. “That always meant something to me. He has been the only coach to have ever done that throughout my career. That has always stuck with me . … There is a reason everybody loves the guy. The way he carries himself and handles each situation.”

When Kinne was hired at Texas State to take over the Bobcat football program, the internal discussion began about bringing Bailiff back to Texas State.

“We have talked about it, and me and Don (Coryell) talked about how we had to get this guy in the building,” Kinne said. “Coach Bailiff has been a great mentor and a great friend. I’m just happy to have him in the building because he is a winner and we need more winners here.”

As expected, the return to San Marcos has been massive for Bailiff.

“It’s been emotional for me coming back,” Bailiff said. “My journey started here and it’s going to end here. I got a lot of hugs from people yesterday that I didn’t know.”

Bailiff was named the special assistant to the head coach Monday and since then has carried the message Kinne has been delivering to his teams with regard to bringing Texas State back into prominence.

“We need to dream for those kinds of things to happen,” Bailiff said. “If you could have heard him (Kinne) at the end of practice, that’s what he is talking about. My role is just to gain support back over here at Texas State that was lost over the years. It’s about getting the high school coaches– which Coach Kinne is going to have a High School Coaching Clinic, and getting the letterman back. But first it’s about getting people re-engaging with the university. If there is anything I can help with football that’s great, but if not I’m happy with that too.”

“I’m basically America’s oldest graduate assistant,” Bailiff said, jokingly.”

Bailiff has been boots on the ground since his day one, going throughout the city of San Marcos in the only way he knows how.

Bailiff’s mission is not only with San Marcos but statewide as well–to deliver the rallying cry that Texas State is heading towards a brighter future.

“I walked in a lot of businesses on my first day here,” Bailiff said. “I just dropped in on them and almost every person I met told me that they were coming back … The personal touch is what it is going to take rather than a phone call or an email. It’s not just San Marcos, but I need to go to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and re-engage with people. Just tell them what about the great job both President Damphousse and Coach Kinne are doing. There are times when you are at [the] university and this is one of those times.”

Now that Bailiff is finally back home where he started, the ride so far has been emotional.

“It’s been so overwhelming,” Bailiff said. “Once again, I have been here so many times that people here have seen me grow up. They saw me when I was young and dumb, and now they see me when I’m old and wise.”