Roots of Bush’s UTRGV football program found in San Marcos

Travis Bush is set with one of the most monumental tasks any coach has to undertake — building a program from the ground up — literally.

Announced as the first ever Head Coach of the UT-Rio Grande Valley football program, Bush will lead Vaqueros, who are scheduled to start play in 2025 in the United Athletic Conference in Football Championship Subdivision joining fellow schools Abilene Christian, Stephen F. Austin and Tarleton State.

As Bush continues to grow the UTRGV football program from the ground up, the roots for the Vaqueros can be traced back to San Marcos.

“There was a time that I considered San Marcos my home,” Bush said. “It’s the place where I lived the longest in my life, obviously starting out at Southwest Texas playing ball.'

Bush’s journey to San Marcos started in 1995 signing with the then Southwest Texas State Bobcats playing at wide receiver.

After graduating from Southwest Texas State, it didn’t take long for Bush to start the next chapter of his career entering the coaching field as an offensive assistant.

In fact, Bush made the 14 minute trip across I-35 to join San Marcos High School under his father Bruce Bush.

“When I first started playing here, my dad was coaching ball at Donna, here in the Valley,” Bush said. “When I would play, he was driving up and down from the Valley to the game every Saturday for five and a half hours. Then the San Marcos High School job came open. He applied for it and got it during my third year. It was fun to be back around family when he coached there. I finished up playing in my last three years, and I had the opportunity to coach at San Marcos High School right out of college.”

By the time Bush had come to San Marcos High School, the Rattlers were going through a massive transformation under the elder Bush.

The program that had not gone to the playoffs in over 30 years. Bruce Bush, in his first season as head coach, led the Rattlers to the playoffs before establishing San Marcos as a Central Texas power.

It was also a rise Bush had seen first hand.

“I had played at Bobcat Stadium in front of 2,500 people,” Bush said of his days playing for the Bobcats. “San Marcos plays New Braunfels [in playoffs] and there are 16,000 [people] in a sold out stadium. It was cool. That kick started the winning culture [in San Marcos] for the next few years while I was still watching that winning continue and the expectations build. Having a chance to come in on that fourth year, we were expected to win. To see that mentality, and the culture change. When you change the culture of an entire football program, you change the culture of the town.”

By the time Bush joined his father’s staff in 2000, San Marcos was attempting to capture their first district championship since 1966.

Despite knowing the offense, having been the quarterback of Gregory Portland High School under his dad, Bush also learned first hand about coaching.

“Coming out of college, you think you know a lot of stuff, but they let you know what you didn’t know,” Bush said. “They made you do laundry, set up the field, do all the equipment, but it was fun. It was a good learning experience. I had played in that offense as a quarterback in high school for my dad, so I was able to come in and do a good job with the offense and run the special teams.”

But Bush also learned from coaches that would soon become head coaches in their own right – some of which would go on to establish high school powerhouses in their as well.

“With those guys, you just learn to shut up and work,” Bush said. “My dad had some great coaches at the time. Jerry Vance was the defensive coordinator before becoming the head coach at Liberty Hill. I was about to go there and become the OC before I got the [Graduate Assistant] job at TCU. John Hall was there, who became head coach. Steve Van Nest, who ended up taking over at San Marcos as head coach. Brian Huckabay, who became a head coach. There were so many guys on that staff that became head coaches.”

The 2000 football season for San Marcos turned out to be one of the most memorable in recent history. The Rattlers finished the season with a perfect 10-0 record winning the first district championship in 34 years.

After just one season with the Rattlers, Bush made the jump to the collegiate level becoming a graduate assistant at Texas Christian.

Learning the ropes with the Horned Frogs, Bush found himself back in San Marcos becoming the wide receivers coach at his alma mater, which had now become Texas State.

One of the reasons for returning to San Marcos was a simple one. If the Rattlers can turn things around after years of struggle, why not the Bobcats.

“My deal coming back to coach at Texas State was that you saw the culture change at San Marcos High School,” Bush said. “If we could ever change that culture here at Texas State and get them back to winning, the town would go crazy, which happened in my second year back in 2005. You saw the whole culture of the university change as well.”

While having the opportunity to turnaround a struggling program wasn’t new for Bush, the chance to perform the turnaround at his alma mater was too good to pass up.

“I had never had a winning season at Texas State as a player,” Bush said. “You hear about the long time history and the national championships. To have an opportunity to be a part of it, having the expectations and knowing this can be a reality after seeing it at other places. To be a part of it, having some winning seasons, winning conference championships and going to the playoffs a couple of times was the fun part of coming back to my alma mater and helping them start winning.”

Bush was the wide receivers coach at Texas State from 2004-2006 before becoming the co-offensive coordinator from 2007-2010.

During Bush's tenure, the Bobcats won the conference championship in 2005 for the first time since 1983 and advanced to the FCS Semifinals.

Texas State added a second conference championship in 2008, which was the last time the Bobcats had won eight games in a season until 2023.

Though the ability to help turnaround a program into a winning team is a good feeling, to do it at your alma mater adds a special amount of meaning to Bush, who is using that to build the program at UTRGV.

'It’s not just a job,” Bush said. “You have been there and done that as a student athlete. It goes back to a different level of investment. Your heart is in it, and you want it more. To instill that in the young men and be the pioneers to get that started and turned around, it is very similar to what we are doing [at UTRGV]. Everything is brand new, so we are the pioneers that are building everything from scratch.”

As the countdown to the inaugural season of UTRGV football begins to tick for the 2025 season, it won’t take long for Bush to make a return trip to San Marcos.

In announcing the future football schedules for the Bobcats, UTRGV will make the trip to Bobcat Stadium to play Texas State in the 2027 and 2030 seasons.

Though Bush is currently set up in the Valley, San Marcos will always be home.

“It’s been a cool experience for me,” Bush said. “It’s a cool town. Being an alumni and a letterman, I still go back when I can to see friends and people there. To play for the university, coach at the high school, come back and coached at the college, it has been a unique experience. But I love San Marcos, and I still consider it a part of home.”

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc