The head football coach of a brand-new college football team had a blank slate as his UTRGV Vaqueros kicked off their football season in late August 2025.
Travis Bush had been through this before as an assistant coach when UT-San Antonio launched its first football season in 2011. Now Bush was the head man of a new football venture further south in Edinburg.
“Coming in there weren’t too many expectations,” Bush said of UTRGV’s inaugural football season. “We hadn’t done this before in the Valley.”
The much-anticipated first game on Aug. 30 at Vackar Stadium in Edinburg saw the Vaqueros thrash Sul Ross State University by a 66-0 score. The next week was an impressive 27-21 road win over a well-established Prairie View A&M program. A victory of that sort over a Division I program quickly raised expectations.
From there, UTRGV continued to impress, finishing their first season at 9-3 and tied for third in a rugged Southland Conference that sent three teams to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
“Our group sped up the process,” Bush said of UTRGV’s first football team surpassing all expectations. “It was a dream come true. We couldn’t have written it up any better.”
More Than Football
It was not, as Bush points out, just about football.
The Valley had never before experienced having a Division I football program in its regional community. The response was overwhelming. Every home game was a sellout in terms of ticket sales. Tailgate parties before home games became go-to events. The UTRGV student section was filled to capacity and the enthusiasm and fervor for the home team spilled out onto the field.
“The energy, the passion, the way students and fans showed up for this team created its own atmosphere and our players fed off it every single week,” Bush said of a team that was undefeated at home. “This season was more than about football. It was about building a program and establishing pride and bringing the Valley together.”
One season ticket holder, Joe Cavazos of McAllen, spoke of the festive ambience at every home game. He praised UTRGV for finding ways to engage with the community on game days, “with or without tickets,” utilizing pregame tailgate activities. Valley sports fans have their favorite sports teams across the state, be it the Texas Longhorns or Texas A&M, but now local fans have a team of their own.
“It was evident how much the Valley anticipated this season and was ready to support this team,” Cavazos said. “The Valley was ready for our own college football team. You’d see all ages cheering, dancing and embracing visiting family members of the players.”
‘New Dynamic’
There is little time for Bush to bask in the successes of UTRGV’s over-achieving first season.
College football in the transfer portal era is one where players change teams on a whim. Every season is an entirely new one in needing to form a team with holdovers and transfers. The Vaqueros will surely lose players to higher-profile brand names in the Big 12 and other major conferences. Likewise, UTRGV will attract its own share of good football players based on its highly successful first season.
“There was talk about guys not wanting to come here because they didn’t think we would win here for a while,” Bush said. “Now we have that proof. We set the standard in year one and we can recruit to that standard.”
The coach was rewarded in mid-December with a three-year contract extension that runs through 2030. Bush relishes the challenge of continuing to build a successful college football program in the RGV.
“It’s going to be a whole new dynamic,” he said in looking forward to year two of UTRGV football. “The excitement is how much better we can be in competing against the best teams in our conference.”