Texas State notebook: Bobcats welcome back former head coach, player David Bailiff
SAN MARCOS — Former Texas State player and head coach David Bailiff is returning to the Bobcats on G.J. Kinne’s staff as a special assistant to the head coach. The school announced the hiring ahead of the football team's first practice of the spring on Thursday.
Bailiff, a member of Texas State’s hall of honor, played offensive line for the Bobcats from 1976-80 when the school was known as Southwest Texas State. He was a team captain his senior season. The Bobcats had a winning record in each of his four years, including a Lone Star Conference title in 1980.
This will be Bailiff's fourth stint as a Bobcats coach in some capacity; he served as a graduate assistant and defensive line coach at the school from 1988-91, then after a stint with New Mexico, he returned as the Bobcats' defensive coordinator from 1997-2000, then left again for TCU only to return to San Marcos as the Bobcats' head coach in 2004.
He went 21-15 in his three seasons, including an 11-3 record and Southland Conference co-championship in 2005. Texas State won two games in that year's new Division I-AA playoffs before falling in the national semifinals to Northern Iowa.
"I'm excited to be back with Texas State and the football program,” Bailiff said in a statement. "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 (athletic director) 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 left Texas State for Rice in 2007, compiling a 57-80 record in 11 seasons with the Owls. He was Conference USA's coach of the year in 2008 and 2013 and won a conference championship in 2013. He most recently was the head coach at Texas A&M-Commerce (2019-22) with a 23-13 record in three seasons.
As for his role with the Bobcats, the 64-year old Bailiff will advise Kinne while assisting in “community relations, alumni affairs, high school relations, fundraising and football operations.”
Recruiting: The 2023 class continues to grow as the Bobcats signed a 34th player on Monday — Northwestern defensive lineman Jason Gold Jr. Gold, a transfer who hails from League City, will have two years of eligibility left. He played in 16 games over four seasons with the Wildcats, registering 17 tackles, 3½ for a loss. Gold had reported offers from Georgia State, Troy, Sam Houston State, New Mexico State, Incarnate Word, Texas Southern and Southern.
Baseball: Texas State (13-6, 2-1 Sun Belt) won its first conference series last weekend, winning two of three games vs. No. 25 Southern Mississippi — a 4-2 loss on Friday, a 3-2 win on Saturday and an 8-5 win on Sunday. True freshman Chase Mora hit his eighth homer of the season on Sunday while pitcher Levi Wells (4-0) got the win on Saturday, striking out 10 in six innings. The Bobcats will play a three-game series at Coastal Carolina this weekend.
More: Texas Stat softball takes down back-to-back ranked teams
Softball: Texas State (18-11-1, 0-2-1) opened conference play with a winless series on the road, dropping the first two games of a doubleheader last Saturday against Troy before tying Sunday's finale 2-2. The last game ended in a tie because of travel restrictions for the Bobcats due to poor weather conditions. The Bobcats will host South Alabama this weekend in a three-game series.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State football brining back former Bobcats coach David Bailff
