Abigail Ollave/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced that the first 10 football players in program history have signed a National Letter of Intent.
The 10 recruits signed a Letter of Intent during the early signing period for Division 1 football, which started Dec. 20, 2023.
The 10 signed players are:
– Offensive lineman Mehkhi Blue from Marine Military Academy in Harlingen.
– Offensive lineman Roman Hernandez from Eastlake High School in El Paso.
– Offensive lineman Nick Hughes from Texas Central Catholic High School in San Antonio.
– Quarterback Zion Brown from Atascocita High School in Atascocita.
– Quarterback Atzel Chavez Jr. from Laredo United High School in Laredo.
– Running back Brennan Carrol from Texas Roosevelt High School in San Antonio.
– Tight end Nathan Luschen from Cuero High School in Cuero.
– Defensive back Nicholas Peace from Dickinson High School in Texas City.
– Defensive back Cah’lil Ward from Clear Creek High School in League City.
– Running back/wide receiver Juan’Yae Taylor from Texas Wagner High School in San Antonio.
The next batch of players will be signed during the regular signing period from Feb. 7 to April 1.
Head coach Travis Bush said he saw the program come to fruition.
“It kind of makes it more real now,” Bush said. “Everything has been designing, planning, building your vision and preparing, and now we got 10 guys signed to our name.”
He said the staff looked for players who will buy into the vision at UTRGV and are “tough, smart competitors.”
The Rider asked what the next step for the recruits is and Bush replied it is an admissions process.
“Obviously, taking care of their second semester in school academically,” he said. “A lot of them are competing in other sports. … Once we get our strength coach hired, we’ll send them off-season workouts, especially through the summer, since they’ll stay at home this summer. … The biggest thing is all the stuff they need to get admitted.”
Bush said they plan to sign 12 to 15 more players.
“We got about 20 to 25 scholarships to work with,” he said. “There might be 40 guys on that signing list because some are committing to walk-on.”
He said the walk-ons can also compete for starting positions on the team.
Bush said a lot of players have expressed interest in the program.
“We’re going to recruit the entire state of Texas for sure,” he said. “I think the bulk of our footprint will start, obviously, down here in the [Rio Grande] Valley and make its way up through Central Texas, Houston and kind of that middle of Texas area. We do have some interest from guys in [Dallas and Fort Worth], East Texas as well.”
The head coach said there are benefits to starting a football program from scratch.
“You kind of get to do it the way you want it,” he said. “You can recruit the type of young man you want. You set the foundation. You set the culture. You’re not taking over a team where you have to change things. You have to change habits. You have to change the mentality.”
Jonah Goldberg, senior associate athletic director for Communications & Championships, said it was incredible to be a part of Athletics in that historic moment.
“When I started here in November of 2011, … football wasn’t even something I was thinking about,” Goldberg said. “I loved it here. We were so focused on trying to build up the programs we had, and to get to that point, after well over a decade, that we are able to start football and see it coming to fruition with these first student athletes committing to UTRGV, it’s such an exciting moment and I’m so happy to have a little part in all of this.”
Goldberg said football makes UTRGV even more visible by rallying the Valley and the community, but also by increasing enrollment.
“I got to do a pilot study about a year ago on the effects of starting a Division 1 football program in the state of Texas,” he said. “The one thing that I found with other programs that have recently started, like [the University of Texas at San Antonio], Houston Christian [University] and Lamar [University], is that we see an increase in applications, which can also lead to an increase in enrollment.
“I think that’s big for the university as a whole. You start to attract even more people and some of them will be from [the Rio Grande] Valley, people who may not have considered us before because we didn’t have a football program and didn’t have the pageantry they were looking for.”
Goldberg said football can lead to growth for a university. A growth in enrollment can lead to growth in tuition, which will help the academics in universities grow.
Integrated health science freshman Isaac Tejeda said it was great that UTRGV was getting a football program.
“I think it’s great to have a football program since we don’t have one,” Tejeda said. “I think it will get a lot of attention from outside students and students on campus. So, yeah, I think it’s great.”
The Rider asked the freshman if he was planning on attending any football games when the season kicks off.“Yes, definitely,” Tejeda said. “Since I’m a freshman, I just came out from high school, so a football game is, like, a big thing and it will definitely grab a lot of attention and you will see a lot of kids on campus at the football games.”
