Diego Vita/THE RIDER
Diego Vita/ THE RIDER
Diego Vita/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Football Team is back with spring ball after a historic record-setting inaugural season. For the next few weeks, the Vaqueros are practicing in preparation for the spring game April 11 at Sams Memorial Stadium in Brownsville.
The program came off a 9-3 season, setting an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision record for the most wins for a first-year program. The cherry on top is that they ended the season undefeated at home, 7-0.
The spring practices will lead up to the Orange vs. White Spring Game in Brownsville, giving residents a chance to see the Vaqueros in action. The time will be announced at a later date.
Head coach Travis Bush said during a March 2 spring practice interview the team is mostly complete, but it may fill in a few spots before the season starts.
“Being able to really go, you know, all out and really expand and start working on the packages and … see how much we can put in this spring and really get a look at everybody,” Bush said.
It has been a busy spring for the football program; its offense has been doing a lot of rework ever since players such as Eddie Lee Marburger, former quarterback, and Tony Diaz, former wide receiver, left the team.
“The majority of our offensive production last year, we’ve got to replace,” he said.
The head coach and the offensive staff recruited Garrett Rangel, a redshirt junior quarterback. He spent from 2022 to 2024 at Oklahoma State University and 2025 at Virginia Tech before coming to the Rio Grande Valley in 2026 and joining the Vaqueros.
“Garrett coming in, ran the exact same system at Oklahoma State, so a lot of familiar terminology, familiarity with coach Aych, [co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach,] as well,” Bush said.
The Vaqueros also welcomed Cameron Herrera, the new assistant director of football operations and recruiting coordinator. He was a player personnel and recruiting operations assistant at the University of Texas at Austin for the last three seasons.
With the release of the 2026 schedule, the Vaqueros will play their first home game against the University of Texas Permian Basin, an NCAA Division II school, Aug. 29 at the Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium in Edinburg.
