“Win Now or Get Bent”
A phrase coined by Keff Ciardello has been the rallying cry for Texas State football fans since the end of the 2020 season.
With six straight seasons of winning three or less games, Bobcat fans have been waiting for a winner.
For many, the 2021 season seems to be the make or break point for Head Football Coach Jake Spavital as the Bobcats head into spring practice.
For Spavital and his team, the Bobcats are glad to be back on the field after a long offseason.
“It felt really good to be back on the field,” Spavital said. “That was probably one of the longest off seasons that we’ve ever had with recruiting getting bumped back, the snowstorm that just hit that damaged the building (Endzone Complex) we just decided to bump everything back after spring break.”
“After that offseason of eight weeks straight of strength and conditioning,” Spavital continued to say. “I think everybody was ready for that spring break. It was pretty good to get everybody out there today and run around.”
But despite the long offseason, the goal for Texas State is to win.
“Our goal is to win games,” Spavital said. “Last year we made a lot of strides and I think they see that we can compete with anybody if we don’t beat ourselves, play together and play smart football.”
“After some of those gut wrenching losses last year,” Spavital said. “They knew why we lost and how we needed to fix it. They got that approach going into this offseason and in Year three we have to be better than last year. This team understands that.”
But with the added experience also adds an unexpected roadblock.
With the inclusion of the transfer portal plus extended eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recruiting process has been a tricky one for Texas State who made national news by not signing a single high school recruit during 2021 Signing Day.
But as Spavital explained, the added year of eligibility has complicated the recruiting process with a team made up of sophomores and freshmen on top of the fact the 2021 recruiting class will not be finalized until August 1.
For example, despite the fact that running back Calvin Hill and offensive lineman Dalton Cooper having been on the team for two years, under the new NCAA covid accomodations the two “freshmen” still have four years of eligibility remaining.
“When you look at our roster,” Spavital said. “We were little over seventy percent of freshmen and sophomores which is one of the younger teams in the country. We’ve been picky on how we are choosing our recruiting plan.”
“It’s just a unique time,” Spavital continued to say. “The people who are going to sign a huge freshman class are stacking freshmen on top of freshmen on top of freshmen that eventually the attrition of it is going to happen and they are going to leave. We have to put that into account for everything we do.”
But despite the challenges Texas State has been through this offseason, the message remains clear to both players and fans.
“Win Now or Get Bent”
