Texas State Athletics

A former Texas State letterwinner, assistant coach, and head football coach, David Bailiff returned to Texas State in March 2023 to join GJ Kinne's staff as a special assistant to the head coach.

The Texas State Hall of Honor member will assist the program in all facets, including advising Coach Kinne, community relations, alumni affairs, high school relations, fundraising, and football operations.

Bailiff returned to the Bobcats after 18 years as a head coach in college football and nearly 40 years in coaching overall. He has won two conference championships as a Bobcat – one as a player in 1980 and another as a head coach in 2005 – and was twice named conference coach of the year during his time as the Rice head coach in 2008 and 2013.

Bailiff led the Bobcats as the head coach from 2004 to 2006, guiding the team to a Southland Conference co-championship and appearance in the Division I-AA semifinals in 2005. He was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 5 Coach of the Year that season and finished third in voting for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is presented annually to the top coach in Division I-AA/FCS.

Bailiff is a former student-athlete at Texas State (then-Southwest Texas State), lettering for the Bobcats from 1977 to 1980. He helped the Bobcats have winning records in all four seasons, culminating with the Lone Star Conference championship in his senior season and helping set up the program to win back-to-back Division II national championships in 1981 and 1982.
 
Prior to rejoining Texas State in 2023, Bailiff was the head football coach at Texas A&M-Commerce from 2019 to 2022. He helped the program reach the NCAA Division II Championship Playoffs in 2019, which made him the fourth coach ever to qualify for the Division II playoffs, Division I-AA playoffs, and win an FBS bowl game.
 
He was also the head coach at Rice (2007-17) and has experience as the defensive coordinator at TCU (2002-03) before his stint as the leader of Texas State football in the mid-2000s. He was also the assistant head coach and defensive line coach at TCU in 2001.
 
After beginning his coaching career at New Braunfels High School (1982-84) and then going into private business (1984-88), Bailiff joined Texas State as a defensive graduate assistant in 1988. In 1989, he was promoted to the defensive line coach before leaving to take an assistant coach position at New Mexico in 1992.
 
He later returned to Texas State in 1997 as the defensive coordinator and eventually added assistant head coach responsibilities in 1999 under head coach Bob Debesse. In 1999, he was named the Division I-AA Assistant Coach of the Year by the AFCA.
 
In 1996, he was elected to the Texas State Hall of Honor.