Don Coryell was named the Director of Athletics at Texas State on September 1, 2021, and is in his 23rd year overall with the athletics department. A former student-athlete with an extensive administrative career in external affairs and focus on the student-athlete experience, Coryell oversees all aspects of Texas State Athletics, including its 16 varsity sports, 350+ student-athletes and 100+ person staff.
On June 30, 2025, it was announced that Texas State formally accepted an invitation to join the Pac-12 Conference, a transformative milestone in the university's athletic and academic journey. Alongside TXST President Kelly Damphousse, Coryell spearheaded the move that will elevate the university's visibility, strengthen recruitment efforts, enhance student-athlete experiences, and expand alumni engagement across the nation, while also aligning with TXST's trajectory to become an R1 Carnegie classified university by 2027.
The conclusion of the 2024-25 season also saw the athletics department win its second consecutive, and third in the last four years, Sun Belt Conference Bubas Cup, which is presented annually to the league's top athletics department.
In the summer of 2023, Coryell and Texas State Athletics unveiled the department’s strategic plan with a focus on competitive excellence, student-athlete success, fan engagement, revenue generation and brand recognition. Additionally, TXST launched the Light The Star campaign in 2025, a $50 million comprehensive fundraising campaign designed to propel the department forward into a new era of collegiate athletics and position the Bobcats for sustained success on a national stage.
Under Coryell’s guidance, Texas State has reached new heights in competitive excellence – and set the stage for even more in the years to come. During his tenure, TXST Athletics has seen 14 conference championships, more than 20 NCAA postseason appearances and three consecutive bowl wins.
While the Bobcats have enjoyed a tremendous amount of competitive success, Texas State student-athletes have also improved in the classroom. The Bobcats posted their highest ever single-year score as par of the 2023-24 Academic Progress Rate (APR) Institutional Report. Across all 16 sports, TXST boasted a 995 score out of a possible 1,000, which contains data including eligibility and graduation numbers as well as retention requirements for each program.
Within that single-year number, nine programs posted a perfect score including men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, women's basketball, women's cross country, softball, women's tennis and volleyball. Additionally, all TXST's sports recorded a 2023-24 APR score above 980. In the multiyear report, which includes the 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, women's golf and volleyball produced perfect multiyear scores.
Fan engagement has made a quick turnaround under Coryell. Texas State has seen record attendance numbers across multiple sports. Football had its best total and average attendance in UFCU Stadium history in 2024. Baseball had a record total attendance in 2023 and set an average attendance record in 2024. During the 2025-26 season, men’s basketball had the highest total attendance since the COVID-19 pandemic. In softball, the Bobcats have seen five of the top 10 all-time attended games since 2023. Meanwhile, volleyball and soccer have posted some of their program’s best attendance figures for an entire season during Coryell’s tenure.
Another focus point for Texas State recently has been improving facilities for all student-athletes. The Bobcats successfully fundraised $37 million for the Johnny and Nathali Weisman Football Performance Center and William Trevillion IV Weight Room at Bobcat Stadium. The renovation and expansion of the existing football complex was dedicated in October 2025.
Texas State is also actively working towards facility enhancements for the baseball and softball programs, which is proposed to include new indoor batting cages for both sports, a pitching lab, weight room, training room, locker rooms, hospitality club level and coaches' offices. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a vital resource for baseball and softball student-athletes. In April 2026, the baseball stadium was renamed Irvine-Rasmussen Ballpark following a pair of $2 million gifts from alumni Scott and Lynda Irvine and Chris and Shannon Rasmussen.
Coryell has also made several key head coaching hires in his time leading the Bobcats, including football coach GJ Kinne, women’s soccer coach Steve Holeman, director of track and field/cross country John Frazier and women’s tennis coach Kendall Brooks. Most recently, Coryell hired Chris Kielsmeier to lead women’s basketball, who’s been proven to lead championship-caliber teams.
Kinne, the most recent hire of the group, took the Bobcats to one of the program’s most successful seasons in his first year at helm in 2023. Texas State, behind the mantra “Take Back Texas,” won an FBS program record eight games and captured its first bowl game with a 24-point takedown of Rice in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl in Dallas. The game experienced a record attendance and TV viewership thanks to the Bobcats first ever appearance in a bowl game.
Holeman, Frazier and Brooks each have also re-energized their programs since taking over. Holeman guided the Bobcats to their first Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship in 2025, punching the team's ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. Frazier has led the men’s and women’s teams to back-to-back Sun Belt Conference sweeps, capturing both the 2025 outdoor and 2026 indoor titles, while also guiding the program to its first individual NCAA championship in nearly three decades. Brooks, in her first year as the head coach in 2023, led the tennis team to its most wins since 2017 and went on to post the best overall record in program history in 2025 and the highest ranking in the conference tournament since joining the conference in 2014.
A veteran in athletic administration, Coryell previously served as the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations at Texas State from 2004 to 2021. He was responsible for the athletic department's marketing and promotional campaigns, ticket and sale operations, facilities and game operations, university licensing, several suite accounts, corporate partnerships and community relations. He was also the sport administrator for Bobcat soccer, men's basketball, track and field, men’s golf, women’s golf and the Strutters. In addition, Coryell served as the executive director of the “T” Association, Texas State’s Athletic Alumni Organization.
Coryell, a former standout basketball player at Lamar, arrived at Texas State after serving as the Assistant Athletics Director for Development at his alma mater from 1999 to 2004. The Beaumont native was responsible for all external affairs at Lamar, including fundraising, marketing, promotions, sponsorships and community relations. Additionally, he served as executive director of the Cardinal Club, the booster group for Lamar Athletics.
Prior to returning to Lamar as an administrator, Coryell spent one season playing professional basketball in Ireland for the Dungannon Flyers. He was an All-Star in his lone campaign and headed clinics for students from ages 5-18 at over 40 campuses.
A 1998 graduate of Lamar with a bachelor's degree in corporate communication, Coryell was named the team's most valuable player following his senior season. He played two years at Lamar after transferring from Angelina Junior College, where he was a 1996 Academic All-American. He received his Master’s of Education in Sports Administration from Concordia University in Austin.
Coryell is involved in several community organizations in the Central Texas area including serving on the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. He and his wife Marci, have a son, Dylan, and a daughter, Myra.
