V's Up: The Road to Kickoff

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral)—As the inaugural season of the UTRGV Football program approaches, ValleyCentral is examining where the program is now and what it took to get here.

The Vaquero football team will play its first-ever game in August 2025.

The Coaches

Many changes have taken place over the last year as the team gets ready for its first season. Head Coach Travis Bush has a full staff and one member is near and dear to him, his father Bruce.

"I've been to different parts of the state, and a lot of times to the Rio Grande Valley. I first came down here in 1981," Bruce Bush said.

The elder Bush was a high school coach in Texas dating back to 1970. He made stops in the coastal bend, the panhandle, and of course the Valley. He joined the Vaquero staff back in January, unsure what his role would be in the program.

"He kind of had that question, 'What do you want me to do?' I just said 'Be a part of this, and definitely have a role.' His relationships across the state of Texas, not just the Valley, with high school coaches can help," Travis said.

Bruce has seen his son grow not only as a player but also as a coach. He says UTRGV is in good hands having Travis lead the way toward the 2025 season opener.

The Bush family will make history when they face their first opponent, Sul Ross State University.

Former McAllen High School football standout Gunnar Henderson traded in his helmet for a whistle. Henderson made his way back to the RGV to begin a new role in the sport he loves.

"Once I got done playing football, it took me about two or three weeks to miss it, and I realized that I needed to get back into football somehow, so I realized that coaching was my calling, and I needed to figure out how to get in it as soon as I could," Henderson said.

Henderson began his football journey at McHi, then found his new home at Texas Christian University where he made a splash as a receiver.

However, an injury ultimately cut his NFL dreams short. That's when he reached out to Travis Bush.

"I reached out to Coach Bush in November 2023, just interested in a position, seeing what he had open, and we ended up having a conversation in December. And I officially started in late July 2024," Henderson said.

"He came down here and visited, really applied for the job, and you know, sharp young man," Travis said. "He's a phenomenal coach already, but he's gonna be a big-time coach someday. He has that energy, that passion."

Just being two years removed from the game, Henderson is not much older than his players.
Which means he can relate to them.

One trait he shares with his guys includes the underdog mentality that took him to the top.

"Being a coach when I was once a player, having that chip on my shoulder, I think I've got a great opportunity to help these kids out and give them great insight on how practice needs to be approached, how games need to be approached, and just having the right mindset for things," Henderson said.

The Players: Mekhi Blue, Frank Medina, and Horacio Moronta

In August 2024 over 100 players made their way to Edinburg to join the football team for fall practice.

One of those was Mekhi Blue, a massive offensive lineman who played high school football at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen.

Standing at 6'6'' and weighing 320 pounds Blue is a force to be reckoned with. At a young age, it was clear how he planned to use his size.

"I've always been bigger as a kid, and I've always just been drawn to sports," said Blue.

The freshman was born in Minnesota, raised in Houston, and hardened at the Marine Military Academy.

"They're big on military, it's not a normal high school," he said. "You do more military stuff, you get military training and military knowledge, and you still go to school at the same time."

Offensive line Coach Jeff Bowen recruited Blue out of MMA. He knew there was something different about Mekhi.

"Finding him, seeing him on film, then watching his games, those types of guys don't grow on trees, that type of body," Bowen said.

Frank Medina, an undersized lineman, is doing whatever it takes to be a part of the Vaquero program. Raised in San Benito and a former Greyhound, Medina has a deep connection to football in the RGV.

He said his high school coaches taught him valuable life lessons.

"I was immature growing up. They showed me discipline and hard work. I owe a lot to them where I'm at right now," Medina said.

After high school, Frank joined the Texas A&M Kingsville Football program. It was short-lived but then he heard about UTRGV starting a football team.

"I was so iffy if I was going to play or not. I worked at a warehouse job all spring this past spring," he said. "Then Greyhounds Head Coach Dan Gomez persuaded me to try out, and that's the reason I tried out."

Medina impressed coaches at the open tryout and made the team. The redshirt freshman refuses to give up because he plays for someone very special to him, the person who raised him, his mother.

"I struggled with my family. We struggled a lot when I was younger, and when I got into middle school, I just wanted to make her proud," Medina said. "I joined football to try to do that."

Medina caught the attention of co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jeff Bowen.

"He's been a bright point. It's always hard being a walk-on, a tryout guy, but he's emerged just with his work ethic, and his attitude, and he blows it up in the weight room. He's one of our strongest guys," Bowen said.

Frank draws inspiration from the phrase "Where there are downs there are ups" and for him, the ups are only the beginning.

Vaqueros Linebacker Horacio Moronta is excited to be back in the Rio Grande Valley playing football.

"Division 1 football back home in our area, I already know the Valley's going to show out. A lot of people have been rallying around us, around the team. We've been building ourselves into the community."

Moronta played at Mission High School as a running back. While at college he transitioned to linebacker. Moronta won national titles while at New Mexico Military Institute and Harding University in Arkansas.

"It's a blessing and I can't do anything but thank God for putting me in those positions first and foremost. Then just giving me the ability and the mindset to compete and overcome any obstacles that I faced," he said.

Horacio impressed the coaches at a tryout.

"I'm trying to make the most of it," he said. "Grateful for the opportunity to come back home and just play in front of people that I know, that know me, and that I love and love me, and so definitely won't let it go to waste."

The senior has something that can't be taught and that is experience.

"We have a lot of freshmen, and they need some upperclassmen to learn from, and we have very few of those on our roster and just knowing that he's a local guy," said Brian Gamble, UTRGV defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Football is in Horacio's blood. His father played at Virginia Tech and the NFL.

"You know he ultimately was my role model growing up until he passed away," he said. "But he still is today, and I still try to carry the lessons that he taught me, still try to carry them with me wherever I go."

Off the field, Horacio hopes to one day open his own clinic to help out his community. Unit then he'll look to dish out punishment on his opponents.

Vackar Stadium

The UTRGV football team will play most of its home games at Vackar Stadium in Edinburg, the former home of the RGV FC Toros soccer team.

Acquired in February, the university is renovating the stadium to host Division 1 College Football.

UTRGV Director of Athletics Chasse Conque spoke to ValleyCentral on the stadium's progress for its 2025 debut.

"The number of seats as it stands was 9,700 seats. We're going to expand that to about 12,000 maybe just north of 12,000 and do some things to get it ready to have a first-class experience for Division 1 football," said Conque.

In addition, you can't have football without a student section. The university will add bleacher seating in the south end zone for 2,000 students.

"With an overall enrollment of over 34,000 students, we know that we could probably never have enough," Conque said. "When you talk about having as many students as we have, to have the south end zone rowdy and ready to rock on Saturday nights, we'll have our marching band here in the south end zone, and then we'll dedicate several of the sections here in this southeast corner also to our students."

The demand to see Vaquero Football is high. The program sold 6,000 season tickets and that is when it was declared a sellout.

Still in its infancy, the goal is to make game days memorable for the fans.

"We want to have the best experience in the Southland Conference," Conque said. "We want to make sure that when our fans come, they're enjoying their time. We also want to make it a really difficult place to play for the opposing team and as you talk about how this stadium is going to be set up, then you add the fact that the demand is there, that people want to be a part of this. Whether it is FBS or FCS, we will have one of the best division-wide atmospheres in the country."

The Vaqueros are planning to play at least one home game per season at Sam's Stadium in Brownsville.

The Future of UTRGV Football

The players are on campus. They've hit the classroom and the field for fall practice. Football facilities are under construction. However, there's still plenty of work to be done for Coach Travis Bush and the program.

One of the biggest keys for any team is having players the coaching staff can rely on. Coach Bush says we can expect the roster to change as the Vaqueros edge closer to their inaugural season.

"Good season developing these young guys," he said. "The majority are freshmen and seeing them grow and identifying ones who will help us out next year and in the future. The next phase is recruiting the next class. A lot of good young guys but this game is played by men. You're going to see the roster evolve over the next few months here and balance out our classes. The goal by 2025 is to have a balanced class of seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen."

First Game: August 30, 2025

While Bush and his staff work on recruiting more experienced players, the ones on the squad are very much looking forward to August 30, 2025. That's when the Vaqueros will take on Sul Ross State University for its inaugural game at Vackar Stadium.

"They've got a good program," Bush said. "Good quality opponent. A lot of Sul Ross alumni in the Valley. A lot of coaches down here. Good game, they'll have a big fan base here as well. Good opener for us."

The Southland Conference

The UTRGV Football program will play in the Southland Conference (SLC). It is made up of teams from Texas and Louisiana. However, Incarnate Word University has been the top program in the SLC in recent years.

"A lot of familiarity on our end with our staff. We're fired up to be part of it. Great league. Travel is huge. Hard to win and harder on the road. This conference makes it more manageable but you still have to be able to win to compete for championships," said Bush.

2025 Schedule

Before thinking about championships you have to think about opponents. As noted the Vaqueros will take on Sul Ross State University on August 30, 2025, at Vackar Stadium. UTRGV will also play non-conference games against North American University on September 13.

On September 20 the Vaqueros will host Texas Wesleyan. Looking ahead UTRGV will host a school many Valley football fans are familiar with, Texas A&M Kingsville. The Javelina's roster is loaded with Valley players yearly. This game will be played on September 4, 2027.

The competition gets stiffer a week later for the Vaqueros as they take on the Texas State Bobcats on the road on September 14.

The Vaqueros will also pay the bobcats a visit in September of 2030. A homecoming of sorts for Coach Bush as he played for the Bobcats in the late 1990s.