By: Edgar Garcia
UTRGV’s athletics program is in the process of building its first ever football team. This endeavor is spearheaded by newly minted Head Coach Travis Bush and UTRGV’s Athletics Director Chasse Conque. It is their mission to bring Football to the Valley.
UTRGV has been without a football team since its inception, though this is set to change in 2025 under the leadership of famed high school and college coach Travis Bush, and Chasse Conque. Their plan is to have a roster by 2024 and play their first game by 2025.
Travis Bush has competed and coached at a variety of schools, from high schools to colleges to the NFL level. He plans to start the program and run it from its inception, to being championship contenders in our conference.
“We’re going to get this thing started, and you know at some point it’s going to be a process, but at some point we’re going to be competing for championships here. And I’ll be here as long as they’ll allow me to. I’ve learned to take every job and commit to it like it’s the last one you’re ever going to have. That’s what we’ll do here,” Bush said.
The other mind behind the program is Chasse Conque. He is responsible for the hiring of Travis Bush and is excited for the upcoming games.
“It’s a process. The neat thing is we will be a full member of our football conference in 2025, so our student athletes will have a great schedule. We’ll have what looks like 8 conference games, three to four non conference games in the fall of 2025,” Chase Conque said.
However, he is aware of the upcoming challenges that come with starting a football program and the process it will have to go through to become competitive.
“In those first few years, we’re certainly going to have our challenges being a brand new program,” he said. “The best analogy I can use is that it’s really like birthing a baby. And together as a region and as a university, we are going to have to birth football. And that p rogram, it’s going to have to crawl, then it’ll eventually walk, then it’s going to run and then it’ll eventually sprint.”
The confidence in the two individuals to guide the program to relevance is seemingly plentiful. Senior Associate Athletic Director for Communication and Championships Jonah Goldberg spoke on his trust in the two men to lead this new program.
“First of all Chase. He is one of the most dynamic people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. That man is just a great human being too ,” Goldberg said. “So if he thinks that Coach Bush is the guy to build a strong program here, I trust him 1000%.”
“As for coach bush, I’ve been blown away by him already and he doesn’t have a player yet, he doesn’t have an assistant yet. But what he does have is my trust. He’s another guy, he’s a good person… So when you have a good person, I feel like everything else is going to fall into place,” Goldberg said.
The team is set to have its first game in the fall of 2025, with most games taking place in the Edinburg HEB Park, while one game is scheduled to be played at Brownsville’s Sams Memorial Stadium. For more information visit the UTRGV Athletics page.
