In the modern age of college football, where greed seems to be the driving force behind every decision, we often forget there’s still a lot of good remaining in the sport. One of the best stories in recent college football memory comes from the East Texas town of Texarkana, where Head Coach Joshua Eargle is back home, going through his first season as Head Coach of a program that has never existed before now. From the uphill challenges of building the first recruiting class, selling a program without history or memory, and getting the first group of coaches together under one roof with the same goal of taking a program from nonexistence to a football machine for future generations, all while doing things the right way. 

Sure, we might hear guys who are program builders or take over a lower-tier division one job with a long history of playing football, but never a guy who returns home to truly start at the floor with nothing more than a vision, combined with an administration dedicated to providing all the needed resources to be successful at the highest of levels. There’s something about the vision from Coach Eargle and his staff that hits the soul of college football; it’s one of those things that brings us back to the beauty of college football. This is a coaching staff that could coach anywhere in the country, but decided that Texarkana was the place to be to build the next college football machine. 

Before taking a look at the Head Coach himself, it’s important to give credit not only to the coaching staff and the school administration for going all in on a vision, but also to the countless young men who, with their families, put their full trust in ithe vision from Coach Eargle and decided to come be a part of not only something new, but laying the cobblestone of culture for generations to come. These young men, who were a part of the first signing class, are also the same young men who understand that this fall will be filled with development since they can’t play their first competitive season until the fall of 2027. A group like that is the type of athletes who have documentaries made about their stories. Most of the guys could have gone anywhere else in the country, but they decided to come to Texarkana and not only play for Coach Eargle and his staff, but also take the pledge to be part of the first-ever class to commit to building the culture of Texas A&M-Texarkana football. That level of commitment is admirable to say the least. The crazy part is, if they’re successful, then they won’t be the last, and they could just be the first class to start the journey to bringing a championship trophy home to Texarkana, Texas. In a day when money often drives players, seeing a group of guys committed to a school out of a shared vision and the true love of the game is a refreshing change for those who long for the old ways of college football. 

As far as the head man himself, Coach Eargle is among the most respected names in college football, and has brought a combination of faith, family, and his love for football in East Texas to build a program from the ground up with the help of unconditional investment from the school itself, which has the college football on notice. When you sit down with Coach Eargle, the first few things he will talk about are his faith in the Lord and his family, and then it’s football. He’s one of the most respected coaches in college football who does everything the right way and holds his program to the highest of standards. When he was offered the Head Coaching job at Texas A&M-TexArkana, the decision to come from El Paso was a no-brainer, as he would have full control to establish a culture that wins both on and off the field. Once he took over, he hit the ground running, assembling his first recruiting class with a group of coaches fully committed to helping him realize his vision for the program, and unlike others in the profession, Coach Eargle has fully embraced the challenge and accepts what the road will be for his Eagles into the inaugural season in 2027. 

Often in the modern age of college football, everyone gets so caught up in winning championships, reaching the College Football Playoff, or the stadium arms race over who has the biggest budget that we overlook the feel-good stories of college football. Not only is the building of a program from scratch a feel-good story out of the college football world, but Coach Joshua Eargle coming home to East Texas is the definition of the perfect fit. What the rest of the college football world will soon realize is that Texarkana is a football town: they have people invested in the school, they have the resources to compete, and they now have a coach who came home to make a difference. That story alone is something that even the best screenwriters would be hard-pressed to replicate. As you watch this program grow in the coming years, you’ll see the coaching staff’s intentional approach not only to create a football powerhouse but to do so by doing things the right way and leaning on their community for support. 

Photo Credits- John Burch Texas A&M-Texarkana Athletics