Overview
- Texas State, which announced Monday, June 1, 2026, will start a national search for an inaugural head coach and is targeting a tentative competitive debut in spring 2028.
- The program is timed to coincide with Texas State’s July 1 entry into the Pac-12 and would position the Bobcats to compete with Pac-12 gymnastics teams such as Boise State, Oregon State, Utah State and Southern Utah.
- University leaders cited Texas’s deep talent pipeline — home to many Olympic champions and roughly 25% of the nation’s elite gymnasts — as a key recruiting advantage that could keep top athletes in-state.
- The announcement revives a program cut at Texas State in 1986 after years of regional success under coach Darlene Schmidt, marking a planned return to varsity gymnastics about four decades later.
- Key next steps to watch include the hiring of the head coach, the start of recruiting, confirmation of a 2028 competition schedule, and the program’s use of nearby Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena, which hosts the NCAA championships through 2028.