Dave Campbell's Texas Football is a biannual magazine previewing American football teams in the state of Texas.
It previews football teams in Texas at all levels, from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, college football, to the roughly 1,400 high schools (public and private) in the state.
The summer magazine is issued in June, about 1–2 months before the start of preseason football. It sells for $11.95 and is available in most Texas stores which sell magazines. A winter edition, which began in 2008, is published each January. In 2015, the winter magazine became known as Texas Football Rising which focuses solely on recruiting and recruiting rankings.
History The magazine was started in 1960 by Dave Campbell, a longtime writer and sports editor for the Waco Tribune-Herald, along with fellow Waco sportswriters Hollis Biddle, Jim Montgomery, and Al Ward, plus Campbell's wife, Reba. He published the magazine out of his kitchen. On the cover of the inaugural edition was Texas Longhorns running back Jack Collins. The cover price for the first 96-page magazine was fifty cents.
It was bought in 1985 by Host Communications, which was bought by IMG in 2007. In 2014, Sports in Action, a company operated by the family of Texas businessman Drayton McLane and run by President Adam Hochfelder bought the rights to operate the magazine from IMG.
It is one of the best-selling football magazines in the state and has been dubbed "The Bible of Texas Football". Each year, the identity of its cover subject(s) is a tightly-guarded secret. Campbell held the position of editor-in-chief until his death in 2021 at age 96.
Currently, Dave Campbell's Texas Football is a twice-yearly statewide magazine with more than 400,000 readers. In 2015, Sports In Action created a yearly sister magazine, Dave Campbell's Texas Basketball, with an accompanying web site.
The website, TexasFootball.com, was created in 1999. It added premium content covering recruiting and other topics, bundled with the annual subscription cost, in 2018.
In the summer of 2009, Texas Football launched a statewide weekly radio program — the Dave Campbell's Texas Football Radio Hour — which aired across Texas State Network affiliates. The radio show ended in 2016. In 2010, the magazine started its own television program, Texas Football Game Day, a half-hour show. Game Day was filmed weekly at the stadium of a key game and broadcast (sometimes live, sometime tape delayed) on Fox Sports Southwest. Due to its popularity, in 2011 DCTF partnered with Fox Sports Southwest to present Fox Football Friday Powered by Dave Campbell's Texas Football, a three-hour live show on Friday nights featuring whip-around coverage of the biggest games in Texas high school football. In October 2015, DCTF launched Texas Football Today, a daily live show covering football in Texas streamed on TexasFootball.com and its social media platforms.
Texas Football also ran its own high school football event, the Texas Football Classic, which was held at the beginning of each season at the Alamodome in San Antonio. The event ran from 1999-2010.
The Texas Football brand is run by President Adam Hochfelder, and editorial content — including the magazine, website, TV show and Texas Football Today — are run by managing editor Greg Tepper,Ufberg, Max The Bible of Texas Football New Yorker. September 14, 2015 assistant managing editor Ishmael Johnson, executive producer Ashley Pickle, web/social manager William Wilkerson, college insider Mike Craven and associate editor Mallory Hartley. Hochfelder has been in charge of the brand since 2005 and Tepper has been editor since 2011.
Dave Campbell died on December 10, 2021, after a short illness at the age of 96.
Summer magazine covers 1960s 1960: Jack Collins of Texas 1961: Ronnie Bull of Baylor (also pictured: Lance Alworth, Arkansas and James Saxton, Texas) 1962: Sonny Gibbs of TCU 1963: Coach Darrell Royal and Scott Appleton of Texas 1964: Lawrence Elkins and John Bridgers of Baylor 1965: Donny Anderson of Texas Tech 1966: John LaGrone of SMU (also pictured: Greg Pipes, Baylor and Diron Talbert, Texas) 1967: Maurice Moorman of Texas A&M 1968: Edd Hargett of Texas A&M 1969: James Street of Texas
1970s 1970: Steve Worster of Texas 1971: Charles Napper of Texas Tech 1972: Brad Dusek of Texas A&M 1973: Glen Gaspard of Texas 1974: Coach Darrell Royal of Texas 1975: Coach Grant Teaff of Baylor 1976: Coach Bill Yeoman of Houston 1977: Rodney Allison of Texas Tech 1978: Russell Erxleben of Texas and Tony Franklin of Texas A&M 1979: Steve McMichael of Texas
1980s 1980: Mike Singletary of Baylor and Mike Mosley of Texas A&M 1981: Craig James of SMU and Walter Abercrombie of Baylor 1982: Gary Kubiak of Texas A&M 1983: Lance McIlhenny of SMU 1984: Ray Childress of Texas A&M 1985: Coach Jim Wacker and Kenneth Davis of TCU 1986: Coach Jackie Sherrill of Texas A&M 1987: Coach David McWilliams and Bret Stafford of Texas 1988: Eric Metcalf of Texas and John Roper of Texas A&M 1989: Coach Jack Pardee of Houston and Coach Forrest Gregg of SMU
1990s 1990: Coach Spike Dykes of Texas Tech 1991: David Klingler of Houston 1992: Trevor Cobb of Rice 1993: Coach R. C. Slocum of Texas A&M (also pictured: Jerrod Douglas of Converse Judson) 1994: Shea Morenz of Texas (also pictured: Tony Brackens of Texas) 1995: An illustrated collage featuring important figures in Southwest Conference history, including Earl Campbell, Bill Yeoman, Darrell Royal, Fred Akers, Sammy Baugh, Doak Walker, Mike Singletary, and Grant Teaff 1996: Coach Chuck Reedy of Baylor, Coach John Mackovic of Texas, Coach R. C. Slocum of Texas A&M and Coach Spike Dykes of Texas Tech 1997: James Brown and Ricky Williams of Texas (also pictured: Coach Kim Helton of Houston) 1998: Two covers: one with Coach Mack Brown and Ricky Williams of Texas, the other with Dat Nguyen of Texas A&M 1999: Coach Mack Brown of Texas, Coach Dennis Franchione of TCU 1999 (alternative cover): Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys, for sale outside the state of Texas
2000s 2000: Cedric Benson of Midland Lee 2001: Casey Printers of TCU, Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech, Chris Simms of Texas and Mark Farris of Texas A&M McKenzie Tilmon of Irving MacArthur High 2002: Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech, Coach G.A. Moore of Celina High School, Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, and Drew Tate of Baytown Lee 2003: Roy Williams of Texas 2004: Adell Duckett of Texas Tech, Patrick Cobbs of North Texas, Marvin Godbolt of TCU and Kevin Kolb of Houston 2005: Vince Young of Texas and Reggie McNeal of Texas A&M 2006: Earl Campbell of Texas, John Chiles of Mansfield Summit, Ryan Mallett of Texarkana Texas, Jarrett Lee of Brenham, and G. J. Kinne of Gilmer 2007: Tommy Blake of TCU, Colt McCoy of Texas, and Stephen McGee of Texas A&M 2008: Coach Mike Leach, Michael Crabtree, and Graham Harrell of Texas Tech 2009: Colt McCoy of Texas
2010s 2010: Jerrod Johnson of Texas A&M, Case Keenum of Houston, and Andy Dalton of TCU 2011: Cyrus Gray of Texas A&M and Johnathan Gray of Aledo 2012: Coach Gary Patterson of TCU 2013: Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M 2014: Coach Art Briles, Bryce Petty, and Antwan Goodley of Baylor 2015: Illustration of the Texas vs. Texas A&M football rivalry by artist Roberto Parada 2016: Coach Kliff Kingsbury and Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech 2017: Coach Tom Herman of Texas 2018: Coach Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M (alternate cover: Ed Oliver of Houston) 2019: Sam Ehlinger of Texas
2020s 2020: Shane Buechele of SMU 2021: Michael Clemons, Myles Jones, DeMarvin Leal and Demani Richardson of Texas A&M 2022: Coach Jeff Traylor of UTSA and Coach Joey McGuire of Texas Tech 2023: Coach Sonny Dykes of TCU 2024: Quinn Ewers of Texas and Conner Weigman of Texas A&M 2025: Coach Steve Sarkisian of Texas and Celina's Bowe Bentley, Luke Biagini and Coach Bill Elliott 2026: Coach Joey McGuire, athletic director Kirby Hocutt, board chair Cody Campbell, general manager James Blanchard, and Ben Roberts of Texas Tech (secondary cover; Richmond Randle's Landen Williams-Callis)
Winter magazine covers When the University of Texas won the BCS national title in the 2006 Rose Bowl, Texas Football put out a special championship edition of the magazine. Two years later, the magazine brought back the winter edition as a permanent feature. Beginning in 2016, the winter edition was replaced with Dave Campbell Presents Texas Football Rising, a magazine spotlighting top recruits in Texas.
2006: Vince Young of Texas 2008: Coach Mike Sherman of Texas A&M 2009: Quan Cosby of Texas, Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech, and Chase Clement of Rice 2010: Jordan Shipley of Texas and Jerry Hughes of TCU 2011: Coach Gary Patterson of TCU 2012: Robert Griffin III of Baylor 2013: Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M 2014: Bryce Petty of Baylor 2015: Trevone Boykin of TCU, Kyler Murray of Allen, and Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys
Texas Football Rising 2015: Jett Duffey of Lake Ridge (Texas Tech) 2016: Baron Browning of Kennedale (Ohio State) 2017: Keaontay Ingram of Carthage (Texas) 2018: Kenyon Green of Atascosita (Texas A&M) 2019: Haynes King of Longview (Texas A&M) 2020: Ja'Tavion Sanders of Denton Ryan (Texas) 2021: Denver Harris of Galena Park North Shore (Texas A&M) 2022: David Hicks Jr. of Katy Paetow (Texas A&M) 2023: Micah Hudson of Lake Belton (Texas Tech) 2024: Jonah Williams of Galveston Ball (Texas)
Mr. Texas Football When Texas Football revived the winter book after the 2007 season, it began giving a "Mr. Texas Football Award" honoring the top high school player in the state. It is currently sponsored by Wells Fargo 2007: Jacquizz Rodgers, Rosenberg Lamar 2008: Garrett Gilbert, Lake Travis 2009: Darian "Stump" Godfrey, Gilmer 2010: Johnny Manziel, Kerrville Tivy 2011: Johnathan Gray, Aledo 2012: Dontre Wilson, DeSoto 2013: Kyler Murray, Allen 2014: Kyler Murray, Allen 2015: Jett Duffey, Mansfield Lake Ridge 2016: Roshauud Paul, Bremond 2017: Spencer Sanders, Denton Ryan 2018: Landry Gilpin, Veterans Memorial 2019: Marvin Mims, Lone Star 2020: Jonathon Brooks, Hallettsville 2021: Major Bowden, China Spring 2022: Terry Bussey, Timpson 2023: DJ Lagway, Willis 2024: Adam Schobel, Columbus 2025: Jermaine Bishop JR, Willis
Dave Campbell's Texas Basketball 2015: Coaches Tubby Smith of Texas Tech and Shaka Smart of Texas 2016: Coaches Kim Mulkey and Scott Drew of Baylor 2017: Brooke McCarty and Coach Karen Aston of Texas, Kalani Brown and Coach Kim Mulkey of Baylor 2018: Coach Chris Beard of Texas Tech 2019: Lauren Cox of Baylor 2020: Davion Mitchell, Mark Vital, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague of Baylor 2021: Andrew Jones of Texas 2022: Marcus Sasser, Coach Kelvin Sampson and J'Wan Roberts of Houston 2023: Rori Harmon of Texas
References
External links TexasFootball.com TexasBasketball.com