''Dave Campbell's Texas Football'' is a biannual magazine previewing
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
teams in the state of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.
It previews football teams in Texas at all levels, from the
NFL's Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
and
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...
,
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
, to the roughly 1,400
high school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
s (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
The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity.
Background
The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...
'', 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
The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...
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 img or IMG is an abbreviation for image.
img or IMG may also refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics
*IMG (file format), file that stores a complete and uncompressed copy of the contents of a storage device
* IMG, a prefix for camera ima ...
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
FanDuel Sports Network Southwest is a Texas-based regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of profe ...
. 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
The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...
in
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
. 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, 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
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
*1961:
Ronnie Bull of
Baylor (also pictured:
Lance Alworth
Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed "Bambi", is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), and the Dal ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
and
James Saxton, Texas)
*1962:
Sonny Gibbs of
TCU TCU may stand for:
Education
* Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania
* Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas
** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school
* Tok ...
*1963: Coach
Darrell Royal and
Scott Appleton of Texas
*1964:
Lawrence Elkins and
John Bridgers of Baylor
*1965:
Donny Anderson
Garry Don Anderson (born May 16, 1943) is an American former professional football player who was a halfback and punter for nine seasons with the Green Bay Packers and St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL).
From Texas Te ...
of
Texas Tech
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...
*1966:
John LaGrone of
SMU (also pictured:
Greg Pipes, Baylor and
Diron Talbert, Texas)
*1967:
Maurice Moorman of
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
*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
William Frank Yeoman (December 26, 1927 – August 12, 2020) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Houston from 1962 to 1986. In his tenure, he became the winningest coach i ...
of
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
*1977:
Rodney Allison of Texas Tech
*1978:
Russell Erxleben of Texas and
Tony Franklin of Texas A&M
*1979:
Steve McMichael
Stephen Douglas McMichael (October 17, 1957 – April 23, 2025), nicknamed "Mongo", "Ming", and "Ming the Merciless", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. He was a defensive tackle for 15 seasons in the Natio ...
of Texas
1980s
*1980:
Mike Singletary
Michael Singletary (born October 9, 1958), nicknamed "Samurai Mike", is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college foo ...
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
James Herbert Wacker (April 28, 1937 – August 26, 2003) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Texas Lutheran University (1971–1975), North Dakota State University (1976–1 ...
and
Kenneth Davis of TCU
*1986: Coach
Jackie Sherrill
Jackie Wayne Sherrill (born November 28, 1943) is an American former college football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Washington State University (1976), the University of Pittsburgh (1977–1981), Texas A&M University (1982� ...
of Texas A&M
*1987: Coach
David McWilliams and
Bret Stafford of Texas
*1988:
Eric Metcalf
Eric Quinn Metcalf (born January 23, 1968) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Washington ...
of Texas and
John Roper of Texas A&M
*1989: Coach
Jack Pardee
John Perry Pardee (April 19, 1936 – April 1, 2013) was an American professional football player and head coach. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). As a coach, he is the only head coach to helm a team in college ...
of Houston and Coach
Forrest Gregg
Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...
of SMU
1990s
*1990: Coach
Spike Dykes of Texas Tech
*1991:
David Klingler of Houston
*1992:
Trevor Cobb of
Rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
*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
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...
history, including
Earl Campbell
Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. Known f ...
, Bill Yeoman, Darrell Royal,
Fred Akers,
Sammy Baugh
Samuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American professional football quarterback who played 16 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the TCU Horne ...
,
Doak Walker
Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player who was a halfback and kicker. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs, winning the Maxwell Award in 1947 and the Heisman Trophy in 1948. H ...
, Mike Singletary, and Grant Teaff
*1996: Coach
Chuck Reedy of Baylor, Coach
John Mackovic
John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Italy national American football team from 2014-2023, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Ma ...
of Texas, Coach R. C. Slocum of Texas A&M and Coach Spike Dykes of Texas Tech
*1997:
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
and
Ricky Williams of Texas (also pictured: Coach
Kim Helton of Houston)
*1998: Two covers: one with Coach
Mack Brown
William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...
and Ricky Williams of Texas, the other with
Dat Nguyen of Texas A&M
*1999: Coach Mack Brown of Texas, Coach
Dennis Franchione
Dennis Wayne Franchione (born March 28, 1951) is an American former college football coach. He is the former head football coach at Texas State University–San Marcos, Texas State University, a position he held from 1990 to 1991, when the school ...
of TCU
**1999 (alternative cover):
Troy Aikman
Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he play ...
of the Dallas Cowboys, for sale outside the state of Texas
2000s
*2000:
Cedric Benson of
Midland Lee
*2001:
Casey Printers
Casey J. Printers (born May 16, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played college football at TCU and Florida A&M.
Early ...
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
North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...
, Marvin Godbolt of TCU and
Kevin Kolb of Houston
*2005:
Vince Young
Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Young was selected by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in th ...
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
Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, twi ...
, 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
Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...
,
Bryce Petty
Bryce William Petty (born May 31, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears, and was selected by the New York Jets in t ...
, and
Antwan Goodley
Antwan Fontain Goodley Jr. (born September 6, 1991) is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Baylor.
Early life
Goodley attended Midland High School in Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in the U.S. ...
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
Samuel George Ehlinger ( ; born September 30, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns football, Tex ...
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
Quinn Tucker Ewers (; born March 15, 2003) is an American professional football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns. Ewers was se ...
of Texas and
Conner Weigman of Texas A&M
Winter magazine covers
When the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
won the Bowl Championship Series, 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
Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Young was selected by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in th ...
of Texas
*2008: Coach Mike Sherman of Texas A&M
*2009: Quan Cosby of Texas,
Michael Crabtree
Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders, twi ...
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
Bryce William Petty (born May 31, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears, and was selected by the New York Jets in t ...
of Baylor
*2015: Trevone Boykin of TCU, Kyler Murray of Allen High School (Allen, Texas), Allen, and Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys
Texas Football Rising
*2015: Jett Duffey of Lake Ridge High School, Lake Ridge (Texas Tech)
*2016: Baron Browning of Kennedale, Texas, Kennedale (Ohio State Buckeyes football, Ohio State)
*2017: Keaontay Ingram of Carthage, Texas, Carthage (Texas)
*2018: Kenyon Green of Atascocita High School, Atascosita (Texas A&M)
*2019: Haynes King (American football), Haynes King of Longview High School, Longview (Texas A&M)
*2020: Ja'Tavion Sanders of Billy Ryan High School, Denton Ryan (Texas)
*2021: Denver Harris of North Shore Senior High School (Texas), Galena Park North Shore (Texas A&M)
*2022: David Hicks Jr. of Patricia E. Paetow High School, 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. Football Award (Texas), Mr. Texas Football Award" honoring the top high school player in the state. It is currently sponsored by Wells Fargo
*2007: Jacquizz Rodgers, Lamar Consolidated High School, Rosenberg Lamar
*2008: Garrett Gilbert, Lake Travis High School, Lake Travis
*2009: Darian "Stump" Godfrey, Gilmer High School (Gilmer, Texas), Gilmer
*2010:
Johnny Manziel, Tivy High School, Kerrville Tivy
*2011:
Johnathan Gray, Aledo
*2012: Dontre Wilson, DeSoto High School (DeSoto, Texas), DeSoto
*2013: Kyler Murray, Allen High School (Allen, Texas), Allen
*2014: Kyler Murray, Allen
*2015: Jett Duffey, Lake Ridge High School, Mansfield Lake Ridge
*2016: Roshauud Paul, Bremond High School, Bremond
*2017: Spencer Sanders, Denton Ryan
*2018: Landry Gilpin, Veterans Memorial Early College High School, Veterans Memorial
*2019: Marvin Mims, Lone Star High School, Lone Star
*2020: Jonathon Brooks (American football), Jonathon Brooks, Hallettsville Independent School District, Hallettsville
*2021: Major Bowden, China Spring High School, China Spring
*2022: Terry Bussey, Timpson High School, Timpson
*2023: DJ Lagway, Willis High School, Willis
*2024: Adam Schobel, Columbus High School (Texas), Columbus
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 (basketball), 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 (basketball), Andrew Jones of Texas
*2022: Marcus Sasser, Coach Kelvin Sampson and J'Wan Roberts of Houston
*2023: Rori Harmon of Texas
References
{{reflist
External links
TexasFootball.comTexasBasketball.com
1960 establishments in Texas
American football in Texas
Biannual magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1960
Magazines published in Texas
Mass media in Dallas
Sports magazines published in the United States