Desiree Villanueva EDINBURG – UTRGV makes history with its first open football practice, Sept. 9 at Richard R. Flores Stadium. UTRGV Athletics states at least 2,400 fans from the valley came to watch the players take the field for the first time.
Freshman quarterback Aidan Jakobsohn stated that being on the team is a great experience unlike any other.
“We got to get 1% better every day,” Jakobsohn said. “We got a lot of days like 360 almost.”
Junior defensive back Marcus Heard Jr. who transferred from Bryan, Texas, said the valley has been welcoming.
“My family felt comfortable here,” Heard said. “It’s beautiful out here. I know it gets a little hot, but it’s beautiful which is right. I thinks it’s important that we show our fans show people that support us, you know, that we’ve been working, and you know that’s investment has been going somewhere working our tail off of course that mentality that we going to win every day.”
Football head coach Travis Bush said the focus is on player development, to keep the student athletes healthy and building team chemistry within the locker room.
“That’s the beauty of this time right now is just developing them and let them battle them out we still got a long way to go,” said Bush. “It was awesome to see so many fans here. It kind of reminded me of NFL Training Camp practice.”
The UTRGV Football Facebook page states 6,000 tickets have been sold. Free seating is reserved for students who are enrolled in the Fall 2025 semester.
