Who made the covers of popular Texas football preseason magazine?

Contributor
Buck Ringgold
Who made the covers of popular Texas football preseason magazine? image

Naomi Skinner/Wichita Falls Times Record News/USA TODAY NETWORK

It’s that time of year when preseason football preview magazines start hitting the shelves.

In the state of Texas, one preseason publication towers over all: Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Founded in 1960, the magazine covers Texas college football teams, as well as the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. But the magazine also offers capsule previews of all the high schools in Texas; with more than 1,500 teams previewed in last year’s edition.

With the popularity of the magazine also comes the annual speculation of who will be on the cover. Over the years, prominent players and coaches with Texas ties, usually at the high school and collegiate levels, have adorned the cover of the magazine.

On Thursday, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football unveiled its cover, both the main and the gatefold insert.

This year’s cover photo is University of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. Sarkisian has led the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff each of the past two seasons and Texas - which opens its season at defending national champion Ohio State on Aug. 30 - is a popular pick to make it to the CFP again and perhaps win the national title for the first time in 20 years.

Then the gatefold cover for the magazine is a shot of Celina High School coach Bill Elliott, along with two of his players, linebacker Luke Biagini and quarterback Bowe Bentley. The three are pictured sitting in the booth of a restaurant.

Last season, Celina - located on the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth “Metroplex,” - won its ninth state title in program history by defeating Kilgore for the UIL 4A Division I championship, with Biagini and Bentley playing key roles. Biagini was named the Defensive MVP of the title game with nine total tackles, a half-sack and an interception that he returned for a touchdown, while Bentley was named the Offensive MVP after generating 333 total yards and five touchdowns.

Also with the cover reveal comes a new look to the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football logo. There is a different masthead, with Texas Football in a new font while the signature of Dave Campbell is larger and now centered above the Texas Football wording. In the words of DCTF editor-in-chief Greg Tepper, it is part of a priority to “make our founder Dave Campbell front and center.”

The magazine will be coming out soon in stores, not just in Texas but in surrounding states. Now that we know who’s on the cover of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, it is just another sign that the 2025 football season is around the corner.

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