S7 | E3 | Texas Tiger Podcast | Football Preseason | Jeb Spinney - Offense | Aug. 19, 2026

ETBU Football Coach and Offensive Coordinator talks to ETBU Director of Broadcasting Jacob Bumpas about the upcoming 2026 season, returning offensive players, and learning from year one as an OC.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Jeb Spinning, second year offensive coordinator, the man with the plan. I'm the Pump, Jacob Pumpus, and you're listening to the Texas Tiger Podcast on the ETV Plus Network. For offensive coordinator Jeb Spinny, the summer couldn't have gone any slower as he waited impatiently for the dog days of June and July to pass as he eagerly anticipated the arrival of the players back on the hill for fall camp. And now that they're finally here, Spinny couldn't be any more thrilled.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Man, it's been awesome being back. I told my guys and everybody I've been seeing throughout the summer. They're like, are you ready for fall camp? And I keep telling everybody, man, I I'm ready for it tomorrow. Like I'm ready for it to start tomorrow just because I couldn't wait. You know, all these guys, they go back home and everything, and they leave me here in Marshall on my own. So I'm just here twiddling my thumbs, waiting on them to get back. So I mean, even in the first offense meeting before even practice, I just told them how excited I was just to be around them. It means football's close. And then we get into these first couple days, and especially the freshmen, you know, early on, they've learned everything. What we've given them, they've been able to take it in and go with it and run with it, and they're not afraid to make mistakes, which has been awesome. And even today, first day in Pads, we had several freshmen that stood out, and it was just fantastic to watch.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Coach Spinny is pumped up about the exciting new additions to his staff.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yeah, so it's been great. Coach Chambers has just done a phenomenal job with the receivers so far. I mean, just stellar. I was even telling my wife last night just how much I've enjoyed being around him, having him in the office. He keeps it light and it just has a fun time, always has a smile on his face. And the guys can see that and they reciprocate that. And just the mood of the room is just fantastic. We also have Coach Nerezzo who was with us last year, but Diego Nerezz, he played for us for a little bit. He was at Crown College, played for us for a little bit, and then got into coaching last year and was assisting me with the quarterbacks. And this year gave it to him completely. He does an awesome job. We're very like-minded. I trust him with everything, but he gets after those guys, coaches them really hard, and they are prepared every single day they come to practice. We also have Cooper Mosier, who is a former player as well. And he is helping out with the tight ends, coaching the tight ends this year. And so far, he has been doing a great job. He gets after them. He takes ownership of the room. It's everything that you want in an assistant coach. And then also Brody Towns on our offensive staff. He was with us last year as a student assistant, and this year he's able to take more of a positional role, and he's able to coach up our running backs. And again, I'm able to help him out with that. My flexibility allows me to help, but a lot of times he doesn't need it. I mean, he gets after it. He's a hard worker. You never have to ask him to do extra work. I just can't say enough about these guys and my staff.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Spenny sees his coaching journey at ETBU as just one big blessing.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Blessing is the word. I mean, that's how I would describe it. I mean, I was blessed to be able to be in a student coach role and able to learn. I actually, my first two years coaching, I was on the defensive side of the ball here as a student coach, and I worked for Coach Ruth. He was the defensive coordinator. And our relationship that we built there, I think is honestly how he was able to feel comfortable with hiring me. You know, a young guy, it's probably it it is unorthodox. I think our relationship really is what made that easy for him. Uh, just because he was able to see time equity and uh the work that I would put in, and I'm very thankful for that. But also, I mean, uh, our president, Dr. Blackburn, and our athletic director, uh Ryan Irwin, them trusting me, it is a blessing. Like it really is. Because I know it's an unorthodox thing, and some people may question it, but I'm so blessed to be able to be here, and I'm very thankful for those three individuals for sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

For Coach Spinney, his faith plays a huge role in who he is as a person and gives him understanding during the trials and tribulations that might come his way in life as a coach.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Faith is definitely a key point. Last year uh was my first year as the offensive coordinator, and man, I remember the first drive of the season, defense forced a turnover. We get the ball kind of just outside of the red zone, and uh we went three and out and kicked a field goal. And I'm just hitting my head like, man, I suck. Like, this is gonna be horrible. And that's not a way to be thinking, obviously. And we had a lot of success after that, obviously, in that game. But I mean, my faith, it's a big part because there are those negatives that happen during a season and consistently being in the Word and in consistent prayer and surrounding myself by other godly individuals that are there to encourage me. I mean, I remember we had a rough streak last year of just losing some games, and a good friend of mine, former player here, he was actually my admissions whenever I came on a visit. He took me around on my visit, and we have grown closer since then. But Brian Baca uh reaching out to me and sending me uh some scripture and just words of encouragement, and I just can't speak enough to how much that means to me for people to reach out. But yeah, my faith, uh, it's the only reason I am here. There's a lot of the times, you know, you want to maybe want to do something else, but I know I want to be in this role at this university because of the faith piece of this university because I do feel it's a calling to be a coach, and it is my calling. Uh, my dad's a pastor and he has a congregation uh that he preaches to, but my congregation is 18 to 22-year-old guys who play offense at ETBU, you know, and that's I'm able to use that as the kind of the bridge that bridges the gap as far as uh sharing the gospel with those guys.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Spinny says that the energy that Coach Rue brings to practices and game days is absolutely contagious, and you can't help but get fired up along with him.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

It is very contagious, 100%. It's contagious for our players, not just coaches as well. But he is high energy, and like I said, I I worked for him two years before he became the head coach. So I've only known working for Coach Rue, and he is a high energy guy, always smiles. So he's a fun guy to definitely work for, but it molds who you are as a coach, too. It's hard to not keep that same energy whenever it's exemplified by the head coach.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Despite there being an all-out quarterback battle for the starting position, Spinny says that these group of QBs couldn't be any closer as a group on and off the field.

SPEAKER_01 6:05

Man, I will say this. One, they are competing their tails off, and it is a competition. They know that it's a competition when they're on the field, but there's not a closer, and I'll put this up against anybody. There's not a closer quarterback room in Division III. There's not a closer position room in our locker room than our quarterback room is. I mean, those guys love each other. Last night they're hanging out, going over practice scripts, like just in each other's rooms, and helping each other, talking through stuff. Like, yeah, they're competing against each other. Every single one of those guys wants to be the starting quarterback at ETBU. But the care and the love that they have for each other, man, that's something that's really special. And I I really, really, really love watching it. And I'm proud of those guys.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Behind the star running back, Paul Woodard, Spinny mentioned some other names in the running back room that have been turning some heads. Some guys that you might want to keep an eye on for once the season starts.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Just off rip, Dayshawn Reese was a freshman last year. He got injured during fall camp last year. He hurt his ankle, but almost going into the season, I mean, we thought Deshaun was going to be getting a lot of carries for us last year. He is a study from Cedar Hill, and this is gonna be his sophomore year. He's had all year to rehab, and he is looking sharp so far during fall camp. Bryson Lanier is another one, and he's also a returner. He's gonna be a sophomore. So both these guys are pretty young. And man, Bryson had a lot of carries for us last year. Have him keep that train rolling because he made some really big plays, especially in that first game last year, 95-yard touchdown run uh by him in his first ever college game. It was his second carry that he ever had in college. He took it 95 yards. There's definitely special in that aspect. And then we also have Jermichael Cooper. We call him J Mike, but he was a transfer that came to us this spring, and he has acclimated to that room exceptionally well. Those guys love him. They always give him a hard time. That's what that room does. I mean, you better not slip up around them or they'll keep you honest. Man, J. Mike is just, he's been fantastic for the room. And I love a room that breeds competition, and that is that room. There's just so much talent in it. Starling, his name's Justin Starling. He's from Henderson. He's a freshman, so he's Texas boy, but he goes by Meaty. Uh, he had a really big run today, and uh, and he's done some good things so far during fall camp as well. So that's kind of what the running back room's looking like right now. We got a stable of those dudes. So we're we're excited about them, and we know we're gonna be able to run the football. Paul, we know what he is. We've seen it. I mean, he's Dave Campbell's non-FBS team of the year guy. He's been all conference every single season he's played. I know this, he's within reach of the rushing title at ETBU as far as yards over a career. So, I mean, the sky's the limit with Paul, obviously. We're just really excited to have him back for his senior year and the leadership that he brings as well. But I mean, biggest area of growth for him this year is just growing up those freshmen, you know, and and leading them. And I'm just really excited to see how he does that because I've gotten to see it over the last several years with him being here and the relationships that he's built. And this is his last opportunity and his last group of guys to be able to impact. And I'm just excited to see how that goes.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Coach Spinney shares with us his passions and being able to help out and coach with one of his favorite positions in all of football, the tight ends.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Oh, that's all right. So, my favorite position in football is tight end. And you can ask all the guys on offense. I've told them this. So I tell receivers, I tell running backs, I said, if you don't want me to be in any other personnel except having every tight end on the field, you got to do something. Because I love those guys. They're Swiss Army Knives, jack of all trades, whatever you want to call them. They should be able to do everything. They're able to run routes like receivers, block like offensive linemen. I mean, they're just phenomenal. And we love to utilize our tight end a ton. And the guys that we brought in, they all have the ability to do anything, you know, that we ask them to, and they have showed that. Uh, kind of, I'll just give you three guys who have stood out to me so far. I mean, all of these guys, at Division III, it's a little difficult to get just true tight ends, you know, guys who have played tight end all four years in high school because of just how uh recruiting worked. But we're lucky enough that we're able to get guys that we think can fit the build of tight end, and we really are able to transform them into what we're wanting, which is that Swiss Army knife guy. So we look for different tools and different things that they can do that would help them excel at that position. But three guys that have stood out to me are all three new guys right now. Jonah Greeley. He's a year removed from high school, took a year off. He came to us fantastic. He actually did play tight end in high school and some receiver, and he's done a great job learning the offense. Just a great dude to be around. All of our guys on offense love Jonah, and they've been talking him up to me, which is always great to hear from his teammates. Chris Moore is another guy. He's from right down the road in Tyler, went to Tyler High. Chris played a lot of receiver in high school, a little bit of tight end. So a lot of his blocking and everything is new to him. And the way that we teach it is a little new. But that dude has just dove straight in, nose first, and he's been phenomenal. And he's a specimen, too. If you see him walking around here, you're like, who's that guy? You know, so really love Chris Moore. And then David Red is another one. Now, David played a lot of quarterback in high school, and he's come to us, and man, that dude, he is an athlete uh with a capital A. Just he's been phenomenal. We were in one-on-ones the other day, and uh some of the guys on defense coming up to me like, Coach, he's not a tight end. I shouldn't be having to guard him. You know, and that's the type of athlete that he is, and just shows a ton of grittiness in his blocking as well. I can't say enough good things about him, or the whole room in general. Like, I'm just naming off three just so I can give you something, but I mean, the whole room has just been unbelievable to be around, and they're just super hard workers, um, always on time. They're the most functional group. I mean, can't say enough about them.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Jub Spinney, the offensive coordinator of the ETB Tigers. I'm the bump, Jacob Bumpus, and you've been listening to the Texas Tiger Podcast on the ETB Plus Network.