The 2025 Non-FBS All-Texas teams celebrate 51 players from 21 different schools across five divisions of college football.

The FCS ranks were awarded 35 of the 56 All-Texas spots with Division II claiming nine, Division III totaling eight, and NAIA and JUCO with two spots each.

Stephen F. Austin, which won the Southland championship and reached the quarterfinals in the FCS playoffs, leads the way with nine selections. ACU and Tarleton State were second with six players each. 

The 2025 season was a historic one for the college football teams in Texas. Five teams in the FBS were included in the final Top 25 for the College Football Playoff. Three FCS teams reached the playoffs – ACU, SFA, and Tarleton – with SFA and Tarleton reaching the quarterfinals. UT Permian Basin was the state’s lone representative in the Division II Playoffs while Trinity and Hardin-Simmons reached the postseason in Division III. Texas Wesleyan made the NAIA Playoffs and Tyler Junior College was in the four-team field at the JUCO level. 

Narrowing down this list to 56 players wasn’t easy. We relied on All-American and All-Conference teams from each division and conference to cobble together two All-Texas teams with 26 offensive players, 26 defensive players, and four specialists earning honors. Nine different FCS squads have at least one player. Five Division II programs are represented with four in Division III. 

The Offensive Player of the Year is UTRGV quarterback Eddie Lee Marburger. The UTSA transfer and local high school star finished third nationally in passing touchdowns with 31 and was top 15 in the FCS in passing yards with 2,780. The Vaqueros finished in the top 10 as a scoring offense and went 9-3 in their inaugural season. He was a co-first-team All-Southland selection with SFA quarterback Sam Vidlak. 

The Defensive Player of the Year is UTPB linebacker Tristan Exline. The China Spring product recorded 143 tackles this season, recording 20 stops in two separate games, including in the playoffs against Harding. Exline also registered 19.5 tackles-for-loss, including 5.5 sacks, forced a pair of fumbles and intercepted one pass. He was awarded the J.V. Sikes Award as the Defensive Player of the Year in the Lone Star Conference. UTPB won a playoff game for the first time in program history this season. 

The Coach of the Year was a tough call. We selected Prairie View A&M’s Tremaine Jackson because he led the Panthers to their first conference championship since 2009 and were a missed field goal in double overtime away from winning their first Black college national championship for the first time since 1964, falling in four overtimes to South Carolina State in the Celebration Bowl. Jackson did this in his first season at PVAMU. Coaches such as UTPB’s Kris McCullough and SFA’s Colby Carthel were also in the mix.