East Texas A&M Lions 2026 Season Preview

Dolezel's Rebuild Year Two

A 3-9 finish and a No. 82 power ranking are the plain read on where East Texas A&M sits, and 2026 is about closing the gap between the two rather than dressing up last year's record. Clint Dolezel's group went 3-4 in Southland play, proof the losses were not confined to one side of the schedule, and that spread-out struggle is the real problem to fix. The path forward is about the on-field product catching up to the conference slate, not a record that already reads as a step back.

Rodriguez Inherits a Lopsided Attack

The passing game was the one part of East Texas A&M's offense that actually worked, ranking 18th nationally, and that ball goes to Eric Rodriguez again after he threw for 1402 yards with 11 touchdowns against 8 interceptions. The run game was the drag, 106th in rushing yards per game, which means Rodriguez has to keep pushing it downfield rather than lean on balance. If those interception numbers do not tighten up, a defense that already gave up 39.8 points per game will not get the margin for error it needs.

Eric Rodriguez threw for 1402 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, but the 8 interceptions and a passing attack that outpaced a 106th-ranked run game tell the real story of East Texas A&M's offense. With Ron Peace gone, Rodriguez now owns the job outright, and his ability to protect the ball better than in 2025 is the difference between this passing game (18th nationally in yards per game) translating into wins instead of the 25.6 points per game it produced a year ago. Jack Jacobs, Demetris Ballard, Lake Bennett and Emery Floyd round out the room behind him, but this is Rodriguez's offense to carry.

EJ Oakmon carried the load with 357 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2025, and he is the clear centerpiece now that KJ Shankle's 497 yards leave the room. Major McBride and Jordon Hamilton return with modest totals, 36 and 13 yards, giving Clint Dolezel bodies who have taken college snaps behind Oakmon rather than an empty depth chart. The bigger issue is scheme, not personnel: a 117 rushing yards per game mark that ranked 106th nationally means the ground game has to find lanes Oakmon can actually hit, since the passing attack at 255 yards per game already carries this offense.

Jaden Proctor's 23 catches for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns are the largest returning receiving total in this room, which tells the real story: Christian Jourdain (59-799-2) and Devin Matthews (36-649-7) are both gone, and nobody left on the roster caught more than five passes behind Proctor. Tanner Harrison turned just 4 catches into 121 yards and a score, a big-play rate the offense will need to lean on given East Texas A&M ranked 18th nationally in passing yards per game a year ago. Clint Dolezel's passing attack produced real numbers in 2025, but replacing that much production with Proctor, Harrison, Randy Reece, Brycen Davis and Andrez Lewis is a steep ask.

Joshua Pikl's modest 7 catches for 52 yards and a score were actually enough to lead the East Texas A&M tight ends last fall, and he's back as the clear veteran in a passing attack that finished 18th nationally in yards per game. Preston Kilgore's 7 catches walk out the door with him, but Sean Sallis and Reid Thornberry return with no statistical track record yet to replace that production, leaving Pikl as the proven safety net for a passing game that has to keep carrying an offense averaging just 117 rushing yards per game. If Clint Dolezel wants the ground game to matter more in 2026, Pikl's ability to win underneath could be the difference between forcing defenses to respect the run and another season leaning almost entirely on the arm.

Clint Dolezel's offense could move the ball through the air last season, ranking 18th nationally in passing yards per game, but the ground game stalled at 117 yards per game, 106th in the country, and that imbalance traces straight to the front five. Five departures are named up front, including Romello Watson, Jadin Jones, Jaidyn Jones, Ike Ojukwu and Kendal Septs, part of seven linemen gone entirely, so the group tasked with fixing a rushing attack that dragged down a 39.5% success rate offense is being built largely from scratch. Whoever fills that void will lean on an experienced quarterback room behind them, but until East Texas A&M finds push at the point of attack, this offense stays one-dimensional.

Clint Dolezel's front gave up 39.8 points a game a year ago, with a defense that ranked 91st in yards per play allowed and let opponents stay on schedule at a 99th-ranked clip. The production that did exist up front is now scattered: Micah Owens took the only sack among the departed linemen, and Devante Keys, Jacory Brown and Preston Hamilton combined for just seven tackles between them. With that group gone, whatever line Dolezel fields in 2026 is essentially starting from zero snaps of proven pass rush, and fixing the 179 rushing yards allowed per game will decide whether this defense looks any different than the one that finished 121st in points allowed.

Clint Dolezel's defense allowed 39.8 points and 423 yards a game in 2025, with opponents staying on schedule 45.4 percent of the time, and the linebacker room that failed to get stops now loses its entire production. Koby-Sebasyen King (19 tackles, 3.5 TFL, 1 sack), Jaheim Lowe, Kyree Anderson and CJ Garnett are all gone, meaning every tackle total at the position has to be replaced by whoever the staff brings in this offseason. Given how often East Texas A&M's defense broke down on early downs last fall, fixing the rush numbers (179 yards allowed per game) starts with whatever this group looks like in the Southland.

Points allowed at 39.8 a game last season tell the real story here, and the top tacklers who let that happen, Kaleb Miles, Lavon Williams and Cinque Williams among them, are all gone. What is left is a group of low-tackle-count returners: Orion Kupu, Josh Wiggins and Coleone Smith combined for single digits in stops, now asked to hold up in a pass defense that gave up 244 yards a game through the air. Clint Dolezel's secondary generated tackles for loss at a top-ten national rate behind the front, but until Kupu or Wiggins turns modest snaps into real production, that yards-per-play number around 6.08 is not moving.

Ozlo Rigby is the anchor here, having hit 11 of 13 field goals with a long of 47 and 71 points last season, giving East Texas A&M a proven leg even as Andy Gallegos and Braden Johnson return as additional options at the position. Ben Mehan comes back after averaging 40.6 yards on 49 punts, so the kicking operation is largely intact heading into 2026. With snappers Kory Garcia and John Dublin also back, the mechanics of the unit are set, and the bigger swing factor is whether Rigby's accuracy holds up as the clear point of stability for a team that finished 3-9.

Eric Rodriguez

Eric Rodriguez threw for 1402 yards with 11 touchdowns but also 8 interceptions last season, and now he has to do it without Christian Jourdain, who soaked up 59 catches and 799 yards. With zero portal additions to plug that hole, the passing game leans on Jaden Proctor and Tanner Harrison stepping into bigger roles, and Rodriguez cutting down the turnovers that plagued a 3-9 team is what separates a real step forward from another year treading water.

Clint Dolezel's Road Value

Home favorite is the number to avoid with East Texas A&M under Clint Dolezel, an 0-2 mark against the spread that mirrors a 1-4 straight-up record in home games. Flip to the road and the line moves in the Lions' favor, a 3-3 cover mark that included going 2-2 as road underdogs. Conference play splits closer to even at 3-4 against the spread, but the read for 2026 is simple: fade this team at home, take a look when Dolezel's group travels.