UTRGV head football coach Travis Bush announced on Friday the hiring of Mike Barela, who has nearly 30 years of coaching experience, as the tight ends coach.
Barela’s coaching stops include serving as the offensive line coach at Valdosta State (2022-23), co-offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and tight ends coach at Colorado Mesa (2018-21), tight ends coach, run game coordinator and nickelbacks coach at Incarnate Word (2015-17), offensive and defensive line coach at Kansas High School (2014), offensive line coach, run game coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern State (2012-13), offensive line coach at Southwestern Baptist (2011), tight ends coach at Texas State (2007-10), director of football operations at North Texas (2002-06), tight ends coach at Sam Houston (2000-01), offensive line coach at Morningside (1999), and graduate assistant coach for the offensive line and tight ends at North Texas (1996-98).
During his time at Texas State, Barela worked with Bush, who was the associate head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach from 2007-09.
“We are extremely fortunate to get Coach Barela down to the Rio Grande Valley,” Bush said. “His experience and offensive expertise will make our program better as soon as he steps on campus. Coach Barela exemplifies what college coaching should be about. He is a great coach who loves his players, he is an outstanding recruiter, and he works his tail off at everything he does with excellence and integrity. You won’t find a better man in the business. His wife Lauren is a graduate of Edinburg High School, and her father, Brent Miller, played baseball here for the Broncs.”
As the offensive line coach at Valdosta State the last two seasons, Barela’s team posted impressive numbers. This past season, Valdosta State averaged 39 points and 433.6 yards of total offense while ranking fifth in NCAA Division II in passing at 312.2 yards per game and 20th in third down conversion rate at 45.7%. The team went on to finish 12-2, reaching the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals and earning a share of the Gulf South Conference Championship.
The 2022 team averaged 36 points per game while ranking fifth in NCAA Division II in total offense at 475.6 yards per game and 16th in rushing at 213.5 yards per game. The team also ranked second in the nation in sacks allowed per game, giving up just three in 367 pass attempts, and sixth in successful red zone opportunities at 91%, producing 31 touchdowns and 14 field goals in 49 attempts.
Barela helped Colorado Mesa to rank 19th in NCAA Division II in total offense at 452.3 yards per game en route to an 8-2 record in 2021. The team ranked first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in rushing at 194.8 yards per game one year after averaging 243 rushing yards in three games during the pandemic shortened 2020 season.
In addition to working with tight ends, Barela coordinated the kickoff return unit in 2019, averaging 26.95 yards per return, which ranked third in the nation. The team’s primary returner led the nation with 38.1 yards per return.
Barela’s tight ends also contributed to one of the top offenses in the nation in 2018, as the team averaged 485.2 yards of total offense, including 275.4 yards of passing offense, per game.
Barela helped Incarnate Word to post its first-ever winning record at the NCAA Division I level, going 6-5 in 2015 while the tight ends combined for 42 receptions, 443 yards, and two touchdowns. One of Barela’s tight ends was Cole Wick, who went on to play for the Detroit Lions in 2016 and San Francisco 49ers in 2018.
Barela also coordinated the kickoff return unit in 2017, leading FCS with three touchdowns, and the short yardage/goal line package, converting 21-of-24 (87.5%) trips to the red zone, including 19 touchdowns.
In two seasons at Northeastern State, Barela’s squad rushed for 34 touchdowns while averaging 175.7 yards per game in 2012 and 157.5 yards per game in 2013.
His rush offense was responsible for 20 touchdowns at Southwest Baptist in 2011 and he coached his running backs to four 220+ rushing yard performances.
While at Texas State, Barela was part of a staff that helped establish numerous school records while winning a conference championship (2008). In 2009, the offense ranked seventh nationally in passing (289 yards per game) and 12th in scoring offense (32 points per game). The 2008 offense finished seventh nationally in scoring (36 points per game), and eight in total offense (453.2 yards per game). In 2007, for the first time in school history, the offense produced a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard receiver, and a 2,000-yard passer in the same year.
From 2002-06, Barela was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the North Texas football program, a time during which North Texas won three-straight Sun Belt Conference Championships (2002-04).
Barela was part of four-straight conference championships, including the 2001 Southland Conference title at Sam Houston, a season in which the team led the conference in total offense (437.4 yards per game), passing offense (278.8 yards per game), and scoring offense (37.5 points per game). Barela coached First-Team All-America tight end Keith Heinrich, who was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2002, playing one seasons there before also playing for the Cleveland Browns (2003-04) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2007).
“I’m grateful and excited to join Coach Bush, this coaching staff, and the UTRGV community,” Barela said. “To be a part of this brand-new endeavor, starting a football program from day one, is incredible. This opportunity was the right time for me to come home to Texas and help Coach Bush establish something special in the Rio Grande Valley. I look forward to getting to work!”
Barela graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from North Texas in 1997. As a student-athlete, Barela was a linebacker who also contributed to special teams.
