By Valerie Figueroa
Communications Specialist
McCoy College of Business
SAN MARCOS, Texas — Texas State University students took 3rd place at the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) for their integrated marketing campaign developed for the National Football League (NFL).
The finish marks Texas State’s fourth top-three national finals win since 2020. The program won the national title in 2025 and placed second in both 2020 and 2023.
The Texas State team competed against 103 universities nationwide and earned the Lumie Award for the most creative and innovative use of Lumiere, an AI-powered research platform for testing campaign concepts, gathering live audience feedback, and analyzing results.
The award-winning campaign was developed through collaboration between students in marketing, advertising, and communication design from the McCoy College of Business, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC), and the School of Art and Design.
Centered on the theme “Eyes Up,” the campaign aimed to boost awareness of and involvement in NFL youth programs such as NFL Flag, NFL Play 60, and Character Playbook. Inspired by a familiar coaching cue, the campaign encouraged families to put down their devices, connect through active experiences, and develop life skills through NFL programming.
“Working on the NFL brand has been an incredible experience for our program and our students,” said Dr. Mike Devlin, the primary faculty advisor of the program. “It’s been great to watch them gain real-world experience for a major brand. To be one of the top three schools in the country for a client like this speaks volumes about our AAF chapter and about Texas State.”
The team was advised throughout the year by Dr. Rick Wilson from McCoy College’s Department of Marketing and Dr. Mike Devlin, Sage Baker, and Cimin Cohen from SJMC.
“I’m truly proud of the interdisciplinary program we’ve built at Texas State between Marketing, Advertising, and Communication Design,” Wilson said. “Not only are we able to utilize talent from across the University, but the collaboration is representative of what happens in the real business world.”
Representing Texas State in the 2026 competition were Emma Van Dam, Reese Raley, Jude Kessler, Knox White, Jayla Martinez, Lauren Jones, Caitlin Tims, Emily Chu, Anna Claire Kelley, Kya Cox, Emelia Henderson, Amanda Miller, Jennifer Nunez, Isela Vasquez, Mattie Bess, Ailee Lozano, Devon Prentis, Chloe Boyd, Charlize Cosmas, Sebastian Escalante, Aeron Shipp, Aaron Huerta, Noah Morse, James Almaraz, Bora Kuyucu, Clint Pickett and Mike Sangoy. ✯
About the Texas State NSAC Program:
Texas State University's National Student Advertising Competition team is an interdisciplinary group of students from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the School of Art and Design, and the McCoy College of Business. Each year, students research, build, and present a complete integrated marketing campaign for a national client through the American Advertising Federation's NSAC, one of the nation's premier collegiate advertising competitions. Texas State won the national championship in 2025 and has reached the national finals four times since 2020. For information about the NSAC program, go to https://www.aaf.org/Public/Public/Events/National-Student-Advertising-Competition/NSAC_Home.aspx
For more information about this story or other news, email Valerie Figueroa, communications specialist for the McCoy College of Business, at vlf23@txstate.edu.
About the McCoy College of Business
Established in 1970, Texas State’s business school officially became the McCoy College of Business in 2004 following a transformational gift of $20 million by Emmett and Miriam McCoy. The college, which offers classes in San Marcos, Round Rock, and online, is accredited by AACSB in both business and accounting, and has graduated more than 46,000 alumni.
Marketing and Communications
McCoy Hall 322
Texas State University
601 University Drive
San Marcos, TX 78666
512.245.2990