When the 2025 football season begins, Tate Whitten will begin his eighth year as a full-time wide receivers coach.
Whitten has coached some of the most decorated wide receivers to ever don the purple and white, including Harlon Hill finalist Zimari Manning, First Team All-American Darius Cooper and a pair of FCS Stats Perform Honorable Mention National Players of the Week Tariq Bitson and Gabe Douglas.
The Texans just posted a historic campaign in 2024, going 10-4 overall and 6-2 in United Athletic Conference play, winning their FCS Playoffs debut against Drake before dropping a tight contest at No. 4 South Dakota in Vermillion in the second round. On Nov. 30, 13-seed Tarleton hosted Drake in the first round of the FCS Playoffs winning 43-29 at Memorial Stadium. The Texans became the fifth team in the history of the FCS Playoffs (Division I-AA Playoffs), which goes back 46 years, to win their first playoff game at the FCS level in their first year eligible after reclassifying from NCAA Division II. Two of those five teams comprised of the four-team playoff field in that initial round of the FCS Playoffs – Florida A&M and UMass, in 1978. The other two programs are currently in the FBS; Troy in 1993 and UCF in 1990. The Texans earned the No. 13 seed in the FCS Playoffs among the 24-team field across 129 FCS programs in just their first year of championship eligibility. They had become just the first team fresh off of reclassification to make the playoffs since 2009 (South Dakota State). Tarleton State was named No. 12 in the final AFCA FCS Coaches Poll of the season, and No. 13 in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll of the season. Tarleton State was ranked in both polls every single week of the 2024 campaign, from the preseason through the postseason. The Texans were just one of 11 teams nationwide to never leave the polls, joined by Idaho, Illinois State, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, UC Davis, UIW and Villanova. Tarleton State started 2024 7-1, with a six-game winning streak, their best start and their longest winning streak in the D1 era. Offensively, Tarleton ranked fourth in the country in pass yards per completion (14.5), fifth in red zone offense (.933), ninth in first downs (300), tied-13th in sacks allowed per game (1.14), 22nd in total offense (415.8 yards per game), 23rd in rushing offense (191.1 yards per game), 28th in scoring offense (30.7 points per game), 34th in tackles for loss allowed per game (4.71) and 42nd in passing offense (224.7 yards per game). Tarleton State had the No. 1 receiver across all of FCS (Darius Cooper, 1,450 yards). Cooper earned several All-American awards after recording 76 receptions for 1,450 yards and 14 touchdowns, including Associated Press FCS All-America First Team. Cooper was also UAC All-Conference First Team.
In Tarleton State’s final year of their four-year reclassification period, he helped the Texans finish 8-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. They finished second in the inaugural United Athletic Conference, despite being picked to finish sixth in the 2023 Preseason UAC Coaches Poll. Whitten coached a formidable trio of wide receivers -- Darius Cooper, Benjamin Omayebu and Keylan Johnson – who accounted for 64 percent of the team’s passing yardage. Johnson exploded onto the scene in Week 2 against North Alabama with one of the strongest single-game performances in program history. He won UAC Player of the Week after recording six catches for 219 yards (fifth in school history) and four touchdowns (tied-first in school history). This made him one of only six players across NCAA Division I (FBS and FCS) to score four touchdowns in a game in 2023. Omayebu reached rarified air in Texan history as well. He caught the sixth most passes in single-season school history with 64, which was fourth best in the UAC. He proved formidable in Big 12 competition as well by racking up a season-high 12 receptions against Texas Tech. His counterpart, Cooper, averaged a UAC-best 88.9 receiving yards per game over his seven games. He performed best in conference-play, where he averaged 91.7 receiving yards and tied for the third most receiving yards (457) and touchdowns (4). These numbers helped merit his UAC All-Conference selection as a second team receiver.
In 2022, Whitten helped coach a dynamic duo of receivers in Cooper and Jaden Smith. Cooper was named First Team All-WAC as he paced the Texans with 1,063 receiving yards and also had nine touchdowns. Smith was named Second Team All-WAC finished the year with 822 receiving yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns. Douglas was another explosive option that Whitten coached for the Texans as he averaged 20.64 yards per reception, finishing with three touchdowns.
Tarleton’s first Division I football team hauled in 231.9 yards per game through the air. Bitson (614) and Douglas (465) were two of the nation’s top performers by combining for 1,079 yards through the air and 10 touchdowns in the spring.
In his first two seasons as a full-time staff member, Whitten coached a pair of all-conference wide-outs in Manning and JF Thomas. While leading Tarleton to an undefeated record, an outright LSC Championship and the Super Region IV finals in 2018, Manning went on to receive all-region honors as well with 947 yards and 12 touchdowns while Thomas accounted for 539 yards and six touchdowns, including the game-winning grab in overtime to secure a win over No. 10 Midwestern State.
The tandem followed up by boasting one of the fiercest receiving corps in the country at any level in 2019. Manning led the team and the nation with 22 receiving touchdowns while going for 1,462 yards on 68 catches. Thomas wreaked havoc on the other side of the gridiron with 737 yards and six touchdowns on 36 catches. Both were named All-LSC while Manning earned a school-record five different All-America First Team honors and became the highest-finishing wide receiver in the Harlon Hill voting since 1991. Manning was named the D2CCA and Don Hansen Super Region IV Offensive Player of the Year in 2019.
Whitten spent the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant coach with the athletic department, helping Tarleton win 11 games over the last two seasons and qualify for the Corsicana Bowl in 2017. His transition to the sidelines came after a four-year playing career for the Texans as a receiver.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Tarleton in 2016. He came to Tarleton from Frisco Heritage High School where he was a standout student-athlete.
