Football
- Title:
- Recruiting Coordinator / Tight Ends Coach
- Email:
- timothy.bleil@sfasu.edu
THE BLEIL FILE
Hometown: Clovis, New Mexico
High School: Green HS
College: Iowa State, 2012
Family: Jennifer (wife), twins
2020-Present: SFA | Assistant Coach (TE)
2019: Lamar | Assistant Coach (TE)
2016-2018: Texas A&M-Commerce | Assistant Coach (RB/A's)
2015: West Virginia State | Assistant Coach (WR)
Tim Bleil enters his seventh season at Stephen F. Austin in 2026 and serves as the Lumberjacks’ recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach. Since joining SFA in 2020, Bleil has contributed to two conference championships, two NCAA FCS playoff appearances and four winning seasons while helping establish the program as a consistent presence in the national recruiting rankings.
Bleil was part of a historic 2025 campaign in which the Lumberjacks finished 11-3, completed the program’s first 8-0 Southland Conference season and captured SFA’s first conference championship since 2022. The Lumberjacks advanced to the FCS quarterfinals and established a program-record 11-game winning streak. SFA ranked second in the Southland in scoring at 35.4 points per game while leading the conference in first downs, third-down conversions and red-zone efficiency. Tight end Gerard Edimo appeared in 13 games and caught five passes for 118 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown in SFA’s playoff victory over Abilene Christian. Following the season, Edimo was voted a team captain and single-digit honoree by his teammates for 2026.
The 2025 championship run followed a seven-win season in 2024, when SFA led the Southland in scoring offense at 35.6 points per game, red-zone offense and passing efficiency. The Lumberjacks averaged 431.8 yards per game, scored 53 offensive touchdowns and ranked among the national leaders in scoring and total offense. Bleil’s tight ends continued to contribute as both receivers and blockers, with Lavar Lindo recording four receptions for 54 yards.
Bleil continued developing the position during SFA’s transition into the United Athletic Conference in 2023. Chad Aune entered the season as a preseason All-UAC selection and earned second-team recognition on Phil Steele’s preseason All-UAC team. Aune had previously produced his best season under Bleil in 2022, starting throughout SFA’s WAC championship campaign and earning First-Team All-WAC honors after recording 11 receptions for 117 yards. He also received first-team recognition on Phil Steele’s postseason All-WAC team.
Bleil helped the Lumberjacks reach the FCS playoffs in 2021, when SFA finished 8-4 and made its first postseason appearance since 2014. Aune played in all 12 games that season, catching nine passes for 83 yards and a touchdown. In Bleil’s first season in Nacogdoches, SFA finished 6-4 for its first winning campaign since 2011. Aune emerged as one of the Southland’s top tight ends, recording 10 receptions for 91 yards and two touchdowns and earning First-Team All-Southland Conference recognition at tight end/H-back.
Bleil’s work as recruiting coordinator has helped SFA assemble several nationally recognized classes. HERO Sports ranked the Lumberjacks’ 2020 class fifth among FCS programs, and SFA later reported that the program had produced three consecutive top-five FCS classes through the 2021 recruiting cycle. The group announced in December 2022 was ranked No. 6 nationally among FCS programs by On3, while On3 placed SFA’s 2024 class No. 10 in the subdivision.
Before arriving at SFA, Bleil coached tight ends at Lamar in 2019. He previously spent three seasons with head coach Colby Carthel at Texas A&M-Commerce, working with the Lions’ running backs, tight ends and A-backs. In 2017, he helped the Lions capture the NCAA Division II national championship while coaching First-Team All-Lone Star Conference tight end Vincent Hobbs and honorable-mention All-LSC running back Carandal Hale. Hobbs later earned Second-Team All-LSC recognition in 2018.
Bleil’s 2016 group included First-Team All-LSC running back Richard Cooper, who rushed for 1,004 yards and led the conference in yards per carry; Second-Team All-LSC tight end John Thomas; and all-conference long snapper Austin Jordan. Bleil began his collegiate coaching career as the wide receivers coach at West Virginia State in 2015, where Quinton Gray led the Mountain East Conference in receiving yards and receptions per game and earned honorable-mention All-MEC recognition.
A native of Clovis, New Mexico, Bleil graduated from Iowa State in 2012. He and his wife, Jennifer, reside in Nacogdoches.
