UTSA · L 26-31
No tackles.
Utah State · W 20-17
No tackles.
Boise State · L 45-46
1 tackle
The other 5 games average 3 tackles. This one was 2 below.
Nilles has tackles in 6 of Texas State’s 8 games: none against UTSA and Utah State.
Cole Nilles
Transferred to Texas State from Bryant. A game that shows it: 6 tackles against North Texas — Week 3, 2026.
15 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Ranges from hash to hash and finishes the tackle.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 2 tackles for loss, in the 6 games with play by play.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Texas State | 15 | 11 | 2.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2025 | Texas State | 27 | 16 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Career | 42 | 27 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 tackle.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 6 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-59@ No. 5 Texas | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 49-35vs North Texas | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 4 | W 63-10vs Incarnate Word | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 29-31@ San Diego State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 66-27vs Colorado State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 45-46@ No. 20 Boise State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 11 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Week 4 · 2026
W 63-10
1 tackle for loss · 4 tackles · 3 solo tackles
Dominant 53-point win at home against Incarnate Word.
Ratings of the games shown run from -9 to +20 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
15tackles this seasonTFL rate
13%2 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksPD rate
0%0 pass breakups15 tackles · 2 for loss.
2 seasons under G.J. Kinne — 11-10 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 6 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 3.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
G.J. Kinne
Pass share
40.9%
242 pass / 350 run
Plays / game
74.0
8 games
Team sack rate
4.9%
223 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS linebackers who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Pac-12
Based on 2025: #56 of 63 Sun Belt LBs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%). It was measured on players who stayed in the same conference and is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.
2026 is in progress.
