Try Tarleton State University. It’s in Stephenville, which is a small college town just an hour outside of Fort Worth. The school has around 8,000 students. It’s part of the Texas A&M system, which makes Stephenville like a miniature Aggieland. The CS department is strong, but it’s not competitive.
A good option is UTSA. The school is going to be fairly sizeable (30,000 students), but San Antonio does a really good job of behaving like a small town. It’s well known for being a friendly campus, but not a party school. It’s very diverse, so he shouldn’t have a problem finding people with similar interests. They also have a strong CS department that’s not competitive. Football is strong and school spirit is great.
He could also try Texas State. The CS dept is not competitive, but they require a 2.75 GPA, which is manageable. It is a known party school, but it’s also very diverse. Despite the reputation, the school has very strong academics.