By Amira Van Leeuwen
[email protected]
SAN MARCOS — On Friday morning, Texas State University officially announced its new head football coach, G.J. Kinne.
The decision came a few days after the university fired former Texas State head coach Jake Spavital.
“We are poised for new heights at Texas State and coach Kinne rose to the top as the right leader for the Bobcats,” said Don Coryell, Texas State’s athletic director, in a press release.
Kinne signed a five-year contract with Texas State and will remain the head coach at the University of Incarnate Word (UIW) through its run in the FCS Playoffs. The Cardinals will compete against Sacramento State in the third round of the FCS playoffs on Dec 9 at 9:30 p.m. after beating Furman on Saturday (41-38).
So what exactly makes Kinne the right fit for the Bobcats?
Experience
Well, experience for one thing. According to the press release, there was a “tremendous” amount of candidates interested in the position, but Kinne stood out due to his background in the NFL and pedigree rooted in Texas.
The 34-year-old played in the NFL and CFL before venturing into his own coaching career at SMU, Arkansas, the Philadelphia Eagles, Hawaii, UCF and UIW. Kinne has also worked and played for some of the top offensive play callers like Gus Malzahn, Doug Pederson, Mike Norvel and Chip Kelly.
Following a five-year professional playing career, Kinne began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at SMU in 2017. A year later he joined Arkansas as an offensive analyst.
Kinne also played in the NFL for the New York Jets (2012), Philadelphia Eagles (2013-15) and New York Giants (2015), as well as in the Canadian Football League for the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2016.
Kinne replaced UIW’s former head coach, Eric Morris, in 2021. Morris had coached UIW the last four years, leading the team to the Southland Conference title and reaching the NCAA FCS Second Round, finishing with a 10-3 record.
Since then, Kinne had worked to develop a roster that features a Walter Payton Award finalist in quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. and a Buck Buchanan Award finalist in linebacker Kelechi Anyalebechi.
UIW currently has the nation’s top offense at the Division I level with about 582 yards per game. The Cardinals also won 10 games in the regular season by an average margin of more than 37 points. In the FCS offensive categories, they are second in passing offense, first in passing efficiency and third in completion percentage.
Bowl Games
Kinne has a track record of not only leading teams to bowl eligibility but also leading them to win bowl games — something Texas State hasn’t been able to accomplish, although they were bowl eligible in 2014.
In 2020, he oversaw a win in the New Mexico Bowl over Houston while serving as Hawaii’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.”
Before his head coaching gig with UIW, Kinne was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Central Florida in 2021 — the year they beat the University of Florida, an SEC team, in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl and won nine games.
Kinne also worked one season in the NFL as an offensive assistant for special projects for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019 under head coach Pederson. The Eagles made the playoffs after winning the NFC East division.
Looking Ahead
Kinne said that they are going to surround their players with coaches who are teachers at heart.
“I’m excited to hit the ground running and compete for championships,” Kinne said. “We are going to play fast, have relentless energy, and when the going gets tough, have the mental confidence to win tight games in the second half and represent the state of Texas.”
Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said his goal was to hire an individual who demonstrated leadership experience and had success as a head coach. On top of that, Damphousse was looking for a candidate who had success developing and recruiting players.
He also wanted a candidate who has established relationships with Texas football coaches.
“It was also important that our next coach understood that my commitment to increasing institutional support for football is coupled with an expectation for success on the field, including the minimum goal of quickly building a team that is bowl-eligible,” the president said. “After meeting with several candidates with a wide variety of experience this week, it became clear to me that Coach Kinne is the right person to lead our football program forward.”
