Coach noncommittal as Tulsa rumors swirl
As reports circulate regarding his candidacy for open FBS jobs just days before Incarnate Word's opener in the FCS playoffs, coach G.J. Kinne said he addressed the rumors with the Cardinals to try to prevent the situation from growing into a distraction.
UIW is playing in the second round of the playoffs for only the second time in program history, facing Furman at 1 p.m. Saturday at Benson Stadium. Kinne, meanwhile, has been floated as a potential candidate at his alma mater, Tulsa, and at nearby Texas State, with other suitors potentially interested in the firstyear head coach who has helped lift the Cardinals to a record-setting year.
With the coaching carousel in full swing to fill positions ahead of the early signing period opening Dec. 21, Kinne was evasive when asked if he can commit to finishing the season at UIW. A run to the FCS title game would keep the Cardinals in action until Jan. 8.
“It's one of those deals where I'm going day by day and focusing on Saturday,” Kinne said.
Not long after Tulsa fired coach Philip Montgomery on Sunday afternoon following a 5-7 season, Kinne's name began to emerge as a potential replacement.
The Athletic wrote that the candidate “list starts with Incarnate Word head coach G.J. Kinne.” Footballscoop posted Monday that Kinne “is a strong candidate for the Tulsa job,” and Rivals affiliate Inside Tulsa Sports reported that Kinne's representatives were in contact with the school.
Kinne, who turns 34 on
Thursday, has also been speculated in the media as a candidate for the open job at Texas State following Jake Spavital's firing Sunday.
“I'm letting my agent handle that kind of stuff,” Kinne said Tuesday. “I'm really focusing on the team and this huge playoff game we have on Saturday, and not being a distraction. So, that's where my focus is right now, is this Saturday.”
Kinne said he was “excited” by the official recruiting visits UIW is hosting around Saturday's playoff game. As for discussing the situation with the current roster, Kinne said the Cardinals “handled it internally.”
“They understand, and their focus is the same as mine,” Kinne said. “It's just on Saturday.”
UIW athletic director Richard Duran said the department is “not going to respond to rumors about our head coach.”
“Coach Kinne, the team, and our entire staff are fully focused on the task at hand, and right now, that is Furman,” Duran said.
After previous coach Eric Morris left UIW to become the offensive coordinator at Washington State, Kinne took the reins in December, arriving in San Antonio following one season as the offensive coordinator
at UCF and a year as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hawaii.
Kinne brought in transfer quarterback Lindsey Scott and helped the high-flying Cardinals' offense become even more potent.
UIW leads the FCS in scoring at 52.9 points per game, and Scott is on pace to set FCS records for passing efficiency (218.12) and yards per attempt (11.56), throwing 50 touchdown passes against four interceptions.
The Cardinals' 10-win total during the regular season is the highest in the program's history, and UIW cracked the top five of the national rankings for the first time.
Echoing Morris before him, Kinne said rumors about a move to a new job are a natural product of success.
“Any time you win, that's going to be part of it,” Kinne said. “It's a credit to these guys — our coaching staff, our players here at UIW and the leadership we have here at UIW.”
After playing his final year of high school football at Gilmer in 2006, Kinne spent a year at Texas before transferring to Tulsa. Holding the starting quarterback job from 2009 through 2011, Kinne became the third-leading passer in program history, amassing 9,472 yards.
Following a five-year playing career across the NFL, CFL and Arena Football League that included signing with the defunct San Antonio Talons in 2013, Kinne entered the coaching ranks in 2017 as a graduate assistant at SMU. He also spent the 2018 season as an offensive analyst with Arkansas and worked on offensive special projects with the NFL'S Philadelphia Eagles in 2019.
Kinne played his final high school season under current UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor, and the two reunited on the staffs at SMU and Arkansas in 2017 and 2018. Traylor described Kinne as being “like my own son.”
“I've had a few people call on him this week, and I've said the same thing: ‘You're not going to find anything negative on GJ Kinne,' ” Traylor said. “He's as good of a human being as there is in the world. He's great with players. Those players love G.J. Kinne. He's always been that way.”