Kinne staying with UIW through playoff stretch
New Texas State coach, Cardinals remain focused on matchup
G.J. Kinne will be leaving UIW to become the next head coach at Texas State — but not before leading the Cardinals through the FCS playoffs.
Less than 48 hours before No. 7 seed UIW opens the postseason with a second-round matchup against Furman at 1 p.m. Saturday at Benson Stadium, reports began to swirl Thursday evening that Kinne would take the Texas State job.
The programs confirmed
Friday morning Kinne had signed a five-year contract but that he will remain in his current position until the end of UIW’S season.
With the transfer portal set to open Monday and the start of the early-signing period looming Dec. 21, Kinne is committed to a UIW playoff run that could extend as far as Jan. 8 for the national championship game.
“We would like to take this time to thank Coach Kinne for leading one of the most successful seasons in Cardinal football history … a season that
is far from over for Coach Kinne and our UIW studentathletes,” the school said in a statement. “Kinne will continue to lead the team as the UIW Cardinals look to advance in the FCS playoffs and chase a National Championship.”
Kinne spoke to the Cardinals this week about remaining focused through the speculation, and quarterback Lindsey Scott said Thursday morning the Cardinals “have done a great job of pushing that to the side” — similar to the process of not buying into their own hype during a record-setting season.
Linebacker Kelechi Anyalebechi said the dynamic is similar to last year, when rumors about coach Eric Morris’ eventual move to become the offensive coordinator at Washington State started to pop up during
UIW’S playoff run.
“Coach Kinne showed nothing but upright respect and maturity, handling that and talking to us and telling us, ‘Don’t let that be a distraction,’ ” Anyalebechi said Thursday morning. “Something we have to realize is everybody has a job to fulfill and a life to live. He has a wife and kid that he has
to provide for, too. Either way it goes, we have to focus on what we have to do.”
UIW’S biggest emphasis Saturday, Kinne said, will be slowing a Furman rushing attack that averages 217.2 yards per game that ranks 14th in the Football Championship Subdivision, keeping the ball on the ground on about 75 percent of first- and second-down snaps.
Anyalebechi said Furman will present some “tricky formations,”
but a Cardinals run defense that ranks 14th nationally by allowing just 3.32 yards per carry is prepared for the challenge.
Furman’s defense gives up just 18.5 points per game to rank sixth nationally — perhaps the biggest test yet for a UIW attack that averages an Fcs-leading 52.9 points per game.
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. With four touchdowns via passing or rushing Saturday, Scott would match the FCS record of 61 in a single season.
“We have a really good team, but we know Furman is coming in here trying to take our championship away from us,” Kinne said. “We have to go in there, focus and be ready to play.”
A first-year head coach, Kinne led UIW to 10 regular-season
wins — a program record — and the Cardinals’ first stint in the top five of the national rankings. A win Saturday would put UIW into the third round of the playoffs for the first time in the program’s history.
Kinne took the reins in December, arriving in San Antonio following one season as the offensive coordinator at UCF.