Head Coach G.J. Kinne
Introductory Press Conference – Dec. 7, 2022
 
Opening Statement…
First off, I'm excited and honored to be Texas State's new (football) head coach. I'd like to start by thanking Dr. (Kelly) Damphousse, Don Coryell and Travis Comer. We have unbelievable leadership here at Texas State. Throughout this interview process, I figured out really quickly that these guys are hungry and committed to building a championship program, which is very important here. 
 
I would like to thank a couple of people and I'd like to start with my family: my wife, Summer, and my two boys, who aren't here today. It's not easy being a coach's wife and no one does it better, so thank you, Summer. I'd like to thank UIW and Dr. (Thomas) Evans, Richard Duran and John Bury. I'd like to thank all my players, all my coaches and support staff for believing in me and giving me an opportunity and giving me everything you have every day. That's a special group down there and that's one of the reasons I wanted to finish and finish the right way and we aren't done yet. So, thank you to everyone down there.
 
I'd like to acknowledge a couple of my former coaches. Guys who I have played for and coached for and some of them both. Start off with Jeff Traylor, Todd Graham, Chad Morris, Gus Malzahn, Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman. Thank you for pouring into me and making me the coach and person I am today.
 
Just a little bit about myself, I'm a Texas guy through and through. I'm the son of a Texas high school football coach. I grew up on the sidelines. I grew up in the fieldhouse. I grew up in the back of the bus after games. After I got done playing, I always knew I wanted to be a coach. My coaching philosophy: I'm a players' coach. I am. I'm a guy who has a lot of fun out there, but we are going to work hard. I'm going to love them harder. It's all about relationships for me. The coaches I've had throughout my career, I knew they have cared about me and loved me, I tended to play harder for, so that's my philosophy as far as that goes. I'm all about relationships. 
 
I had some different opportunities that came up right after the season and a lot of them offered a lot of great things, but I wanted to be at Texas State. I chose to be at Texas State. I'm from Texas and that's important to me. I always knew if the right guy got this job, you better watch out. This place is unbelievable: you have 40,000 students, you have a river flowing through campus, we're the only Texas school in the Sun Belt. This place is really unbelievable and I'm really fortunate to be here. 
 
We'll play an exciting brand of football. Offensively, we're going to be a tempo team. We're a run-play action team and we are going to light up the scoreboard. We have the number one offense — scoring offense — in college football and that's FCS, FBS, it doesn't matter at averaging over 50 points per game. Our quarterback will, hopefully, win the Walter Payton Award. He deserves it. He's an unbelievable player and I'm real fortunate to be able to coach him. Defensively, we are going to attack. We're going to be high tempo on defense as well. We are going to attack. We lead the country in (tackles for loss) and number three in sacks. We're going to swarm with great energy and play a relentless style of football. Our team will play with energy. We'll have swagger to us. We are going to preach discipline as I know how important that is. Culture part is a huge piece of this deal in college football. It's simple for me: we're going to talk about how do you reflect the mission. That's going to be on the back of our shirts and be everywhere in the building and our mission is being champions, champions in competition, champions in the classrooms and champions in the community. It's simple for me and easy for the guys: you talk about being a champion and if you're not doing the little things like sitting in the back of the classroom and you have your hood up. We want our guys to be in the front. So, if our guys don't do the little things and their habits don't reflect the mission of being a champion, then you're not here for the right reasons, you're a fraud and we are not going to allow that in our program. I'm going to hire a great staff, a staff that knows Texas and one that will recruit both the coaches and players within the great state of Texas. I want to hire a coaching staff who are going to be a great role model for our student-athletes, great husbands and great fathers. I think that's extremely important in college football. Once again, we are going to recruit Texas high school football. We are going to recruit the portal. We are going to identify guys who maybe left and want to come back to the state of Texas. There are too many great players in the state of Texas to not do that. We need everyone. We need Bobcat Nation to step up like they've never stepped up before. Our student-athletes deserve it. I believe in this place. I believe in this leadership. And I can't wait to get to work. Eat 'Em Up!
 
When you take over a program, what's job number one when you walk in the door?
 
I think having a great staff and recruiting. I think those were one and two, 1A and 1B, starting to do that. Just for everyone involved at UIW, I just wanted to do it the right way.
 
How much more prepared are you to take over this job than maybe UIW, it being your first one?
 
There's no doubt experience is tremendous. You always got to have that, and there's things that are just like the press conference last year and press conference this year. Just more prepared. You know, I'm more prepared to recruit everything that involves being the head coach anytime you've done it before. There's no substitute for experience.
 
What has it been like for you since that happened going back and forth to Incarnate Word and San Marcos?
 
I've just tried to be where my feet are. Pour everything I got to Texas State recruiting or whether I am at UIW at practice. Just being where my feet are.
 
How difficult is it to recruit when you don't necessarily have your staff fully there yet?
 
I'm a one man show right now, and I'm doing it. Believe me, I can get it done. I'm a great recruiter, and I'm just excited to be able to sell the brand at Texas State.
 
How great were past coaches role models to you in becoming a college football coach?
 
They were unbelievable. You know, being a great player allowed me to be around some great coaches and for them to really pour into my life and you know, they did it the right way, which is important. You know, that's why I'm the person and coach that I am.
 
How important is it to reestablish those ties with the Texas High School football coaches and players as well that are in the transfer portal and playing JUCO?
 
I've been around a bunch of different states and coached with a bunch of different states, but Texas high school football is key. There's no doubt about that. So, we're going to recruit Texas high school football players and coaches alike, and we're going to bridge that relationship. I'm going to recruit with the portal as well, but the foundation of our program is going to be Texas high school football players.
 
What has your former high school coach, Jeff Traylor, said to you about getting this job at Texas State?
 
Yeah, I haven't talked to him much since I've gotten here. Jeff is awesome. He's a great mentor, someone I can really bounce ideas off of. He always gives great advice and I love Jeff. I appreciate everything he's done for me.
 
You have been almost around the world having coached in Hawaii, at Central Florida and now back to Texas. Going through so many places as an offensive coordinator and graduate assist, what has that taught you as a coach and building a relationship and call offensive plays?
 
I been to a lot of great places and with a lot of great coaches and administrations. Anytime you do that, you build connections and resources and recruiting it is huge in recruiting. I know a lot of different people in a lot of different states that are willing to help.
 
 
Your time has a professional athlete, how has that helped you in the relatability standpoint with athletes? Is that a really good advantage for you when trying to talk to these guys and building a relationship?
 
There is no doubt. I feel I have instant credibility a lot of times. I have played and coached at the highest level with the Eagles. That is one of my recruiting pitches is that I have played and coached at the highest level.
 
 
What do you take from building up from what UIW was, even though you were there for a short time, and what do you take from that to build up Texas State as it ties to move up in the FBS?
 
I think it is maximizing what you have. We aren't going to complain about anything. We're just going to get the job done.
 
 
As a player for (Jeff) Traylor and now coaching against him, not necessarily right now, what have you learned from playing for him and taken from your time with him as you guys will continue to be closely connected?
 
Just as I talked about the relationship part of it, I don't think there is anyone better than Jeff. He is a great X's and O's coach. There is now doubt about that. What makes him special is the relationship he builds with his players. They have a lot of fun over there. We had a lot of fun at Gilmer High School back in the day. Same thing, they work hard but have a lot of fun doing it.