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Each month, Texas State University President Dr. Kelly Damphousse sits down with faculty members, staff, students, alumni, and community members for a conversation about all things TXST — the past, the present, and the bright future of the university.
Part of the TXST Podcast Network: https://www.txst.edu/podcast-network.html
- Do you have a favorite Texas state football moment yet?
- You know, getting that bowl victory and walking out onto the field for that first bowl game and looking around and all the fans-
- [Dr. Damphousse] Yeah.
- At Texas State and just the way the air felt and the excitement, I think that was... Even winning, but just walking out on the field and looking around like, yeah, it's almost not that we did it, but we did it.
- Today, I'm really excited because we have Coach GJ Kinne's gonna be here talking to us about what's going on with the football program at Texas State. GJ, thanks for joining us.
- Yeah, I'm glad to be here.
- So I gotta start off like, your name's Gary Joe, but when did they start calling you GJ?
- Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, so my grandpa, I'm actually the third.
- You're the third, oh.
- So my grandpa goes by Gary.
- Okay.
- And then my dad goes by Gary Joe, and then I guess they just decided to go with GJ for me.
- So as far back as you can remember?
- Yeah, I've always been GJ. Yeah.
- Okay, that's awesome, well.
- Yeah, now some of my friends, like back home, high school buddies, you know.
- Still call Gary Joe.
- Yeah, when they're trying to be funny and stuff like that, so.
- Well, I just call you coach, so anyways.
- [GJ] Oh, there you go.
- Yeah, so it was great to have you here on the podcast and this is an opportunity for us to let people know more about the movers and shakers here at Texas State, and you're certainly one of them. But it gives us a chance to learn more about like, how you got here and your Texas State story. So let's go back as far back as you want to go. So you're back in high school and you're-
- Yep.
- Your dad's the coach, right?
- Yeah.
- And so were you always gonna be a quarterback or were you in different positions and kind of worked your way up quarterback or what happened there?
- Yeah, yeah. So the summer before my freshman year, obviously big time in your life. And my dad gets a job at Kenton High School.
- Okay.
- So I'm originally from Mesquite.
- Yeah.
- That's where I was born and raised. And my dad got the head coaching job at Kenton High School, which was his first head coaching job, which was about 45 minutes east of Dallas. And so we make that move out there to Kenton. And, you know, it was a little different for me for sure. I remember the first day sitting there in the class, you know, first day you got your new shoes on, your new school clothes-
- New pencil box.
- Yeah, new pencil box, all that kind of stuff. And they come on the loudspeaker, the announcements, you know, they're like, if you showed a pig over the summer at FFA come claim your ribbon or whatever, I'm like, where am I? You know, this is definitely not, you know, what I'm used to. But man, it was a really, you know, good experience and you know, obviously my dad, you know, getting to be my coach was a lot of fun. And you know, we started off my freshman year, I remember the first scrimmage, being like the freshman JV quarterback, and, that didn't last very long after the first scrimmage, second scrimmage, they moved me up to varsity, kind of started taking over and end up winning the first playoff game in school history, a starter of a full year.
- Wow.
- I was the East Texas Newcomer of the Year as a 14-year-old, you know, high school kid.
- Wow.
- And, it was definitely a learning experience. I was just a young kid out there, knew nothing about anything, but, you know, I was able to run around and make some plays and won the first playoff game in 64 years I believe at Kenton High School. And, you know, ended up getting some scholarship offers, you know, shortly after that, after my freshman year. And I believe Baylor was my first offer and then Oklahoma State-
- Because your dad played at Baylor, right?
- And then my dad played at Baylor, yeah. My dad was an all Southwest conference linebacker at Baylor. So, and then my sophomore year, same type deal, getting recruited and have a big season, I think throw for 3,000, rush for 1,500. I'm you know, really kind of finding my groove, playing basketball, playing baseball, all-State in baseball. And then April of my sophomore year, April 7, 2005, I'm sitting in, actually my quarterback coach's class who also taught some kind of history. I don't know how that goes.
- Sure. Pretty typical, right?
- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.
- You know, just kind of sitting around, waiting around, you know, and they come knock on the door and ask for me and I'm like, oh, looking for me.
- Am I in trouble?
- You know, am I in trouble? And, you know, the police officer says, Hey, just come with me. And then it got to a point where like, hey, no, like, what's going on?
- Yeah.
- Tell me, I know it's nothing I did. Like, what's going on? And you know, they told me my dad, had been shot down the field house-
- Yeah.
- And you know, obviously a lot of emotions going on there, rushed down there, and you know, the whole crime scene's there and everything you can imagine. And I remember seeing my dad lay on the stretcher and the helicopter laying on the football field-
- [Dr. Kelly] Crazy
- And, just amazing how quick it happened one and then two, how quick he got from Kenton to Tyler and the specialist that was in Tyler at the time to do the procedure. Just as bad as it was, everything kind of lined up pretty well after that.
- Yeah.
- And that was April. And he was probably 265, 75 pounds at the time. And then he was down to, I think 170, that first football game.
- Wow.
- He made it back for the first football game, had, you know, all kinds of things hooked up to him and bags and all that. And ended up only missing, I think missed the second or third game. He got an infection and had to go back in, but that was a big time for me, obviously with my dad and being 15 years old and being the starting quarterback and all that. I grew up a lot. I was basically the coach of the team, especially offensively when my dad wasn't around. So, grew up a lot, learned a lot, and, you know, come back that next year, my junior season and we go 12 and 2 and best year in school history. My dad was the national, you know, high school coach of the year.
- Wow.
- He gets the linebacker job at Baylor. And then at that point I ended up transferring to Gilmer High School and that's where I ended up playing for Jeff.
- Yeah. So that's crazy. Now the head coach at UTSA.
- Yeah.
- Was your coach in high school.
- [G.J] Exactly.
- And you've had two years in a row now with playing him.
- Yeah.
- He beat you the first time.
- Yeah.
- And then you beat him the second time.
- For sure.
- What was that like?
- Well go back.
- Yeah, let's go back.
- So my junior season in the second round of the playoffs, it's Kenton versus Gilmer, and he's the head coach at Gilmer, I'm obviously at Kenton-
- It's that right? Okay.
- And we win 61-58 and, you know-
- That sounds like some UIW games. Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, so we, you know, Jeff always brings that up, and so, that was a crazy game for sure. It was probably one of the best games in East Texas history.
- Yeah.
- And, just a whole lot of fun. And then I ended up transferring there the following season. And-
- Did you guys like meet in a Dairy Queen or something like that?
- Yeah, yeah. He didn't recruit me, I actually recruited myself there, so. You know, my dad was in Waco and I didn't necessarily wanna, you know, move. I was already in East Texas.
- Yeah.
- I kind of established myself in East Texas. I wanted to stay in East Texas and Kenton just wasn't a great spot for me after my dad was gone.
- Yeah.
- And so Gilmer wasn't too far away. I knew, you know, Coach Traylor with his history with the McCown brothers.
- Yeah.
- You know, one of his sons now is the starting quarterback UTSA. I just thought it would be a really good fit. And so we moved out there and, and like I said, met in the Dairy Queen parking lot, he told me like, hey, you probably shouldn't come here. You know, we got a quarterback, he's committed to SMU, he's a good player.
- [Dr. Kelly] Yeah.
- And at that point in my career, you know how it is, like, I didn't care. You know, I thought I was the best quarterback in the country and I didn't care if I couldn't beat him out, then I'd play receiver or linebacker or safety or whatever that looked like and, you know, going about my business. But man, it was an awesome experience and really learned a ton from Coach Traylor and you know, my dad's a defensive coach and so obviously we're really good, you know, scoring all those points and throwing all those touchdowns, but it was the first time I was in a real offensive system. So really learning the ins and outs of being a quarterback, not just running around making plays. So that was a big deal for me and just a whole lot of fun. Learned a lot and my brother ended up, you know, staying there and playing for Coach Traylor winning the state championship and all that. So, you know, just a really, really good person, awesome coach, obviously. And it's pretty cool that we get to play him every year and be the rival and all that.
- So you finished your senior year with Coach Traylor and then school's been calling you for a long time.
- Yeah.
- Baylor were the first one, but you ended up going to Texas.
- Yeah.
- So what was the decision to go to be a Longhorn?
- Yeah, so I was committed elsewhere and obviously my dad was at Baylor and obviously same thing. Really, really good school. And I had played for my dad all through high school.
- Yeah.
- And it was one of those deals where, you know, was I going there just because of my dad?
- Yeah.
- Did you know, kind of all those internal questions that you ask yourself and, you know, Texas had offered me, really early in the process, they end up getting a quarterback and then they lost a quarterback. So they rallied back and asked if I would be interested and just felt like it was really good timing. And one of my high school teammates at the time at Gilmer was committed there, and he was going there and so, it was a hard decision for sure. 'Cause two great places and my dad being there.
- [Dr. Damphousse] Yeah.
- Just, it was something different. It was kind of one of those deals as a high school kid, you wanna go you know, be a college kid-
- Yeah.
- And get away from mom and dad and all that, so.
- Yeah, you don't wanna go too far away, but you want to have a little independence.
- Exactly.
- Right.
- Exactly. A little bit of independence. And so I ended up going there and it was one of those deals where it was just so big for me.
- Yeah.
- Coming from Kenton and Gilmer, and going to the University of Texas with all the students and getting on the buses and I remember, you know, sitting in my first class and all that. It was just a lot different.
- Yeah.
- And then obviously for me being a four year starter in high school and you know, going there and they had Colt McCoy and you know, you're sitting there going like, I'm never gonna play, you know, one of those type deals.
- Yeah, it's true.
- I ended up transferring and went to the University of Tulsa and you know, Todd Graham was the head coach at the time.
- Yeah.
- Who was teammates, high school teammates with my father at North Mesquite High School. So that was the original connection. Brent Graham, his nephew was my DC at Kenton High School, who is now on the staff at Tulsa at the time, so-
- It's a small world, right?
- Yeah, for sure, for sure.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So, ended up going to Tulsa was a three year starter there. And Gus Malzahn, he was the offensive coordinator. He was the one that recruited me. It was a very comfortable environment for me, and it felt like somewhere I could really thrive and go in there, and they felt like they believed in me. And you know, that's really, as a quarterback, that's what you want. You want someone, somewhere where you know it's a good offensive fit and you know, somewhere where you can develop and they believed in me. So back then you had to sit out, you know, now in the portal, you go and you have to, you know, you just play right away. And I had to sit out, so that was tough for me, obviously getting to Tulsa, and same thing, Coach Malzahn lights it up and he ends up leaving, going to Auburn. And he always told me, when you recruited me, he said, hey, you're gonna win the Heisman, you're gonna win the, I'm like, all, you know. I don't know about that. But then that next year, his quarterback wins the Heisman at Auburn?
- Yeah.
- Cam Newton. So it was one of those deals where obviously very happy for him, but I was, you know, disappointed that he left. And I didn't get to play for Coach Malzahn, but I had a bunch of really good coaches and obviously from high school with my dad and Coach Traylor and then in college, you know, Todd Graham and Gus Malzahn. I learned something from each of 'em. And you know, I think that's probably, I always knew I wanted to be a coach, but I think the great coaches that I was around really molded me into being who I am today.
- So you met great coaches there. Did you meet anybody else there that's kind of important in your life?
- Yeah, yeah, exactly, right, so-
- Yeah.
- My senior year... It's actually the summer going into my senior year I graduate, you know, you graduate in May.
- [Dr. Damphousse] Yeah.
- And this will be, there's conflicting reports on this, but I'll tell you the real story.
- This is your version of it.
- This is my version of it.
- Yeah. Which we know is the truth.
- Yeah, so Summer, my wife at the time invited me over to her house for like a graduation, get together and you know, that's-
- What was she doing at Tulsa?
- So she was a cheerleader at the time.
- Yeah.
- But she was in charge of everything.
- Yeah.
- I mean, she was in charge of the... I don't know all the groups.
- So not much has changed.
- There was all kinds of groups that she was in charge of.
- So nothing has changed. She's still the same, right?
- Yeah, exactly. Nothing really has changed. She was, I think our first interaction was actually her emailing me or sending me texts like, hey, you're the student-athlete football representative, and you're supposed to be here at there. I'm like, all right lady. I'm trying to go, you know, score some touchdowns here or something. Leave me alone. So that was our first interaction. And then, like I said, she invited me over to the house and the rest is history from there. And we ended up sitting next to each other in graduation and I was trying to, you know, introduce her to my family and she was like, no, bro. Like, I'm not doing all that. You know, she had her own plans and we've been together ever since.
- Ever since.
- Yeah.
- And growing this beautiful young family here.
- Oh, yeah.
- Which is great to see. So let's fast forward now. So you graduate, you had a great college career.
- Yeah.
- I remember watching you play 'cause I was at University of Oklahoma.
- Yeah.
- We played there a couple times, up in Tulsa. And then the pros come calling, right?
- Yeah.
- So you got a couple of great experiences. You know, I'm an old CFL guy.
- Yeah.
- So I texted you a couple days ago-
- Yeah.
- Because I was watching Stampeders play and I know you played there, but-
- Yeah.
- Talk about the pro career and then how that prepared you to be where you're now.
- Just an awesome experience. Obviously some up and downs in the professional level, and had an unbelievable college career and you know, threw for a bunch of yards. Rushed for a bunch of yards, a lot of wins, went undrafted. And I remember sitting there on draft day and being the 10th ranked overall quarterback on the board and being up there with Russell Wilson and Nick Foles.
- Yeah.
- And all these, you know, guys that end up winning Super Bowls and being MVP and, you know, always saw myself right there, and just never got to that opportunity. A lot of it has to do with an opportunity and signed with-
- I mean, that's it, right? I mean, sometimes it's just luck, right place, right time.
- Yeah, for sure.
- And then you get in there and you make it happen.
- Exactly, exactly. And, you know, maybe it just wasn't meant to be, signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent. Was there, not very long. Went to the UFL, did that for four games until they ran outta money, and we had to go back home, and worked in the oil field for about six weeks, just trying to train and have some money, so I could, pay my car note and had signed with the San Antonio Talons to play arena. They brought me down for a workout. I was like, I'm not giving up on my dream. I want to keep playing. Signed with the San Antonio Talons. Moved all my stuff. I was gonna be the starting quarterback. I was super excited about the new opportunity and played arena football and the Philadelphia Eagles called me for a workout. And Chip Kelly had just gotten the job there. So he was bringing a spread, you know, RPO, new uptempo offense to the NFL. And that's all I had played in college. And so felt like if I could, do really well in this workout, you know, I would have at least opportunity maybe to stick around. The Eagles are actually my childhood favorite team. My dad went to training camp with them in 1990. So that was kind of my team. And so having the opportunity to work out, I did really well at the workout and I remember calling my dad afterwards and telling him, hey, they're signing me, you know, I'm getting an opportunity and I got to spend the next three years there. '13, '14, training camp '15. Played quarterback,
- You played a lot of positions?
- Yeah, yeah.
- You did everything.
- So yeah, so quarterback, special teams. And then when we signed Tim Tebow in '15, they moved me to receiver. And then every third day when Darren Sproles would go to receiver from running back to receiver, I would go from receiver to running back, just because I knew the offense so well.
- Yeah.
- And I was a running quarterback, like I said, in college. So that was another great opportunity. Obviously being around Chip Kelly, Ryan Day was my quarterback coach in '15. Bill Lazor, Bill Musgrave, Jeff Stoutland, who I think is the best offensive line coach of all time. So just a bunch of really, really good coaches. And same thing, you know, every time Howie Roseman, would cut me, someone, I texted him actually yesterday. Every time he would cut me and bring me back. He would say, hey, when you want to get into coaching, you know, I think that's your gift. I'm like, no, I want to keep playing.
- Yeah.
- Well he is like, well when it's your time to be done, you know, give us a call. And so I did that. You know, I went up to Canada the next year. So then I went to the Giants, sorry I missed that in 2015. Played safety with the Giants and got to be around Tom Coughlin.
- Yeah.
- And another really good football coach and learned a ton there. And but you know, they ended up drafting a couple safeties that off season, cut me. And at that point I wanted to go back and play quarterback and the only team that would gimme an opportunity was in Canada. And went to the.. First, I went to the Stampeders.
- My favorite Calgary team growing up.
- Yeah. So that was really cool. And then, so I was there for a week in training camp. And then, so I ended up going to the Rough Riders and played that whole year there. That's where I got engaged in-
- Yeah.
- In Banff at Lake Louise. And we played Calgary and Coach Jones let me stay and told him, I said, Hey, I'm gonna, propose to my girlfriend. I said, okay. And, you know, so he let me do that. And that was a ton of fun. But after that season I knew like, okay, do I wanna keep playing in Canada and kind of, you know, start that journey and career or do I want to, you know, go and get into coaching? And Chad Morris, who I said was my office coordinator in 2010, was the head coach at SMU and he had a GA position open, and that's kind of what started my coaching career.
- So now you, like, you make a decision to kinda hang up the cleats. Like were you ever thinking like maybe if the Eagles call again, I'll go back or were you like all in on coaching then?
- No, I think that first year, especially being a GA-
- Being a GA, right?
- I think if anyone would've called, I would've left. You know, that that was definitely a transition.
- Yeah.
- You know, I lived in Dallas in the off season. We ended up moving right, right next to SMU, but all my family's in Dallas. It was an easy transition, 'cause I knew Coach Morris and I knew what type of person he was, and that's a big deal when you get into coaching-
- Yeah.
- Who you work for. 'Cause there's a lot of bad coaches out there. And so getting with Coach Morris was really good for me. But it was also very challenging, obviously being the starting quarterback and just the roles were a lot different now.
- Yeah.
- You know, I was his, you know, star quarterback, he was offensive coordinator, now he's the head coach and I was the GA, so I went, you know, I was the highest to the lowest.
- Yeah.
- And you know, Coach Will O'Brien our tight end coach and pass game coordinator. He was the other GA, and so he was a really, really good GA, I was a very bad GA not because I was late or anything like that, I just didn't know how to do.
- Yeah.
- Any GA work. I didn't know how to run the computer. Obviously I knew the information. I knew what to tell him. I wanted to call the play, you know, hey, that's right. I don't wanna type this in. I don't wanna call the play.
- that's right.
- Yeah, exactly. So, that was probably the biggest challenge is just sitting and you know, learning to play my role and, you know, all the things that I wasn't, you know, accustomed to. So I learned a ton, you know, that first year, but obviously Coach O'Brien, you know, definitely took care of me and helped me out in a lot of different ways. So very thankful for him.
- Okay, so you start off with the GA, first assistant coaching job, where you get paid real money.
- I went to Arkansas for that year, still type GA analyst type situation. And then Howie Roseman calls me back in 2019, really the off season of the '18 season, they were still playing. And to come back to Philly, Doug Peterson was there.
- [Dr. Damphousse] Yeah.
- Super Bowl winning coach. And you know, I probably don't talk enough about how the type of impact he had on my life and just unbelievable person and just very thankful for him. But giving me an opportunity to come back and coach in the NFL and learning under Jeff Stoutland. That was a huge deal for me, 'cause as a coach, when you go to the NFL, it's kind of like they sprinkle some magic dust on you and you become this great coach. But it really is. It's just a different type of grind and being around the best players in the world every day and their drive and their work ethic is pretty remarkable.
- And they have a different thought, right? 'Cause we're a college player, you're kinda like, I know I'm gonna be here four years or whatever, but they're like, you're coming to take my job.
- Yeah.
- So I'm gonna be busting my hump to keep my job. And so their mentality just so much different from a college.
- It really is, like, in college, you really are dealing with, for the most part with young men that are trying the NFL, I, mean, these guys have, they have kids of their own.
- They got responsibilities.
- You know, they got wife and kids and-
- Agents.
- Agents and all, and goals, and this might be your 15 for them in the season. They got, this is their last year. And as a young coach, if you mess up the look, if you mess up the scout team, if you tell me the wrong thing, if you scheme a wrong play, you know, it can be the last time they ever play football.
- Yeah.
- And it can mess up everything they've worked for. So there's a different type of pressure I think when you're dealing with Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson and you know, Carson Wentz and Nick Foles and Alshon Jeffery, all the great players that were there at the time of, you have a certain responsibility and pressure to not only win games, but, you know, put those guys in the best situation for them in their career. So it's definitely a different game and something that I really enjoyed. But then, you know, I got to have the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator at University of Hawaii under Todd Graham, another former, you know, coach of mine, just got an offensive coordinator job there. And for another one of my former coaches, so now that's three in a row.
- Yeah.
- Almost four in a row with what Chad hired me at SMU, Howie bringing me back. Todd hired me at Hawaii and now Gus hired me at UCF. So that's what I tell the guys all the time. How you carry yourself every day and the way you treat people, it matters. And you never know who's watching and who's gonna be able to make impact on your life. Just like our defense coordinator, Dexter McCoil, was a college teammate of mine.
- Yeah. So UCF, so you're at UCF?
- Yeah, UCF. Yeah.
- That's another kickstart for you. So now you're-
- Yeah, exactly.
- Going to the league, working for Coach Malzahn.
- Yeah.
- And then another opportunity pops up.
- Yeah, exactly right. So spend a year there. We get to coach Dillon Gabriel, who just got drafted by the Browns and then we go to UIW first head coaching opportunity.
- Yeah.
- And I remember, obviously it was in Texas-
- It's a smaller school, but now you're the boss though. right?
- Yeah, exactly.
- It happens, I mean, you're still pretty young, right?
- Exactly. And that was really the real draw there was for me getting back to Texas and then having the opportunity to be a head coach. That opportunity came about. It was at UIW and it was just one of those, you know, I didn't know about it. I was at UCF, I was in a good spot. We had just beaten Florida, in some bowl game. And so we had a lot of momentum going. And Coach Malzahn, was really good, but, I knew like, man, if I can go back to Texas and be a head coach, you know, that would be really cool. Maybe I'll just do that forever.
- Yeah.
- You know, I'll stay UIW forever, and get to UIW, and Cam Ward was there and, he's in the portal at the time, so I get the, they're like, he's probably not coming back, but he'll give you an opportunity to at least, you know, pitch your recruiting to him and his family and unbelievable family, great kid. But that was the first uphill battle. Like, man, we just, you know, I get this first head coaching job and maybe the best FCS player of all time leaves.
- Yeah.
- You know, and so, I'm trying to figure it all out and getting the staff together and moving my family and Summer was pregnant and so just a bunch going on and it worked out. We ended up signing Lindsey Scott.
- Yeah, Lindsey, yeah.
- That was at a bunch of other schools previously and had a little bit of success at Nichols. And we signed them in the portal and ends up, you know, having 71 touchdowns and 60 pass and 11 rushing and wins the Walter Payton. And we end up going and to the playoffs and making a couple rounds and just a really cool year, really cool season. A bunch of, you know, records were broken but I always remember the kids and the people and how they treated me. And it was a really cool season.
- Yeah, I think when you're the OC, they go, I could be the head coach.
- Yeah.
- And we get you have no idea.
- No idea.
- What it's like to be the head coach until you start doing it.
- Exactly.
- Even at a small school, right?
- Yeah.
- And so, but that leads you to San Marcos.
- Yeah.
- You know, we have a chance to interview people at the end of the season. Could we make a coaching change? And I remember interviewing you over Zoom, which is always kind of a strange thing.
- Yeah.
- But something stood out that just made me think, I want to have another in-person conversation. So you end up coming over here one evening, kind of late in evening up in my suite and we're having a conversation. And I remember early on thinking, boy, there's something special about this guy. But, and I think the thing that struck me, the two things, one is that I asked you who's gonna be your OC, got know a lot of offensive coaches wanna be their own OC-
- [GJ] Yeah.
- And you said, I've got a guy.
- [GJ] Yeah.
- I've got it all worked out. And I thought that's good because a lot of people feel like they can be the head coach and the OC or the DC-
- [GJ] For sure.
- And I think it's kinda hard to do both those things.
- Yeah.
- But the second thing was that I felt like you felt like, and you actually said, boy, the right person gets this job, this place could be something. And, you said something along those lines. And that's what I felt. I thought, boy, somebody figures this thing out, Texas State's gonna be able to take off. But what was it that you saw about Texas State then, that made you believe that?
- For me, it was always one of those jobs I just didn't understand why.
- Yeah.
- You know, I would... I remember me and Lane Johnson, is with the Eagles now. We came here and floated the river at one point while we were playing and this area of Texas to me is like a vacation.
- Yeah.
- You know, it really is, just a unbelievable spot. And you ride in between Austin and San Antonio, and all you know, the student population. It just didn't make sense why, you know, they weren't winning at a higher level. And so it was one of those deals for me, maybe halfway through that season and you're starting to figure things out and look around. I'm like, man, I hope you know as much as the, you know, Coach Spav that was here before. He is an awesome guy and all that.
- Yeah.
- I was like, man, you know, if that job does come open, I would love the opportunity just, to go interview. And obviously that happened and just... I just knew if the right guy, like I said, got that job, you can win a bunch of games there. And then after meeting you and Don, and Travis, just felt like, okay, I can work with these people.
- [Dr. Damphousse] Yeah.
- They're like-minded. We can align very well. They wanna win. I know if I can get my guys in here, we get the staff right, we can... 'Cause no one was really doing the portal like we were gonna do it.
- Yeah.
- And I knew we could, you know, get a leg up on some people that way, but we had to go fast. You know, that was my biggest thing. All right, after I interview, like, all right, let's do it. You know, so I can get to work.
- But your season wasn't over yet. You said you started coach-
- I know.
- And you guys kept winning and so-
- Exactly.
- So I became the biggest UIW fan, because I was watching, I'd never watched that much FCS football before.
- Yeah.
- So-
- Yeah, no, that was-
- And you guys went up to Sac State and played Cam Skattebo. It's the first time I heard of him.
- Yes.
- You guys beat him. But that game was like 68 to 65 something-
- Whatever it was.
- Whoever got the ball last won that game, right?
- Exactly. That was another challenging part is obviously, you know, trying to win a national championship and recruit and-
- You driving back and forth.
- I was back and forth.
- Yeah.
- I was back and forth and all that. But I had really good coaches and I knew we could handle it. And we were recruiting like crazy at the time. And it was a unique situation. But, you know, I did the best, you know, for both universities.
- Yeah.
- Like I could do and it worked out, so.
- Only Deon Sanders brought in more new players for the portal than you. I think you brought in 50 some-
- Yeah, whatever it was.
- Players. He brought in more, just a few more than that. But it worked. You brought some UIW players and coaches with you.
- Yeah. And, it's a different world, right? The portal. You're not building a program all the time. You're building teams all the time. And that's gotta be a challenge. But you seem to have figured this process out, trying to first, I mean, I don't think anyone identifies talent better than you, but then also recruits them and convinces them to come. And then somehow you got all these new people every year and you've gotta like coalesce together.
- Yeah.
- 'Cause a bunch of individual guys in the field isn't gonna make it happen. You gotta have a team, right?
- I knew we had to do something drastic. You know, me and Coach Bailiff always joke about it, you know, we get the job here and I'm looking around like, you know, we gotta-
- Yeah.
- We gotta recruit. We gotta get to work. And we were able to do that. And I think bringing those UIW guys was huge. But you know, we hit on a bunch of other guys in the portal early on and I mean we were working and eating and I had so much hibachi and Cody Steakhouse and-
- I think didn't you put on like 25 pounds on the first year?
- Oh, yeah. Yeah, every year.
- You can always recruit-
- Every year, every off season. That's, you know, a lot of coaches lose-
- It's like baby weight, but it's like recruiting weight.
- Exactly.
- Yeah.
- A lot of coaches gain weight during the season, I'm the opposite, I lose during the season and gained the off season, 'cause all the recruiting we do. But yeah, it was crazy. I remember, you know, after we beat Baylor and they put up that graphic of me and Deon Sanders.
- Yeah.
- And I was like, wow, this is... We really just did that.
- Yeah.
- We just beat Baylor. We brought in 50 whatever new players and go beat a P4 school for the first time in school history.
- [Dr. Damphousse] On the road.
- On the road, first game.
- Yeah.
- And you do it with all these new guys that have been cut other places and people didn't want him. But it's almost like Moneyball. You find the right guys that fit your system-
- Yeah.
- And you gotta... Just because he is a good player doesn't mean he is gonna be a good player in your system. So you're constantly evaluating and talking to people and it's a process. But I love that part of it.
- One of my favorite stories about you and me, is that you were bringing me in to talk, come talk to the recruits and we'd go meet at breakfast and I would share a few, you know, encouraging words about what was gonna happen at university. And, you know, my pitch was always, wouldn't you wanna come and be the first team to take Texas State to a bowl game? And wouldn't you wanna be part of that legacy and that history? And like the third or fourth times you said, pulled me aside and said, hey, don't mention we've never been to a bowl game before, because they don't know. And so I had to change my pitch a little bit about, just talk about the university, but you had to sell promise. You were selling the sizzle more than the steak because we hadn't done a lot of things that you knew we could do. And for the young people that were coming here, they had to like, believe in you and the promise of the university without the history about being there. Some of the places it's a little easier to recruit to because maybe they've got more resources or they've got more history or whatever. But you've had to sell more of the promise than the reality of the history of it. So, what's your pitch to the young people that are thinking about coming here?
- I think early on in the process, it was exactly what you said. It was, you know, the opportunity to come play. To play an exciting offense. To play an exciting defense.
- Yeah.
- You know, what we had just done at UIW, you know, we can do the same thing here as far as on the field. And then we sold the university a bunch. And very similar to what I said earlier, the river and the student life and the location. There's just so many great things about this place. And I think once, the high school kids, the transfers, the junior college kids, they got to campus, they felt the same way. And you're not gonna, you're not ever gonna bat 1,000. But we signed more than we lost early on. And you know, a lot of those guys, you know, these last two years have played a huge part in the success that we've had. And- So it, man it was, it was an awesome first year. Obviously some up and downs. And I think that's what some people maybe don't understand about the process and about the portal and about putting the team together is when you're, that portal heavy, when you're bringing in that many new guys, sometimes, and it's year one, it's year two, you're gonna have a little bit of those inconsistencies at time.
- Yeah.
- And so that's why I'm excited about moving forward. We've kind of established our, you know, footprint, kind of, this is who we are offensively, this is who we are defensively. We've able to recruit some high school kids that are now in year three in the program. You know, we just signed 18 high school kids a year ago. So we have the blueprint of what we want to do. I was able to sign the seven year contract, so that helped in recruiting.
- Yeah, it's big for us.
- And helped for me. And, we got it going in the right direction, you know, whether it's this year, whether it's next year in the pack, whatever that year is, we're gonna bust out and it's gonna be really exciting. It's gonna be really fun because of the people, because of the plan that you had, the plan that we had in the football department. So it's really exciting.
- To me, probably a couple of favorite moments stick out. One was being in Waco, and like maybe the third quarter I thought like sometimes an underdog comes in and they kinda like, they're punching above their weight a little bit.
- Yeah.
- Maybe they're taken for granted by the other team, but eventually the heavy weights kind of roll over on the guys and kind of gets away in the fourth quarter, somewhere in the third quarter, I said, man, we have a chance to win this game. And I kinda looked over at you and you're like, holy cow, it's happening.
- Yeah.
- And then, you know, we win the game. So to me that's like, that was a signature moment for Texas State football for sure. Jumping in the river to celebrate the ball game.
- Yeah.
- But do you have a favorite Texas state football moment yet?
- I think two for me, obviously that first game. I think anytime, like you said, you bring that many new people in. You have, you know, first time FBS head coach for me, and going on the road and playing a P4 opponent. And you know, my dad went to the... My dad went to school there. My brother went to school there, my sister went to school there. Saw a ton of history there.
- Was your brother playing there?
- Yes, he was on the team.
- Yeah, he was actually on the team, that's right.
- Yeah, he was on the team at that time.
- Yeah.
- So getting that opportunity was really fun. And I don't think even now I still, you know, the reflection part of it still hasn't hit. Like well-
- When they make the movie, it'll come back, right?
- Yeah, there you go. And then I think, you know, getting that bowl victory and walking out onto the field for that first bowl game and looking around and all the fans.
- Yeah.
- At Texas State and just the way the air felt, and the excitement. I think that was... Even winning. But just walking out on the field and looking around like, yeah, it's almost not that we did it, but we did it type situation.
- I kind of felt the same way like before the game. 'Cause busy doing your thing, but we're out with the alumni in the tailgate area and the tailgate's packed. Like, we're not quite sure how many people are gonna show up and I don't think the bowl knew how many people were gonna show up. But I kind of at a moment, like I took a bunch of videos of the crowd and then for the second bowl game, going back to the same bowl, like, are people gonna be tired of it? But I don't think our fans are tired of going to bowl games yet. Not tired of winning yet.
- Yeah.
- So talk about the future. You mentioned the Pac real quick.
- Yeah.
- How is that impacting recruiting now and what are your thoughts about joining the Pac?
- Yeah, man, it was just a, in my opinion, an unbelievable move by you, by Don, and having the opportunity to be in a such a, such a prestigious conference and the history of that conference. It's already helped in recruiting, you know, players wanna play in that conference, they wanna play against the best. We'll see what they call it if it's a P5, is it? Whatever that looks like.
- We'll see what that looks like.
- We'll see what that looks like. But the recruiting, has definitely helped in recruiting. I'm excited about the stadiums and I'm excited about the locations and playing at a Boise, and going to some of these cool stadiums and you know, going out West and playing and you know, Pac after dark.
- Yeah.
- Like all that man, that's exciting
- Being the only game on TV.
- Yeah.
- At, even though it's a late game for us, it's the only game. So everyone's watching, right? Pac after dark it became famous.
- Yeah, for sure. And so, man, it's just... It's already helped a ton in recruiting and I'm really excited about it. But it's one of those deals where once fall camp started, I was, you know, I had to get ready for this season, but-
- Because this season's, everyone's Super Bowl is playing us, right?
- Exactly.
- So-
- But recruiting, I still, obviously we're still using recruiting and we have a couple, you know, guys that we're on right now that I know for a fact that we wouldn't be able to land if we didn't make that move.
- Well I'm excited about the leadership of Texas State football because, you know, we believe the future is GJ Kinne and we believe in the bright future in front of Texas State football, Texas State generally. But thank you for coming here. Thank you for believing in Texas State and thank you for making our dreams come true, making that a reality, because we saw something, you saw something that no one could imagine, but you made it happen. And I will tell you, it took a lot of work to get into the Pac-12, but if football hadn't done what it's done the previous two years, I don't think we're even in the conversation. So you had a huge role to play, even though you weren't in the middle of negotiation. Sometimes I wish you were because it was a long year, but, building the program you did allowed us to be at least recognized as a potential partner in that conference. And I can't wait to go there. And by the way, we don't wanna just go there and be the eighth best team in that program. We believe we can compete very strongly in all of our sports, but football especially. It's interesting for our home games, we think about going to other places, but a lot of those schools, we would pay good money for them to come play here. Back in the olden days we would pay, you know, someone to come here, but they're just gonna come as being part of the conference now. So we're gonna have some great games here in San Marcos.
- Oh, yeah.
- And great games in the road for our alumni to go to. And so great locations and great games and some of those great stadiums and looking forward to that for sure. All right, coach, we have something, we've started, right when we started doing this podcast here, we ask people who are watching or listening to the podcast to send us questions that they want to ask me. And so you get to be the podcast host here for a second and fire away. I've not seen the questions-
- All right.
- So it's always pretty spontaneous.
- Alright. It says if your calendar suddenly cleared for a week, what would you do with the time?
- Holy cow. So it doesn't clear for a week very often, but Beth and I actually have a lake house in Arkansas. We bought it right before we left and we thought about selling it, but we thought let's just keep it, it's kinda a big place and she uses it as Airbnb, but if we get a few days off, we go back there mostly, you know, we got honey do chores to take care of fixing things and so on. But I never sleep better than when I'm at the lake. And you know, I grew up on a lake and so I grew up boating and fishing with my family. And getting back to the lake is actually, to me the most, one of the most relaxing things I can do. And I get so much good sleep in, I get to read some books and nobody's bothering me. And the fact is, my calendar doesn't clear up very much, but because of technology I can still, participate in meetings and so on. So most people don't even know I'm gone when I'm there. So what about you? Do you have a place? You mentioned Hawaii earlier.
- Yeah, that's what I was gonna say.
- Yeah.
- It would be North Shore-
- North Shore.
- Oahu. And I'd, you know, me and the fam go out there and just really enjoy it, and great food, and obviously the beach and just some quiet family time.
- There's a burger place in the North Shore called the Hukilau Burger that I always go to, the 50 First date movie with-
- I also tried it out.
- Yeah, yeah, check it out. Hukilau Burgers. Got a little pineapple on there. So, thanks GJ for everything you do for Texas State, for making this a special place. Thank you to Summer, pass my regards on to her as well because she really is a tour de force and I know you're busy doing your thing, but she's doing a lot of stuff on campus and in the community as well.
- Yeah.
- It's just like the president's wife, the head coach's wife is super active as well. So thank you so much to the Kinne family for what you do for Texas State. And thank you all for joining us here on this episode of "The Current." Thank you GJ, for joining us.
- For sure.
- Until next time, States Up everyone.