Think G.J. Kinne's going places? Nah, he has unfinished business at Texas State | Bohls
SAN MARCOS — You scared you’re going to lose G.J. Kinne at Texas State? Well, chill. A little.
The first-year Bobcats football coach had a breakthrough 8-5 season in his initial campaign, not only beating Baylor in the opener but reaching and winning a bowl game 45-21 over Rice in the First Responder Bowl. It’s heady stuff for a perennial losing program, and now all he has to do is follow it up and repeat.
But know that he also just closed on a a five-bedroom ranch home between San Marcos and New Braunfels with a pool, so there’s that.
“Got to be a good sign, right, because we rented in Year 1,” Kinne said, laughing. “Beating Baylor, a Power Five team on the road, that was huge for me and our buy-in. That really helped us. Once we got bowl eligible, I was worried everybody would be happy with going to a bowl. But bowls are only fun when you win. And the next day, I was up at 6 a.m. fielding calls about guys on my team.”
Such is the reality of college football.
Lots of new faces at Texas State; what else is new?
And Texas State did lose 19 guys in the portal. But it also picked up 18. A couple of impact players coming in are Incarnate Word defensive end Steven Parker, who spent two years at Kansas, and ULM linebacker Max Harris, who ranked second on the team in tackles and played for Kinne at Incarnate Word.
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Other newcomers include James Madison quarterback Jordan McCloud, who was the Sun Belt player of the year. He’s the younger brother of Super Bowl winner Ray-Ray McCloud II and Clemson backup linebacker Kobe McCloud. The Bobcats needed him because quarterbacks T.J. Finley (Western Kentucky) and Malik Hornsby (Arkansas State to be a receiver) both left and Texas State rescinded a scholarship offer to Arizona transfer Jayden de Laura after Texas State students vociferously protested the move because the player and a high school teammate agreed to a settlement in a civil trial about an incident of second-degree sexual assault in high school in 2018.
While de Laura and the other player reportedly pleaded guilty when they were both minors, according to court records, de Laura has only publicly said there’s much “misinformation” about their pleas.
Texas State eyes Jordan McCloud at quarterback
McCloud will be playing for his fourth school after also playing at Arizona and South Florida. Somehow this will be his eighth season after redshirting at USF, earning an extra COVID-19 year and a medical redshirt season.
He threw for 3,400 yards and 32 touchdowns with only nine interceptions for JMU.
“He comes from a football family, and I like recruiting genes, the DNA part," Kinne said. "He’s like a point guard, that’s what I’d compare him to. He’s extremely accurate. He had eight touchdowns rushing. He’s not Vince Young, but he runs well enough and we need someone who when the play breaks down can go get you a first down."
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It’s McCloud’s job to lose, but Kinne said he loves “the growth” of two Bobcats quarterback signees, P.J. Hatter of Spring Westfield and Brad Jackson of San Antonio Reagan. Kinne calls Hatter “the fastest guy on the team.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas State football coach G.J. Kinne has big plans for the Bobats
