SAN ANTONIO – As GJ Kinne’s coaching star continues to rise, Texas State reportedly intends to keep him in San Marcos for a long time.
According to ESPN college football reporter Pete Thamel, Kinne and the university are finalizing details of a seven-year contract extension that would pay the 35-year-old head coach $2 million annually.
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The reported extension would not be Kinne’s first since coming to Texas State.
In 2023, Kinne and the university agreed on a five-year extension that raised his salary slightly beyond the million-dollar mark annually.
According to USA Today’s College Football Head Coaches Salary database, which was last updated on Oct. 16, 2024, Kinne is making $1,002,000 in total pay this season.
The database shows Kinne as the second-highest-paid head coach in the Sun Belt Conference behind Coastal Carolina’s Tim Beck, who is bringing in $1,050,000 in 2024.
The reported new deal would make Kinne the highest-paid head coach in the conference. The university has not formally announced a new Kinne extension.
Kinne’s head coaching success has been a revelation. In December 2021, he was hired at the University of the Incarnate Word to replace Eric Morris, who landed the top job at the University of North Texas.
UIW was Kinne’s first head coaching job at the college level, but he wasted little time making his mark. He led the Cardinals to a 12-1 regular season, a Southland Conference title, a No. 7 seed in the 2022 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs and an FCS Semifinal berth.
It was the Cards' best season in what was then a 13-year history of the football program. Texas State took notice and enlisted Kinne to shepherd its program beginning in 2023.
The iron remained hot for Kinne. Last season, the Bobcats became bowl-eligible for the first time as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program. They later defeated Rice in the First Responder Bowl for the program’s first bowl win on the first try.
Like 2023, the Bobcats are heading into their Nov. 29 regular-season finale against South Alabama at 6-5, which means they are bowl-eligible for the second time in two years.