Former Eagles quarterback earns his first head-coaching job

Congratulations are in order. Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback G.J. Kinne has found his first Division I head coaching job. He was hired by the Texas State Bobcats, an FBS program that plays its ball in the Sun Belt Conference.

If you’re scratching your head ad don’t know who that is, no one would blame you, so how about we take a trip down memory lane? Here’s a recap of his brief tenure in Philadelphia.

Looking back on G.J. Kinne’s tenure with the Eagles

G.J. Kinne signed with the Eagles back in 2013. The undrafted product out of Tulsa and former New York Jet was added to compete presumably for a third-string job behind Michael Vick and Nick Foles. It was the first year of Chip Kelly’s tenure as head coach.

Kinne didn’t make the final roster but was brought back to the team in October of that season. He wound up spending the entire 2014 season on the Eagles’ practice squad.

Philadelphia brought in Sam Bradford to be their starting quarterback in 2015, and Chip Kelly switched Kinne to a wide receiver. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have much impact as a receiver either and was part of the first round of roster cuts during the preseason. Kinne then spent the remainder of the 2015 season on the New York Giants practice squad before enjoying brief stints for two Canadian football teams.

G.J. Kinne’s coaching resume includes a return to the Eagles.

With a very brief NFL playing career now over, G.J. moved on to coaching. He became an assistant for the SMU Mustangs in 2017 before becoming an offensive analyst for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Philadelphia gave Kinne another opportunity in 2019, this time as an offensive assistant. He worked behind the scenes during the Eagles’ 9-7 NFC East-winning campaign and won the respect of a lot of his peers.

After just one season in Philadelphia, Kinne returned to the collegiate level to be an offensive coordinator for the Hawaii Warriors in 2020. Hawaii went 5-4 on the seasons and won a bowl game. Kinne then moved on to UCF in 2021 as a quarterbacks coach before becoming a head coach for Incarnate Wood in 2021.

Texas State marks Kinne’s highest-profile job since his brief stay in the NFL as a player and his opportunity with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is now tasked with turning a program around, one that hasn’t had a winning record since 2014. Texas State is one of the FBS conference’s newer members, having moved to the Sun Belt in 2012.

In conclusion

Again, we recognize that G.J. Kinne isn’t the owner of a name many Eagles fans will remember. Still, he’s a Bird nonetheless… Once an Eagle, always an Eagle (for the most part.

His NFL tenure as a player didn’t last as long as he would have hoped. He did, however, spend more time in Philadelphia than anywhere else. Hopefully, the former Eagles QB will have success in his first major coaching job. We’re pulling for him. We now have a reason to check out a Texas State game. Maybe there are a few under-the-radar players worth keeping an eye on too.