The last time Texas State head coach G.J. Kinne walked into Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, he was a football player.
For him, Texas was never simply another school. Growing up in East Texas and playing quarterback at Gilmer High School for Jeff Traylor, a longtime high school head coach, the Longhorns represented the pinnacle of the sport.
“Kind of one of those dream-come-true moments getting to sign with the University of Texas being an in-state kid, so a lot of fond memories going from Gilmer to Austin,” Kinne said in an Aug. 31 Burnt Orange Nation article.
The dream, however, lasted only one season.
Kinne redshirted in 2007 and watched now-Longhorn legend Colt McCoy emerge as Texas’ established starter. Rather than allow his college career to become a waiting game, he transferred to the University of Tulsa in 2008. His departure was not bitter. It was almost reverential.
“I’ve made great memories, great friends and have been blessed with experiences most can only watch,” Kinne said when he announced his transfer.
He left Austin without closing the door behind him. He thanked Greg Davis, Texas’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach who helped develop him, and wished the Longhorns well. Then-head coach Mack Brown, in turn, wished Kinne the same and stated in the 2008 Texas Athletics press release that he would continue following his career.
That career eventually carried Kinne far beyond Austin. First to Tulsa, then the NFL, Southern Methodist University, Arkansas, Philadelphia, Hawaii, the University of Central Florida, Incarnate Word and finally, Texas State. Along the way, he became a head coach in his own right.
Nearly two decades later, Kinne returns to Austin as the Bobcats’ head coach, carrying with him a relationship that has never quite disappeared.
Kinne has remained connected to former Longhorn teammates, some of whom have reached out before Saturday’s season opener. He said on Tuesday the messages were not exactly good-luck wishes, but rather the kind of familiar “see you out there” exchanges that reveal bonds that survived nearly two decades.
The connection now reaches into the modern Texas program. Kinne has maintained a friendship with Chris Gilbert, a longtime high school coach and special assistant to Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian. Gilbert recently showed Kinne around the Longhorns’ facilities, where he also spoke with Sarkisian.
Even though he’ll share a different sideline, a continued protection of Texas’ integrity came out in Kinne this summer during a “Horns Down” incident. Kinne said he attended a Forrest Frank concert near campus with a busload of kids, and when they started making the familiar gesture, he instinctively stepped in.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, 15-yard penalty, guys,” he joked.
The kid who once dreamed of taking snaps in Austin will finally return to DKR. When Kinne was asked what it would be like to return, his answer carried the strange simplicity of someone finally seeing an old dream from the other side.
“I’m not playing. I wish I was playing, but I’ll be over there on the sidelines,” Kinne said.