Oscar Wilde once said, “With age comes wisdom.” If the late 1800s Irish poet and playwright had met 33-year-old UIW coach G.J. Kinne, he might have said that wisdom comes from experience.

“I've been a part of a bunch of first-year coaching staff,” Kinne said. “You go back to 2017, and we had some success at SMU with Chad Morris. Then we go to Arkansas, and I see the good and bad that goes on there. I go to Hawaii with coach (Todd) Graham, and I see the good and bad there - kind of what to do and what not to do. I went to UCF last year with coach (Gus) Malzahn, and he's got that thing rolling over there. There's no substitute for experience.”

Kinne’s experience was critical in his early days at UIW. The Cardinals lost the program’s most successful coach following the 2021 season. Eric Morris left to become the offensive coordinator at Washington State after leading UIW to its first two Southland Conference titles. Morris had accomplished all his success in four years.

Also gone to Washington State was quarterback Cameron Ward, the 2021 Jerry Rice Award winner for the best freshman in FCS, who rewrote the program’s record book during his two seasons in San Antonio.

Instead of focusing on replacing the lost talent immediately, Kinne went to work to earn his player’s trust.

“In the spring, everyone was worried about going out on the road recruiting and the (transfer) portal, and I wanted to invest and our current players because I knew that was going to be the key to our success this fall,” Kinne said. “So we did everything we could to let them know we care about them, not just on the football field, but as people. You can't trick them. They're gonna know if you’re real.”

Kinne began to earn his player’s trust when he retained three key offensive coaches, coordinator Mack Leftwich, offensive line coach Jordan Shoemaker, and assistant head coach and receivers coach Clint Killough.

“There's no ego here. We just want to win,” Kinne said. “They won 10 games, you know, that let's not change everything. They had success on offense last year, and there were numbers.”

The Cardinals still needed to address some deficiencies in the roster. Kinne and his staff mainly needed to find a quarterback and build depth along the defensive line, which meant finding players in the transfer portal that could contribute immediately.

“Everyone talks about the portal, but you have to get the right guys and the right fit,” Kinne said.

The coaching staff exceeded expectations if finding the right fit was the goal. Quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. transferred to UIW from conference foe Nicholls and has become a favorite to win the Walter Payton Award, awarded to the most outstanding offensive player in FCS. Scott Jr. has completed an insane 74 percent of his passes for 3,409 yards with 45 touchdowns and four interceptions.

“It’s not every day you get to be around someone like Lindsey - it just doesn’t come around often. We have to make his time here count, and our staff has done a great job of that.”

A large part of Scott Jr.’s success comes from his relentless preparation.

“He has his meeting with coach Leftwich each day, then he goes home and rewrites his notes for two hours,” Kinne said. “He’s just hungry. He’s been through so many different situations and coaches that he’s picked up something at each stop in his journey.”

It helps Scott Jr. to have a talented receiving corps, like preseason All-American Taylor Grimes (912 yards, 12 TDs) and NFL prospect Darion Chafin (846 yards, 10 TDs) has helped make his transition to the Cardinals offense seamless.

Kinne and his staff added to their wide receiver room with the addition of Brandon Porter, who transferred to UIW following an All-American season at Northern Arizona. Porter has 563 yards and six touchdowns this season.

The Cardinals staff addressed the defensive line with former South Oak Cliff standout Steven Parker, who leads the team in tackles for loss and was a four-star recruit in high school. Parker spent his last two collegiate seasons at Kansas.

Chris Whitaker leads UIW with 7.5 sacks after transferring from Florida International, while Olivier Charles-Pierre has been a force at defensive tackle after transferring from Houston.

“The guys we brought in are contributing,” Kinne said. “We wanted to bring in some big, athletic guys on the D line, and we were able to do that.”

UIW is one win away from securing at least an at-large bid to the playoffs and could claim at least a share of their third Southland title in the last five years.

The Cardinals are a confident team and are embracing the expectations.

“We have a lot of confidence, and we work hard. We have a swagger to ourselves, but I think that comes with our preparation. We work hard here, and we have fun. We have a lot of fun,” Kinne said. “We're dancing in practice, running around, and it’s a high tempo everywhere. 

But there's a discipline aspect that goes into that as well, and coach (Bret) Huth, our strength and conditioning coach, does a great job with those men. We know we're gonna get everyone's best game. That's just the way it is because of our ranking and getting some notoriety nationally, but that’s fun, man.”