The head coaching spot at Incarnate Word will open for the second consecutive offseason with news that current head man G.J. Kinne is signing a five-year deal with Texas State. UIW hosts Furman on Saturday in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Kinne led the Cardinals to a 10-1 regular season record and the overall seven-seed in the playoff bracket, which afforded them a bye in the first round. 

The UIW job is becoming a launching pad for young, up-and-coming coaches. We take a look at a number of potential candidates to replace Kinne. 

UPDATE - Dec. 4 

A name mentioned by a few sources is current Utah State defensive coordinator and safeties coach Ephraim Banda. Banda, who just finished his 11th year as an assistant coach in college football, played at Incarnate Word as a safety and was a local graduate of San Antonio Taft High School. He went straight into coaching following his playing days, starting at UIW before moving to Texas where he earned his master’s and worked as a GA from 2012 to 2015. He spent time at Miami before moving to Utah State. His teams have reached bowl games in 10 of the 11 seasons he’s coached.

DCTF Pick 

Mack Leftwich 

The Cardinals don’t need to look far if they want to keep the ball rolling with young, offensive-minded coordinators with a head coaching profile. Leftwich is the play-caller for the UIW offense. An offense that is averaging 53.1 points per game in 2022. The Denton native arrived at UIW in 2018 as a graduate assistant and has worked his way up on two different staffs. He knows the lay of the land and would keep the roster and schemes intact. 

HOME RUN 

Jerheme Urban 

Another person who isn’t far away from campus is Urban – currently the wildly successful coach at nearby Trinity at the D3 level. The Victoria native played at Trinity before a solid NFL career as a wide receiver. He’s built the Tigers into a conference champion and yearly playoff contender. Prying him away from a place he loves would be difficult, but it is at least worth a phone call. 

CANDIDATES 

Jason Washington 

Washington is a career assistant at the FBS level who is from San Antonio. He played football and baseball at Texas State. He’s spent time coaching at Texas State, Rice, Houston, and Texas before his current three-year stint at Mississippi State. He’s an elite recruiter with local ties who would guarantee that UIW fielded one of the most talented FCS rosters in the country. He’s coached position groups on both sides of the ball and is currently the running backs coach for the Bulldogs. 

Mike Jinks 

Jinks is a known commodity in San Antonio. He is currently the running back coach at Houston, but he was a successful head coach at nearby Cibolo Steele High School before moving to the college ranks. Jinks was 77-17 at Steele, including a 43-4 record in his final three seasons. He started his college career as the running back coach at Texas Tech in 2013 beofre taking over as head coach at Bowling Green in 2016. He was 7-24 in three seasons, but that was in Ohio. At UIW, he’d be familiar with the area and use his THSCA connections to improve the talent base on the team. 

Brennan Marion 

If UIW wants to inject some young energy into the program, look no further than Austin and Texas’ wide receiver coach. Marrion, who was one of the most prolific receivers in college while at Tulsa, is quickly rising the ranks. He’ll eventually be a head coach, so the Cardinals could beat the rest of the nation to his services. He was a head coach back in 2013 at the prep level in California. That’s where he developed the GoGo offense, which incorporates old-school triple option principles with modern spread concepts. He’s had success as a play caller and is regarded as one of the better recruiters in college football. 

Ryan Carty 

Another FCS name with Texas ties is Carty, currently the head coach at Delaware. He was the offensive coordinator at Sam Houston from 2018 to 2021, helping the Bearkats win a national championship in the spring of 2021. Carty played at Delaware as a backup quarterback behind Joe Flacco, so getting him to leave his alma mater could be a hurdle. 

Matt Storm 

Storm is familiar with the FCS landscape in Texas as he’s served as offensive coordinator for SFA over the past four seasons. He’s also coached at Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M. The Jacks won the WAC title in 2022 and averaged 34.1 points per game. He’s helped players such as wide receiver Xavier Gipson put up video game numbers in the SFA offense for years. 

A Jeff Traylor assistant 

Success brings attention and no one is enjoying more success in Texas than Traylor’s Roadrunners over the past two seasons. UTSA is a game away from claiming consecutive Conference USA titles before dipping to the AAC. That means his assistants are likely to be poached. Picking one guy on the staff is too hard, so we’ll leave it open. Guys such as wide receiver coach Joe Price, offensive coordinator Will Stein, and defensive coordinator Jess Loepp deserve serious looks.