Offensive coordinator G.J. Kinne will be leaving the University of Hawaii football team to join the Central Florida coaching staff.
Gus Malzahn, who was recently named UCF’s head coach, announced Kinne’s move in a tweet. “Fired up for @GJKinne to be our Co-OC and quarterbacks coach!!” Malzahn tweeted.
At Central Florida, Kinne will work directly with Dillon Gabriel, a Mililani High graduate who was fifth nationally in passing yards (3,570) this past season.
Malzahn and Kinne are linked through UH head coach Todd Graham’s tenure at Tulsa. In 2007 and 2008, Malzahn was Tulsa’s assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Graham. From 2009 through 2011, Kinne was the Golden Hurricane’s starting quarterback.
Malzahn went on to serve as head coach at Arkansas State in 2012 and then at Auburn for eight seasons through this past December. Last week, Malzahn was named as successor to Josh Heupel, who accepted Tennessee’s head coaching job.
Kinne is familiar with Malzahn’s spread offense that balances a power running game with a quick-tempo passing attack. At UH, Kinne blended several of those elements in installing the run-and-gun offense in Manoa. This past season, UH’s offense helped develop Calvin Turner into a triple-threat player and eased the way for quarterback Chevan Cordeiro in his first year as a full-time starter.
Kinne, who also held the title of quarterbacks coach, worked in concert with Bo Graham, UH’s pass-game coordinator and running backs coach. During the eight-game regular season, Graham worked from the coaches’ box, relaying formations and observations to Kinne on the sideline. For the New Mexico Bowl, both coaches were on the sideline, with Graham signaling the plays.
Kinne played for the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons, where he was teammates with former UH receiver Greg Salas, a year with the New York Giants, and a season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Kinne was a graduate assistant coach at SMU in 2017, offensive analyst at Arkansas in 2018, and offensive special projects for the Eagles in 2019 before joining the Warriors.
The Warriors also are seeking to replace Brennan Marion, who resigned as receivers coach to accept a coaching job at Pittsburgh.
