Just three years into his head coaching career, GJ Kinne is already building his coaching tree. As he prepares for his third year as the Texas State head football coach, Kinne will promote offensive analyst Landon Keopple to offensive coordinator for the 2025 season, per Matt Zenitz.

Keopple will replace Mack Leftwich, who accepted the offensive coordinator position at Texas Tech in December 2024. After his first year as Kinne's offensive coordinator at Texas State, Leftwich was nominated for the Broyles Award in 2023.

Along with his offensive analyst roles, Keopple also served as the assistant wide receivers coach. He worked in that role under former SMU and Arkansas head coach Chad Morris, who served as the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator in 2024. At the end of the season, Morris stepped away from the team, citing a desire to take a break from coaching and watch his son play his final season at Virginia.

Kinne, Leftwich and Keopple were responsible for leading the Bobcats to its second consecutive 8-5 finish capped off with a bowl game victory. Before they arrived in San Marcos, Texas State had not won a bowl game since becoming a Division I football program in 2012.

GJ Kinne expands Texas State football coaching tree with Landon Keopple

Landon Keopple's Texas State Bobcats wide receiver Kole Wilson (2) catches a pass in the first half against the Rice Owls at Gerald J Ford Stadium.
Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Like Leftwich, Keopple has been with Kinne throughout his rise as one of the top young college football head coaches. As an offensive analyst, Keopple coached alongside Kinne at Hawaii and Incarnate World. He also played at Tulsa before starting his coaching career but predated Kinne by two years.

Kinne is a disciple of Todd Graham, the infamous former head coach. He played for Graham at Tulsa nearly a decade before reuniting with him at Hawaii. Kinne spent four years pursuing professional football before turning to coaching. He landed his first big gig as Hawaii's offensive coordinator in 2020, when Graham was the head coach.

Despite being just 36, Kinne is already one of the top young coaches in college football. He began his journey as a head coach at Incarnate World in 2022, leading them to a semifinal finish in the FCS Playoffs. He was hired by Texas State as their head football coach the following year and has gone 16-10 in two years.

The Bobcats agreed to a massive seven-year extension with Kinne in 2024, signing him through the 2031 season. Though he is currently the highest-paid coach in the Sun Belt, it remains to be seen how long he will stay as he receives increasing interest from power conferences each offseason.