Anyone who doesn’t want to see a fellow alum become successful has more problems than this board can solve.
That said, Kinne is the highest paid coach in the Sunbelt. And after incentives are reached, would be in the upper half of the AAC. If you think he’s coming to TU some day as his arc rises, dream on. From his perspective, he’s at a better place already. And aiming towards something even higher.
My sense, based on his public statements about what he values at TSU, is Kinne wanted assurances about personnel hires, facilities, NIL, and other things that TU just isn’t going to do. Ever. And certainly isn’t going to hire a coach that thinks they can leverage that. So it was a poor timing thing - him being unproven when our job was open - but also a culture thing.
What we’ve got with Wilson works for now. He brings a culture that many of the decision makers desire. More importantly, he appears to be instilling values folks above him on the tree want to see inculcated. I’m not sure you would see that level or at least that type of professionalism from a young coach. Too many programs flip flop between old and reliable coaches to young and unproven and back again. It was time to flip back to old school coaching.
He’s made some good decisions and at least one poor decision so far. It’s tough to tell at this point. Saban or Leopald might have taken us to a bowl, but it’s hard to judge the man on a roster that most coaches would win 4 or 5 games with given the depth and QB play. Would we be better off with Kinne if we dropped 50 players and still didn’t go bowling? Is that what TU football is meant to be? Does that fit the identity of Tulsa football? My sense is no.
I’m not convinced Wilson was the right choice. I am convinced Kinne was not the right choice for TU at the time.
