2016 Purdue Football Coaching Search: Mike Jinks

Candidate Tier: MAC-MAC-baby

Who Is He?

Mike Jinks is currently in his first year as Bowling Green’s head coach, succeeding Dino Babers. They’re 1-6 right now, which isn’t ideal.

The first ten years of Jinks’ coaching career was in several Texas high schools, where they’re obviously absurdly serious about football. Kliff Kingsbury, who we were all rooting against because maybe possibly he’d go to his mentor’s alma mater. Wait, what were we talking about again?

Oh yeah, I stopped that sentence halfway through because I started thinking about Kingsbury and Sumlin. My bad.

Jinks was hired by Kingsbury to be Texas Tech’s running backs coach, and within two years was associate head coach of a high powered offense. That tends to draw attention, particularly when it’s under a Texas high school coaching star and the most handsome head coach in college football.

After Purdue foolishly passed on firing Darrell Hazell in 2015 and Dino Babers took the Syracuse job, Bowling Green offered Jinks the head coaching job. They…uuh…haven’t looked good this year.

Why would he be successful at Purdue?

Because he’s got a smile that lights up a room and might give Kliff Kingsbury another connection to Purdue so that whenever he needs to rehab his coaching reputation Kingsbury can just saunter into Ross Ade Stadium and save us from this football misery?

Why could he flop at Purdue?

Because Jinks, at least right now, seems to be in over his head as a D1 head coach.

Would he come to Purdue?

In a heartbeat, but I doubt Jinks’ name has even been mentioned around Bobinski. In a year or two, after BGSU is still struggling, I would *absolutely love* Jinks as an offensive coordinator in a creative system, but he won’t be free for a bit.