Mike Jinks facts for kids
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 7, 1972 |
| Playing career | |
| 1990–1993 | Angelo State |
| Position(s) | Quarterback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996–1997 | Ellison HS (TX) (QB) |
| 1998 | Judson HS (TX) (QB) |
| 1999 | David Crockett HS (TX) (OC) |
| 2000–2001 | Galena Park HS (TX) (OC) |
| 2002–2004 | Robert E. Lee HS (TX) (OC) |
| 2005 | Luther Burbank HS (TX) |
| 2006–2012 | Steele HS (TX) |
| 2013–2014 | Texas Tech (RB) |
| 2015 | Texas Tech (AHC/RB) |
| 2016–2018 | Bowling Green |
| 2019–2021 | USC (RB) |
| 2022–2023 | Houston (RB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 79–25 (high school) 7–24 (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Texas Class 5A Division II (2010) | |
| Awards | |
| National High School Coach of the Year Finalist (2012) U.S. Army All-American Bowl Coach (2012) |
|
Michael Troy Jinks, born on February 7, 1972, is an American football coach. He recently coached running backs for the Houston Cougars. He was also a head coach at Bowling Green State University and coached running backs at the University of Southern California and Texas Tech University.
Contents
Early Life and Football Career
Mike Jinks was born on February 7, 1972. He grew up playing football and was a quarterback for three years at Judson High School in Converse, Texas. After graduating in 1990, he continued his football journey in college.
Jinks played college football as a quarterback for Angelo State. He was the starting quarterback for two years. He earned a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, which is the study of body movement, with a minor in Mathematics.
Coaching Journey
Starting in High School
Mike Jinks' coaching career began in an interesting way in 1995. He was working as a waiter in a restaurant in San Angelo, Texas. One day, he served a table of coaches from Ellison High School. They offered him a job as their quarterbacks coach!
Jinks needed money to get his teacher certification and move to Killeen, Texas. His former coach at Angelo State, Jerry Vandergriff, helped him with a loan.
After Ellison High School, Jinks coached at his old school, Judson High School, in 1998. He then became an offensive coordinator at several other high schools:
- David Crockett High School
- Galena Park High School
- Robert E. Lee High School
In 2005, Jinks got his first chance to be a head coach at Burbank High School in San Antonio, Texas.
Leading Steele High School
Later in 2005, Jinks became the head coach for Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas. This was eight months before the school even opened! He built the new football program from scratch.
In 2010, Jinks led Steele to an amazing win. They won the Class 5A Division II Texas state championship. A future NFL running back named Malcolm Brown was on that team.
Steele High School continued to be very successful under Jinks.
- In 2011, they made it to the state championship finals again.
- In 2012, they reached the state semifinals.
After the 2012 season, Jinks was honored as a coach for the West-team in the 2012 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He was also a finalist for the 2013 Xenith National High School Coach of the Year Award. Jinks left Steele High School with an impressive record of 77 wins and only 17 losses. In his last three seasons there, his teams won 43 games and lost only 4!
Moving to College Football
On January 9, 2013, Mike Jinks took a big step in his career. He accepted a job as the running backs coach for Texas Tech University. He worked under head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
In January 2015, Jinks was promoted at Texas Tech. He became the associate head coach, while still coaching running backs. During his time there, running back Deandre Washington became the first Texas Tech player since 1998 to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (2014). Washington even led the Big 12 Conference in rushing yards in 2015.
On December 8, 2015, Jinks was named the head coach at Bowling Green State University. He coached there for two and a half seasons. On October 14, 2018, he left Bowling Green.
After Bowling Green, Jinks became the running backs coach for the University of Southern California from 2019 to 2021. Most recently, he coached running backs for the Houston Cougars from 2022 to 2023.
