Former Auburn quarterback T.J. Finley has a new team, just 10 days after announcing his decision to hit the transfer portal.

Finley committed to Texas State on Friday and will join the Sun Belt program this summer after he graduates from Auburn next month. Finley will have multiple years of eligibility remaining with the Bobcats, who will be entering their first season under new head coach G.J. Kinne.

Read more Auburn football: Hugh Freeze discusses Auburn’s newest transfers, which positions he still wants to address this offseason

Payton Thorne “more proven” than any transfer quarterback Hugh Freeze has coached

Trent Dilfer: Auburn signee Hank Brown “has all the skills” to develop into NFL quarterback

Finley is the second SEC transfer quarterback to sign with Texas State this offseason, as the Bobcats added former Arkansas signal-caller Malik Hornsby, a former top-100 recruit in the 2020 class.

At Texas State, Finley will have a fresh start under Kinne, the first-year head coach who has seen a rapid rise in his career over the last few years. A former quarterback under one-time Auburn coach Gus Malzahn at Tulsa during Malzahn’s time as an offensive coordinator, Kinne has gone from an offensive graduate assistant at SMU in 2017 to now his second head coaching opportunity — and first at the FBS level — in short order. Kinne was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Hawaii in 2020 before serving the same role under Malzahn at UCF in 2021. Last season was his first as a head coach, and he led Incarnate Word to a 12-2 record and trip to the FCS semifinals before taking over at Texas State.

Kinne’s coaching and offensive system helped Incarnate Word quarterback Lindsey Scott finish second among FCS passers in yards (4,686) last season while setting the FCS single-season record for passing touchdowns, with 60.

Scott, like Finley, is a Louisiana native who started his career at LSU. Now Finley will try to jumpstart his career in that same offense after spending the last two seasons at Auburn. Formerly a three-star quarterback out of Ponchatoula, Finley started five games as a true freshman at LSU before transferring to Auburn two summers ago. He served as Bo Nix’s backup during the 2021 season but started the final three games of the season for Auburn after Nix sustained a season-ending ankle injury.

Finley was then named the starting quarterback during fall camp last year, edging out Robby Ashford for the starting job heading into the 2022 season. Finley started the first three games of the schedule before sustaining a shoulder injury against Penn State that ultimately derailed his campaign, as Ashford took control of the offense during an underwhelming 5-7 season for the program. Finley appeared in just one more game, playing a few snaps during Auburn’s loss at Ole Miss, before taking a redshirt. He finished the season completing 33-of-53 passes (62.3 percent) for 431 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Finley entered the spring competing with Ashford and redshirt freshman Holden Geriner for Auburn’s starting job, and while he spent much of spring practices as second in the rotation at quarterback, there was uncertainty about his future as head coach Hugh Freeze said the competition would carry into fall camp and that he wouldn’t rule out adding a transfer quarterback this summer (Auburn has since picked up former Michigan State starter Payton Thorne). Finley opted to hit the portal a second time as a graduate transfer, announcing his decision May 2, ahead of his graduation from Auburn next month.

Finley is a career 57 percent passer who has thrown for 2,199 yards, 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while averaging 6.9 yards per pass attempt.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.