New season, new era
Kiffin to make Owls coaching debut vs. Navy.
BOCA RATON — John Kelly stood on the roof of FAU Stadium on a Tuesday last December, ascending 145 feet into the sky and three floors removed the commotion below him. The Florida Atlantic president showed off one of the campus’ crown jewels. He pointed straight out to the Atlantic Ocean. He picked out downtown Miami and Fort Lauderdale in the distance to his right.
Below him, FAU’s newest head coach greeted university dignitaries and reporters soon after Kelly introduced him as “the genius in coaching: Lane Kiffin.” An empty stadium served as the backdrop to both Kelly’s impromptu tour and the start of Kiffin’s reign at FAU. It won’t be empty tonight. Kiffin will make his Owls debut against Navy at 8 p.m. The game, televised on ESPNU, is expected to approach a sellout crowd of red-clad FAU fans.
The Owls bring a handful of questions into their opener against the Midshipmen. They haven’t publicly named a starting quarterback. They haven’t announced what a potential two-quarterback system would look like. Their newest transfers may not be game-ready. And then there’s the ordeal of stopping Navy’s unique and potent tripleoption offense.
But all those storylines take a backseat to Kiffin’s debut. He’ll have a national televi-
sion audience to impress and persuade, a stage not often given to FAU in Boca Raton. It brings national intrigue and affords the Owls a chance at a four-hour recruiting pitch.
“It’s probably one of the biggest games we’re going to ever have here,” senior running back Gregory “Buddy” Howell Jr. said. “Well, starting now. We’re going to make it bigger. It’s one of the biggest games that I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
The game already promises to be at least the thirdbest attended game since FAU Stadium opened in 2011. According to the most recent update from the university on Wednesday morning, less than 5,000 tickets remained in the 29,495-seat on-campus venue.
The Owls have only had two home games ever eclipse 20,000 fans at FAU Stadium. One was the stadium’s inaugural game against Western Kentucky in 2011 (29,103). The other was Miami’s visit to Boca in 2015 (30,321).
On Wednesday afternoon, FAU announced that its student section sold out, prompting it to release 1,000 more student tickets. The school is even giving away visors — Kiffin’s signature headwear — to the first 2,000 students in the stadium.
This is the type of buzz FAU and Kelly hired Kiffin to create. Without him, the game likely isn’t broadcast on an ESPN network. It’s likely lost in a slate of Saturday games instead of shifted to a marquee Friday night matchup. For a program that ranked third-tolast in attendance, generating hype is part of the road map to relevance.
“If we win the game, it kind of instills that spirit of winning, which happens no matter if you’re looking for a girlfriend, looking for what kind of car you want, looking for a job or you’re trying to get good grades, nobody wants somebody who just doesn’t care,” Kelly said. “You want people who want to win.”
Kiffin said he’s not sure what his personal emotions will be like tonight. A maiden voyage at FAU hardly compares to debuts coaching the Oakland Raiders or Tennessee or USC or assisting at Alabama.
“Is it as many people as I’m used to or the stadiums?” Kiffin said. “No, but I think at the same time knowing what these players have been used to, hopefully it will be really exciting. … I’m not worried about myself. I got to make sure the players are ready to go.”
The players are the unknown variable.
Jason Driskel, De’Andre Johnson and Daniel Parr all could command the offense at some point tonight. FAU’s official depth chart released Tuesday evening listed costarters at 11 different positions, including receiver, running back and four of the five spots in the secondary. Of the 11 defensive linemen FAU could rotate through, only four notched double-digit tackles in a FAU uniform last year.
FAU hasn’t made a bowl game since 2008. With a win over Navy, the Owls would appear on the right track to end the dubious streak, a goal FAU’s administration has chased for nearly a decade. Kelly, who spent 28 years at Clemson, joked that “my tradition is I’m not happy if we have less than nine wins.”
“I’m not trying to put that kind of pressure on him.”