Keeping Kiffin

Coach reaffirms desire to stay.

BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic football coach Lane Kiffin had conversations in the offseason with several other schools about their job openings, but says he remains committed to building the Owls program.

In an interview with ESPN, Kiffin said he was contacted by multiple universities to gauge his interest. As he’s said in the past, Kiffin is content at FAU for now. He verbally agreed to an extension in December that will keep him in Boca Raton until 2027 but has yet to sign the contract because the details haven’t been finalized.

“I’m not driven by money anymore,” Kiffin said in the article. “I’m not driven by ego, of the attention being a head coach at one of those places. I’m very happy here on all fronts. The only drive is when you do see Kirby [Smart], you see Coach [Nick] Saban walk out on that field before the game, the national championship, holding that trophy. It’s the drive of, OK, I get to play against the best, let’s see if I can beat the best. It’s different. That would not be what I would have answered even five years ago. Because your ego — once you get rid of that, you have different motivations.”

Kiffin’s name often surfaced during coaching vacancies, including Arizona and Tennessee. In his first year at FAU, he led the Owls to an 11-3 record, their first Conference USA championship and a victory against Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl. The team was coming off three consecutive 3-9