National exposure part of Kiffin’s plan for Owls

BOCA RATON — Bringing national attention to Florida Atlantic is what coach Lane Kiffin expected when he took over the program.

Now that he’s earned it, he wants to take it to the next level in his second year in charge. In his eyes, three games on national TV is only the beginning.

“That’s great,” Kiffin said. “We’ve come a long ways in a year but we have a whole different set of obstacles compared to last year.”

Kiffin spoke Saturday at his on-campus satellite camp. It featured assistant coaches from Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon. Kiffin and Georgia’s Kirby Smart were the only head coaches to attend.

Events as such — and of course, success on the field — have brought a national brand to FAU. Last year the Owls went 11-3 and won a bowl game for the first time in a decade, following three consecutive 3-9 seasons. They were rewarded with their season-opening game at Oklahoma being televised on Fox. They also have two other games — Louisiana Tech and North Texas — on national television.

While the added exposure is a bonus for the program, Kiffin knows it will lead to a new challenge. The Owls are no longer the underdog. They are the face of Conference USA.

“We played last year and won the conference,” Kiffin said. “Whenever you do that, the conference spends the offseason studying you. We’re not going to be able to take people by surprise this year.”

The Owls have been decorated with preseason accolades. Last month Athlon Sports selected 16 of their players to its All-Conference teams. They were also No. 17 in USA Today’s early preseason rankings and junior Devin “Motor” Singletary was listed as the nation’s fifth-best running back by Sporting News.

“Just like anything can be, there’s good and bad in everything,” Kiffin said. “It’s good because it shows how far our program has come in one year, but it can be bad if we don’t understand how we got there. We start thinking that’s going to help us win games because we got votes or preseason All-Conference players. That doesn’t have anything to do with winning games.”

The only time Kiffin pats himself on the back about the success is when he notices the reactions from local high school players and coaches. Even then, he appreciates the praise quickly and then turns the focus toward improving this season.

“Everyone comes up and congratulates you on the season,” Kiffin said. “Whether it’s high school kids, high school coaches or college coaches from Michigan and some of these other places that watched us last year. It’s very different. It’s a great thing, but we’ve got to understand how to keep going.”