Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
FAU trusts in Kiffin
Confidence high ahead of National Signing Day.
When new Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin announces his latest recruiting class on Wednesday during National Signing Day, it will be a collection molded over the past month since he was hired, complete with defections from and additions to the previous staff’s group. It will likely be among the best in Conference USA.
But for Kiffin, the class will look a bit different than what he’s accustomed to. The four- and fivestar recruits regularly hauled in at his past jobs at Alabama, USC and Tennessee will be absent, replaced by an army of three-star prospects.
According to 247 Sports, Alabama signed 14 five-star recruits in the three seasons Kiffin was its offensive coordinator. In five years as the head coach at USC and Tennessee, Kiffin signed 11 five-star recruits. FAU has never signed a four- or five-star prospect.
In his introductory news conference in December, Kiffin talked about how he could bring talent to a program like FAU that doesn’t have the cachet and resources of his past stops.
“Got that sunshine right there, I
“I do believe that recruiting is about the people.” Lane Kiffin, coach for FAU
know that,” Kiffin said. “And those palm trees, that’ll help, and a beautiful stadium. I do believe that recruiting is about the people, and it’s about the people that I’ve already met that were around and the support that recruits and families will see when they come here.”
For FAU, the head coaching position is different than it was when program patriarch Howard Schnellenberger built it. The Owls have a 30,000-seat stadium that opened in 2011. The school ceremonially broke ground on an approximately $45 million athletic facility that should open next summer.
By paying Kiffin $950,000 annually to coach the Owls, FAU now has the highest paid coach in Conference USA. Its total investment (including the $1.7 million assistant coach salary pool) in the staff has jumped about $1 million from 2016.
The combination of factors has Schnellenberger believing now is as good a time as any for FAU on the recruiting trail.
“It’s sitting here as well as it can be situated to bring in the best — not the best, you’re not going to get the best — but get a good, solid group,” Schnellenberger said. “You can bring in some top talent. They won’t be packaged as top-of-the-line kids.”
As of Monday, Kiffin’s class included players that chose FAU over Miami and Florida State (safety Ahman Ross), Michigan and Louisville (receiver Jordan Merrell) and Illinois and Iowa State (defensive end Ernest Bagner).
Schnellenberger is in a unique position to understand what Kiffin is going through, having arrived at FAU after previously coaching at Miami and Louisville. He led the Hurricanes to their first national title in 1983. Each time, Schnellenberger took over a program without a national profile, so his recruiting pitch remained somewhat consistent.
“What you got to sell is ‘Why should I go to Florida Atlantic University? Why should I go to Miami? Why should I go to Louisville?’ ” Schnellenberger said. “You should go to Louisville so you can become the founders, you become the conduit that starts the thing and gets it going.
“To be the founders, the pathfinders, the builders, the executive that starts the company and takes it to the top. They’re going to make movies about you, you’re going to be in the headlines of the paper. You’ll get all that. That’s the best thing you have to sell.”
Schnellenberger even said he used Miami’s dearth of facilities to sell recruits on the school, adopting a “We’re poor, but we’re proud” mentality to attract prospects. He admitted to not concerning himself with star ratings and recruiting rankings, instead evaluating a player on size, speed, toughness and coachability.
As for Kiffin, Schnellenberger did not offer an opinion on Kiffin’s work yet, instead opting to wait for results on the field.
“We’re going to judge him on what he’s done here in two to three years,” Schnellenberger said. “The biggest thing he has is he’s got a reputation. To be the guy that takes a program and getting it over the hump and getting it where it becomes everybody knows about it, that’s the key issue.”