FAU hires Southern Miss’ Tony Pecoraro

BOCA RATON — An offseason full of coaching changes is finally over for the Florida Atlantic football team.

The school is expected to hire Tony Pecoraro as the new defensive coordinator to replace Chris Kiffin, who left last month to take a job with the San Francisco 49ers. Kiffin is the younger brother of FAU coach Lane Kiffin.

Pecoraro spent the past two seasons at Southern Miss, one of FAU’s rivals in Conference USA. Last year, the Golden Eagles ranked 20th in the nation in total defense, giving up 331.9 yards a game.

They also were 45th in scoring defense (24.5). That ranked third in the conference behind Texas-San Antonio, Marshall and FAU. Southern Miss finished 8-5, losing to Florida State 42-13 in the Independence Bowl.

The hire ends a turbulent offseason for the FAU coaching staff. It also lost offensive coordinator Kendal Briles (Houston), offensive line coach Garin Justice (UNLV) and defensive backs coach Corey Batoon (Hawaii). All were key in helping the Owls complete an 11-3 season that ended with a 50-3 victory against Akron in Boca Raton Bowl.

In Pecoraro, who is the third defensive coordinator in three seasons, the Owls get a coach who is familiar with the state. He was defensive quality control coach at Florida State for three years and also spent time at Webber University.

Pecoraro inherits an FAU defense led by safety Jalen Young and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who were both first-team All-Conference USA players last season. The Owls open spring practices March 20, and will hold their Spring Game April 21 at FAU Stadium.