Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
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
“I’m very happy here on all fronts.” Lane Kiffin, FAU head coach
seasons.
Kiffin told ESPN his mindset is different than it was when he first began coaching. Although he said he can’t guarantee he will stay forever, it would take the ideal situation for him to leave.
“Ten years ago, when you’re younger, the mindset is, how fast can you get the big job? How much money can you make? How big a house can you get?” Kiffin said in the interview. “Then you get to a point where you’ve had all that stuff, so you think differently. Am I saying I’d never go? No, I’m not saying that, but it would have to be a really special situation where I would look at things differently now. Who’s the president? Who’s the AD? How are they going to support us?
“So you’re making sure it’s the right place you can really win at, because as you get older, you realize how important it is. That’s why I took this job. This president is 100 percent about football and doing what it takes to win. Gave us the highest assistant coach pool in the conference. That’s a big deal. When you’re younger, you don’t even ask that.”
The Owls are set to begin what could be their most anticipated season in school history when they play at Oklahoma on Sept. 1. They also face Central Florida on Sept. 21 before opening conference play the following weekend.
Kiffin will be tested because he will have to adjust after an eventful offseason. The Owls lost both coordinators, replacing them with Charlie Weis Jr. and Tony Pecoraro and will play a quarterback who has never started a game at the Division I-A level. Last year’s starter, Jason Driskel, retired from football. Kiffin will make a decision between De’Andre Johnson and Chris Robison during fall camp.
The Owls do return running back Devin “Motor” Singletary, who was the Conference USA most valuable player, and AllConference linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and safety Jalen Young.