Jabir sees promise in struggling team
New women’s coach says “we will win championships.”
its second national championship this decade.
All of that hype and fanfare went out the door when Johnson was dismissed from the team after punching a woman at a Tallahassee bar.
Before signing a plea deal in December 2015, Johnson was facing a misdemeanor battery charge, though he instead was put on probation for six months and spent 10 days working with the Sheriff ’s Office. Now, Johnson arrives in Boca Raton a marked man, a refugee after spending the 2016 season at East Mississippi Community College.
Ask Johnson, however, and he’ll tell you that the trip he took through darkness had a rewarding payoff — and features plenty of lessons learned along the way.
“Going from FSU to school in Eastern Mississippi out in the middle of nowhere and now being in paradise, it’s a blessing,” Johnson said. “It just goes to show that God has a plan for everybody, and you may not see it early, but soon, God will show it to me.”
Johnson’s story is wellknown, especially after he appeared on the second season of the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.” Throwing for 2,464 yards and a 26-6 touchdown-interception ratio while also leading the team in rushing yards, Johnson destroyed JUCO defenses and again generated interest from Division I schools.
After Jason Driskel was inconsistent and the Daniel Parr experiment failed, FAU came into the 2016 offseason looking for another quarterback, and the MACJC (Mississippi Association of Community & Junior Colleges) North MVP fit the bill. Though it was previous FAU coach Charlie Partridge who began the recruitment of Johnson, the school’s December hire of Lane Kiffin as coach is what sealed the deal for the rising junior quarterback.
FAU adding Kendal Briles, the mastermind behind arguably the nation’s best offense at Baylor, was a bonus for the former First Coast quarterback.
“Coming to the (Oxley Center), I see coach Kiffin, I see coach Briles, and those are two of the greatest minds in college football,” Johnson said. “Coach Kiffin, he doesn’t really talk too much, but when he talks, you listen. I was in awe at first, like, ‘Oh, this is coach Kiffin of the Oakland Raiders, USC and Tennessee,’ and I was ready to go.”
Johnson also spoke highly of Lane’s father, Monte, a quality control coach who has been serving as a mentor for players and coaches alike. While Monte mainly works with the defensive backs, Johnson hinted that the creator of the Tampa 2 has been an adviser for him, affec tionately referring to the senior Kiffin as “The Godfather.”
An FAU official did confirm with The Palm Beach Post that Johnson is not on any t ype of probation or mandated ac tivities with the school. During a meeting with Athletic Director Pat Chun, Johnson instead made it clear that he wanted to do outreach in the local community.
A b l e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n spring practice because he is enrolled as an FAU student, Johnson is one of five JUCO recruits the Owls have landed in their 2017 recruiting class; defensive end Tim Bonner, who signed his letter of intent in February, played with Johnson at East Mississippi. On social media, Johnson has used the hashtag #JUCOProduct to congratulate other players who have gone from junior colleges to Division I.
Some might look at junior colleges as almost the minor leagues of college football, the places where players who weren’t wanted anywhere else go, but Johnson takes pride in succeeding at East Mississippi.
“When I was at high school and Florida State, I never really looked at JUCO guys or understood what that was like,” Johnson said. “Just to be out there for two years a n d t h e c h a l l e n ge s t h a t you face out there, it takes a strong individual to make it at JUCO.”
Johnson then added that the biggest misconception he believes people have about the JUCO ranks is people forget that “it’s still just football.”
In spring practice, Kiffin has said no starting spots are guaranteed, especially at quarterback. While Johnson does appear to be the favorite to start against Navy on Sept. 3, what he can do for those around him is more a priority than worrying about a game five months away.
“This year is about vindicating and restoring myself, but really, I’m just focused on the team,” Johnson said. “I’m focused on winning — it’s not about me, it’s about FAU football. It’s the Coach Kiffin era, not my era.” BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic has found its new women’s basketball coach — and according to Athletic Director Pat Chun, the next coming of Howard Schnellenberger.
The Owls welcomed Jim Jabir, the all-time wins leader at the University of Dayton, as the fifth head coach in women’s basketball history.
“We are ecstatic to welcome Coach Jabir and his family to Florida Atlantic,” Chun said Thursday at the Oxley Center. “Coach Jabir brings an extraordinary track record of developing student-athletes at championship levels and will make an immediate and lasting impact on our student-athletes, basketball program, and university.”
A Brooklyn, N.Y., native, Jabir spent 13 seasons at Dayton, going 238-140 with the Flyers and leading them to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2010-15 — including the program’s first Elite Eight in 2015. Jabir has also coached at Buffalo State, Siena, Marquette and Providence, compiling a 458-363 record.
Now Jabir will take over an FAU team that lost the final 19 games of the 201617 season and finished 4-25. But as he did when inheriting a Dayton program that went 3-25 in his first season, Jabir has lofty expectations.
“I’ve been coaching for a long time and we are very excited to be here,” Jabir said. “The goal here is to go to the NCAA Tournament and to have really good citizens. We’re going to win championships here — it’s not boastful to say; why would you come to work every day if that’s not what you want? We will win championships here in women’s basketball.”
After health scares at the end of his Dayton tenure that Jabir attributed to overwork, the Nazareth College alum has spent the past few months in Denmark working with a men’s pro team. The hiring of Jabir marks the third of what the Owls consider “splash” hires they have made since 2014, when they added former Detroit Pistons head coach Michael Curry to lead the men’s basketball program. In December 2016, FAU hired Lane Kiffin to coach football.
Chun, who made those hires, cited Jabir’s beliefs in building family, relationships and “positivity in the room” as reasons why it was impossible for him to look at another candidate.
“He’s a master coach,” Chun said. “When you’re in the room and you watch him connect with our student athletes, you see their smiles.”
Chun then turned to an emotional Jabir and added, “Not to put any pressure on you, but you’re probably the most accomplished head coach we’ve hired since (football program founder) Howard Schnellenberger.”
While the FAU women’s team finished without winning a single Conference USA game, several players cemented themselves as pieces for the future. Most not a bly, f re shman Kat e - lyn O’Reilly led the team in field goal percentage with a .498 mark and forward Sasha Cedeno is set to return for her senior season.
None of that talent means anything to Jabir, however, if the players don’t keep tabs on their personal lives as well.
“We talked about respect and how we treat people — teachers, staff, anyone — so I hope that we make you all proud. Hopefully, that translates to some really great players who are really great people; I don’t c are very much if you’re a great player but not a great person. I’m too old for that.”