Big-time coaches show up at FAU
Kiffin’s satellite camp brings top programs to players in Boca Raton.
BOCA RATON — After Lane Kiffin let representatives of some of the nation’s top college football programs into the Oxley Center’s halls, not even gray skies could dampen his mood.
Kiffin and FAU hosted a group of schools Monday that included Michigan, Arkansas, Oregon and Tennessee in an afternoon satellite camp held on the school’s practice fields with local high school players. In addition to those programs, FAU also welcomed Vanderbilt, Illinois, and Keiser University.
“I didn’t say no to any of them,” Kiffin said. “Whoever reached out to us and wanted to come, we allowed them to come because really, it’s about the kids. This is about affording kids opportunities to go places.”
For Kiffin, who is in his first head coaching job since he was fired by USC in 2013, welcoming elite teams is a source of pride and excitement. Tasked with rebuilding a program that has won only nine games in the past three years, Kiffin used the gathering of coaches to share ideas and discuss strategy.
“There’s a little bit in the day where a lot of these guys have been around all day, popping in and out, and I just did a little bit with (Oregon offensive coordinator and former Florida International head coach) Mario Cristobal,”
Kiffin said. “That’s the second priority. Obviously the kids and the camp are the first priority.”
Though some may have been curious about how Kiffin, who unceremoniously left Tennessee after the 2009 season to take the USC job, would react to having the Volunteers around, the fifth head coach in FAU history shrugged the “reunion” off.
“I’ve got great respect for their staff at Tennessee and always have had great things to say about our time there,” said Kiffin, who was 7-6 in his one season in Knoxville. “There was no reason to not let them come.”
Kiffin also spoke about having West Palm Beach-based Keiser, whose tiny NAIA program is set to launch in 2018, attend the camp.
“That’s what coaching is about, helping players and other coaches too,” Kiffin said. “My dad always said just because you’re a big program, you’re a good coach and just because you’re a small program, you’re a bad coach. We’ll welcome them all.”
Oregon head coach Willie Taggart (whose rebuild of the South Florida program landed him the Ducks job this offseason) and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh both spoke to assembled media.
When asked if there were any parallels between himself and Kiffin, Harbaugh deadpanned “we’re both coaches,” before thinking back to their days in California.
“We coached together in the Pac-12,” said Harbaugh, who coached Stanford from 2007-10. “We’re all in the same profession, which I think is the biggest connector. We’re for football and we’re just coaching our teams. That’s a lot and that’s enough; that’s what you do as a football coach.”