Kiffin enjoying place in spotlight
Owls’ success in C-USA is attracting national attention.
BOCA RATON — As soon as coach Lane Kiffin signed a five-year contract with Florida Atlantic in December, one thing was guaranteed: there would be significantly more spotlight on an FAU program that hadn’t posted a winning season since 2008.
With the Owls (4-3, 3-0 in C-USA) sitting over .500 this late in a season for the first time since ending that 2008 season with a Motor City Bowl win over Central Michigan, Kiffin admitted he’s enjoying the national recognition his team has received.
“Success brings attention, and that’s what you want on your program,” Kiffin said Monday. “From the standpoint of recruiting and national exposure, that part’s good.”
Though FAU had its lowest attendance of the season on Saturday night (13,277) during its 69-31 throttling of North Texas, more people are taking note of the job Kiffin and his coaches are doing. Sophomore running back Devin Singletary (Delray Beach/American Heritage), who set a program record on Saturday with 14 rushing touchdowns this season, is tied with Auburn’s Kerryon Johnson for the Division I lead in that stat.
Under Kiffin and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, the Owls rank 17th in the country in yards per game (485) and points per game (39.1).
With its next win, FAU will tie the 2013 team — the last Owls squad to go .500 — for the most C-USA wins in a season with four. FAU had gone just 10-17 in conference play from 2014-16 under Charlie Partridge.
“You go to class, you go to restaurants now and (you have) everybody telling you how great you are,” Kiffin said. “It’s hard at any age not to listen to that, especially at their young age.”
In an attempt to keep the attention from going to players’ heads, Kiffin admitted to “doing the opposite with them” during practices.
“We spent two weeks over the bye ... bringing our guys back down to earth,” Kiffin said.
Kalib Woods update: After redshirt senior receiver Kalib Woods made his season debut Saturday following a suspension linked to a January nightclub fight, Kiffin reiterated the decision to reinstate last year’s leading receiver was made by FAU officials.
“We did not know (Woods would be reinstated) until very close to the game,” Kiffin said. “He played a few plays, he didn’t play a ton, so it’s good to have him back in there.”
Kiffin said Woods, who has practiced with the team since early September on their service unit, “paid a big price.” Woods did not record any catches in Saturday’s blowout win, though he did see action with the first team and committed a holding penalty on his first play.
Noteworthy: Kiffin said he does not expect senior cornerback Raekwon Williams, who missed Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury but was seen with crutches on the sideline, to play against Western Kentucky (5-2, 3-1) this weekend.
FAU’s Jason Driskel was one of eight Division I quarterbacks nominated for the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week, an honor that will be decided by fan voting. Driskel completed 24-of35 passes for 357 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in Saturday’s win.