Weis Jr., 24, replacing Briles
Youngest offensive coordinator in FBS history taking over.
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has stunned the college football world once again with his latest hire.
Kiffin is set to hire Atlanta Falcons assistant Charlie Weis Jr. — son of the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator and Notre Dame and Kansas coach, Charlie Weis — to be the youngest offensive coordinator in modern FBS history.
Weis, 24, will replace Kendal Briles, who was hired in the same role by the University of Houston earlier this month.
If Weis is hired, it would be his second stint at FAU in the past 12 months. Weis, a former Alabama offensive analyst under then-Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Kiffin, was hired as FAU’s tight ends coach before taking a job with the Atlanta Falcons and former Alabama staffer Steve Sarkisian last spring. Kiffin then hired former West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett in the same role.
“He’s way ahead of his time in how he sees the game, his football IQ and just his overall intelligence,” Kiffin told ESPN. “He’s been around the game with his dad being a coach, a lot like I was when I was growing up, and has a bright future.”
Per a 2017 public records request of coaching contracts, Weis was scheduled to make $50,000 as the Owls’ tight end coach in 2017. Briles made $350,000 in his lone year at FAU, with bonuses that came with the team’s success in winning its first Conference USA championship and the Boca Raton Bowl.
Weis will have lofty expectations in his first coordinator job as he takes over an offense that averaged more than 40 points per game in 2017 but loses three starting offensive linemen, running back Buddy Howell, and star wide receiver Kalib Woods to graduation.
All-American running back Devin Singletary (American Heritage) will return for his junior season after rushing for 32 touchdowns this season, third-most in FBS history.
Weis is FAU’s fourth offen- sive coordinator in the past four seasons, joining Brian Wright (2015), Travis Trickett (2016), and Briles.
One team source told The Post earlier this month that Sarkisian, who was Kiffin’s offensive coordinator at USC and became the Trojans’ interim coach after Kiffin’s infamous 2013 tarmac firing, was not likely to be considered for the job. Sarkisian spent 2017 as offensive coordinator for the Falcons, who were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday by Philadelphia.
FAU has not officially announced the hiring, nor has it confirmed that another former Alabama coach, Wes Neighbors, has been hired as the Owls’ safeties coach.
News of the Weis hiring came after Athletic Director Pat Chun was hired as AD at Washington State.