Coach Kiffin was major reason QB left SMU behind
BOCA RATON — Traveling to South Florida or joining one of the nation’s rising college football programs weren’t quite at the top of Southern Methodist quarterback Rafe Peavey’s list when he considered transferring to Florida Atlantic.
As he put it, who wouldn’t want to play for Lane Kiffin?
“I wanted to come play for him and learn from him,” Peavey said. “The track record from this place with him has been (great). I mean, he came here and won (11) games his first year. That’s pretty remarkable and shows how great of a coach, how he can come in here and flip a program around like
that. It’s pretty impressive.”
Peavey, 22, joined the Owls last week after two seasons in Dallas. A three-star recruit out of high school from Missouri, Peavey began his collegiate career at Arkansas but never played a snap for the Razorbacks, transferring to SMU in 2016. As Ben Hicks’ backup last year, Peavey was a perfect four-of-four for 116 yards and a touchdown in three games.
With Peavey fighting for a backup spot at SMU this fall in his final year of eligibility, he thought a change of scenery was in order.
“I saw an opportunity here, and I felt God leading me down this way,” Peavey said. “I made a split-second decision after the first practice (at SMU) just to pack up my stuff and come down here. It was pretty tough, especially having to talk to my fiancee and leave her. It was pretty hard but at the same time, I just have faith (that) this is where God is calling me to be.”
Peavey is the second quarterback to transfer to FAU this offseason. Indiana quarterback Nick Tronti joined the program this summer, but he will sit this year in compliance with NCAA transfer regulations. Tronti has not yet practiced as he has an undisclosed illness.
It didn’t take long for Peavey to get an opportunity with the Owls, as he saw action with the first, second, and third teams in his first three practices. Peavey was not promised the starting quarterback job when he arrived at FAU and is competing with redshirt junior De’Andre Johnson and redshirt freshman Chris Robison to start against Oklahoma on Sept. 1.
Peavey acknowledged the transition has been sudden, both from a personal and on-field standpoint. It only took a few minutes on the field before Peavey was throwing to the first-team and working on plays and schemes he’d missed out on.
“This is my fifth offense, so there’s actually a lot of carryover from actually every single coordinator,” Peavey said. “Now it’s all in one (offense). It’s just tracing back to my mind to several plays that I’ve seen before and putting new terminology to them.”
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver John Mitchell praised Peavey’s accuracy and how quickly he settled into FAU’s offense.
“He’s gonna be another addition to the competition (and) to the race,” Mitchell said.
Peavey said he’s already noticed a difference between these 2018 Owls and any of the other programs he’s played for.
“These guys have fun playing football,” Peavey said. “That’s the way it should be.”