Austin Peay names Knoxville native Faris coach
Austin Peay football has found its next coach.
Jeff Faris, a Tennessee native who was previously the tight ends coach at UCLA, was hired by the Governors on Saturday.
Austin Peay will introduce Faris at a press conference Monday at noon in F&M Bank Arena.
Faris and Austin Peay athletic director Gerald Harrison spent time at Duke together and worked on the staff of former Blue Devils coach David Cutcliffe.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Jeff, Natalie, and the entire Faris Family back home to the State of Tennessee, specifically to Clarksville and Montgomery County,” Harrison said in a school release. “Jeff is a brilliant offensive mind and a tireless recruiter. He will be an impactful member of our community and has an has an infectious personality that will galvanize our student-athletes, our fans, and all of Stacheville.
“Coach Faris is committed to the tenets of the ‘Total Gov Concept’ and I am confident that he will be a great steward of Clarksville’s Hometown Team.”
Faris replaces Scotty Walden, who left APSU last week to become coach at UTEP.
Walden went 26-14 in four seasons in Clarksville and led the Govs to a 9-3 season, United Athletic Conference championship and FCS playoff appearance in 2023.
“Natalie, Jack, Eli, and I are thrilled to be joining the Austin Peay family,” Faris said in the school release. “To come home and be a part of the incredible history and tradition of our great University is a dream come true. We love the Clarksville community and look forward to meeting everyone. I cannot wait to get to work with this special group.”
At 33, Faris will become the secondyoungest coach in FCS, and thirdyoungest in all of Division I. Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Incarnate
Word’s Clint Killough are both younger than Faris.
Faris is from Knoxville and played high school football at Knoxville Catholic from 2004-07. He then played four seasons at Duke as a reserve safety and became a graduate assistant after his playing career.
In 2014, Faris was promoted to wide receivers coach, a role he held for four seasons. He then moved to tight ends coach in 2018 and was in that position from 2020. He also served as the Blue Devils’ offensive recruiting coordinator from 2017-20.
Faris became co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2021 and was the primary play-caller under Cutcliffe. When Cutcliffe and Duke parted ways after that season, Faris was hired by UCLA.
Harrison was at Duke for 10 years before being hired by APSU in 2018. Harrison served in a variety of roles at Duke, including Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Affairs, and had oversight of the football team.