The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
College coach of year:
The AP presents its annual award today and, since 1998, no one has won the award three times. Alabama’s Nick Saban could be the first.
Lane Kiffin has wasted no time making a splash at Florida Atlantic.
A day after the Alabama offensive coordinator was formally introduced as FAU’s new coach, Kiffin signed former Florida State quarterback De’Andre Johnson to a scholarship.
Johnson has revived his college football career this season at East Mississippi Community College, which has earned the nickname “Last Chance U” for participating in a Netflix docuseries.
After losing the first game of the season without Johnson, EMCC finished 11-1 this season. Johnson completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,646 yards with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 834 yards with five touchdowns.
Now, Johnson will get his chance to play Division I football with one of the brightest offensive minds in the game alongside Kiffin.
The news was first reported by 247Sports.com. He is rated as the nation’s No. 2 junior college quarterback by the website.
Johnson was dismissed from FSU before his freshman season after video of him punching a 21-yearold woman at a Tallahassee nightclub in July 2015 was made public.
Coach of the year: The Associated Press has been selecting a college football Coach of the Year since 1998 and no one has yet to won the award three times.
Alabama’s Nick Saban could be the first.
For the first time, the AP asked its poll voters to cast a ballot for national coach of the year with a top three, in order. Three points are awarded for a first-place vote, two for second a one for third.
The voting was conducted after championship weekend and 10 coaches received support, including Saban, who won the award in 2003 when he was at LSU and against in 2008 with Alabama.
The winner will be announced today. The top three vote-getters in alphabetical order: James Franklin, Penn State; Mike MacIntyre, Colorado; Nick Saban, Alabama.
Western Kentucky: Athletic Director Todd Stewart has hired former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Sanford as football coach.
The 34-year-old Sanford spent the past two seasons as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Sanford also coached QBs at WKU in 2010 in a 12-year coaching career with stops at Stanford, Yale, UNLV and Boise State, where he played QB from 2000-04.
Sanford replaces Jeff Brohm, who left WKU last week to take Purdue’s head coaching job. He takes over a Hilltoppers program that went 30-10 in three seasons under Brohm and has won back-to-back Conference USA championships.
Richmond: The school has hired Russ Huesman from Chattanooga to coach its football team.
In a news release Wednesday announcing the hire, Richmond Athletic Director Keith Gill says Huesman “understands our culture of success.” Huesman was a defensive coordinator on Richmond’s 2008 team that won the Football Championship Subdivision title.
Huesman replaces Danny Rocco, who left for Delaware after going 43-22 in five seasons.