Lane Kiffin agreed to a deal to become the next head coach of Florida Atlantic. Kiffin leaves Tuscaloosa after three years under Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. He is heading south to Florida. Kiffin gets another chance at running the show. Florida Atlantic will be the fourth head coaching role for Kiffin. During his career as a head coach Lane Kiffin is 35-21 with colleges, going 0-2 in bowl games. Kiffin is also 5-15 in the NFL. He will stay with Alabama until the end of the college playoffs. Saban has confirmed that Kiffin will be the offensive Coordinator for Alabama as long as they are still in the playoffs. There has been no change of plans as far as Kiffins’ role in those games. Kiffin plans on starting to recruit players for Florida right away.
Lane Kiffin wants to be the head coach of a team again bad enough that he took a cut in pay to do so. The contract with Florida Atlantic is a 5-year deal according to Chris Low of ESPN, worth just under $1 million per year with the possibility for more based on bonuses. Kiffin makes about $400,000 dollars more a year now than he will as head coach at FAU.
College Football Insider Brett McMurphy discussed the details of the contract.
Lane Kiffin received 5-year, $4.75M deal w/FAU. Buyout is $2.5M 1st year & reduces $500,000 each year after that
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 13, 2016
Nick Saban supports Lane Kiffins decision to leave Alabama. “We think this is a wonderful opportunity for him to be a head coach again,” Saban said. “I think FAU has selected someone that is going to do a great job for them. He’s done a great job here molding our offensive players to what they can do to have the best chance to be successful, and I think that’s always something that’s very telling about the quality of a coach.” Saban went on to say, “Lane’s done a phenomenal job for us for the last three years, we appreciate the impact that he’s made on this program.”
The FAU Owls fired head coach Charlie Patridge this past November. The Owls had three straight 3-9 seasons and felt it was time for a change. Howard Schnellenberger, another former Alabama offensive coordinator was the last coach to lead FAU to a winning season. Kiffin intends to bring his recent success at Alabama with him to the Sunshine State.
“The process starts today here at Florida Atlantic,” Kiffin said during his introductory news conference on the campus of Florida Atlantic. “I’ve been very fortunate to be around three years at a place that is all about the process and learning that. We will bring that here to Florida Atlantic.”