Lane Kiffin is ‘humbled’ to be the new football coach at Florida Atlantic
Florida Atlantic isn’t nearly as flashy as the previous jobs on Lane Kiffin’s coaching resume.
It isn’t USC or Tennessee. It isn’t the Oakland Raiders.
But on Tuesday morning, Kiffin expressed gratitude for being named the new head coach at the Boca Raton school, whose football program has seen mostly losing seasons over the past decade.
“I’m very honored and humbled for Florida Atlantic to give myself and our staff an opportunity to build a championship program here,” he said in a statement. “There’s no timeline for championships, but there is a commitment to go to work every day to get there.”
In announcing the hiring — which was first reported Monday — university president John Kelly said he hopes the Owls can establish a winning tradition.
“Lane will change the face of college football here,” Kelly said. “Our players will respond to him, our recruitment drives will respond to him, and our fans will respond to him.”
The 41-year-old Kiffin will remain in his current role as Alabama’s offensive coordinator for at least the next few weeks as the top-ranked Crimson Tide prepare to face No. 4 Washington in a College Football Playoff semifinal.
Kiffin was fired from USC in September 2013 in the middle of the night in an airport waiting room.
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