FAU soccer, which rose to nationwide relevance underneath Lane Kiffin, has backslid over the past 5 seasons underneath Willie Taggart and the just lately fired Tom Herman. The Owls’ new teaching search, although, is likely to be essentially the most attention-grabbing one among this yr’s teaching carousel.
And it obtained a bit extra attention-grabbing this week, as Miami nice Ray Lewis has made it identified that he actually needs to be the Owls’ subsequent coach, a supply briefed on Lewis’ pondering stated Wednesday.
The 49-year-old Lewis, a 13-time Professional Bowl linebacker, has noticed the mannequin of what Deion Sanders has achieved reworking Colorado soccer prior to now two years and is predicted to current a plan to the Owls’ management within the subsequent week for a way he’d do one thing related at FAU.
Lewis’ outdated buddy, fellow Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer Cris Carter, is the Owls’ government director of participant engagement and is predicted to be useful resource for Lewis. An enormous hurdle for Lewis is, in contrast to Sanders, he doesn’t have any earlier school teaching expertise.
“Ray needs it unhealthy,” the supply briefed on Lewis’ pondering stated. Lewis lives 5 minutes from the FAU campus. “He actually needs it.”
Lewis, nonetheless, just isn’t thought-about a critical candidate at this level, based on a supply concerned within the teaching search.
The frontrunner for the FAU emptiness, based on a number of sources concerned within the search, is Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. The 31-year-old son of former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who lives a half-hour from Boca Raton, is the play caller at a sizzling Rebels program and runs the nation’s No. 2 offense, placing up 7.58 yards per play.
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The youthful Weis was Kiffin’s former offensive coordinator at FAU and is aware of this system properly. He has loads of help from some key FAU folks, based on sources concerned within the search. Kiffin has sturdy affect again at FAU and can push Weis for the job, these sources stated. Financially, Weis — who makes $1.65 million at Ole Miss — might need to take a pay lower to return to FAU however a supply briefed on the matter stated he doubted that may cease Weis from wanting this job.
Different anticipated candidates for the FAU job
Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner may make extra sense for the Owls. The 43-year-old helped flip Tech from the ACC’s No. 11 offense to No. 3 final yr. In 2022, the yr earlier than he was employed in Atlanta, Georgia Tech ranked final within the ACC in purple zone offense. His offense is No. 2 within the ACC in purple zone TD proportion.
Penn State assistant head coach/co-OC Ja’Juan Seider is a well-regarded coach with deep native ties and is predicted to get some consideration. The 47-year-old Belle Glade, Fla., product was a star quarterback at Florida A&M and is well-connected round South Florida. Gamers actually reply to him. He additionally has been a key assistant in Comfortable Valley, at Marshall and West Virginia.
UCF offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. has spent his entire teaching profession within the state. He was a four-time NCAA All-American in observe at Miami after which spent 5 years as a profitable highschool coach in South Florida at Miami’s Booker T. Washington Excessive earlier than spending seven seasons at FIU. Since then, he’s coached at Miami and UCF, the place he has produced the Large 12’s most prolific offense at 6.76 yards per play.
UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, a former Miami Dolphins wideout who lived in Boynton Seashore, not removed from the Owls’ campus, is likely to be an intriguing choice. He has confirmed to be a terrific offensive coordinator in two stops on the FCS stage earlier than a superb two-season run of reworking the Rebels right into a profitable program. Final yr he led the Rebels to No. 6 within the nation in third down offense and No. 8 in purple zone offense regardless of his beginning QB taking place early and having to show to an unproven freshman in Jayden Maiava, who went on to win Mountain West Freshman of the Yr honors. This yr, the Rebels, with Maiava having left for USC, are No. 6 within the nation in scoring at 39.9 factors per recreation.
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FSU defensive backs coach Pat Surtain could possibly be in play at his alma mater Southern Miss, however he additionally has sturdy ties right here. He performed a decade within the NFL earlier than changing into a prime highschool coach in South Florida. The 48-year-old spent one season with the Miami Dolphins as an NFL assistant earlier than becoming a member of FSU’s workers in 2023.
Georgia assistant head coach Todd Hartley, 39, spent three years teaching in South Florida on the Canes’ workers. He’s somebody Kirby Good has leaned on in elevating this system since Hartley’s return to Athens in 2019. Southern Miss additionally has loads of curiosity in Hartley for its head teaching emptiness.
Duke defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke, a Manny Diaz protege who was on the workers at Miami, is a rising star at defensive coordinator. He’s had a powerful debut season in Durham and likewise could possibly be in play.
Miami defensive ends coach Jason Taylor. The Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer, who had been a highschool assistant for 5 seasons at powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas, is a legendary determine round South Florida. In 2007, Taylor received the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Yr honors and has been a superb addition to the Canes workers the previous two seasons.
— Chris Vannini contributed to this report
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(Photograph: Rob Carr / Getty Pictures)
