Lane Kiffin is ready to stay with the Florida Atlantic Owls for a long run. According to ESPN‘s reports, Kiffin agreed to a 10-year deal to stay with Florida Atlantic University as football program’s head coach. His previous five-year deal was paying him $950,000 annually. The financial terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
“We are grateful that the president and university are this excited about what we are doing here at FAU and into the future, although our focus remains completely on the team and this historic season finale tonight on ESPN,” said Kiffin after agreeing on the deal.
Since coming to Florida Atlantic in 2017, Lane Kiffin has resurrected the university’s football program. He had a 10-3 record that season, winning the Conference USA championship with nine wins in a row. The team will also play Akron in Boca Raton Bowl. For comparison, previous coach Charlie Partridge led the Owls to three consecutive 3–9 seasons.
Florida Atlantic University president John Kelly previously said that he intends to keep Kiffin long term while hoping he will lead the program to top 25 in the nation.
“I’ve told Lane that when I met with him, I thought we could be a top-25 program and we need a coach who can do that,” said Kelly at the time. “He’s on the verge of doing that. We’re obviously looking toward keeping Lane long term.“
Lane Kiffin became the NFL’s youngest head coach in the modern era after signing a two-year, $4 million deal with the Oakland Raiders in 2007. His stint with the Raiders didn’t last long, and he was fired in November 2008. Kiffin also coached the Tennessee Volunteers and USC Trojans football before becoming offensive coordinator at Alabama University in 2014. Following the three seasons at Alabama, he became the head coach at the FAU in December 2016.
