To most Florida State fans, an odd, frustrating and thankfully brief era of their football team came to an end last Saturday as the school decided to fire head coach Willie Taggart. Originally coming over from Oregon as an offensive coordinator, Taggart was questioned right from the get-go on if he truly deserved the job and his 9-12 record in less than two seasons validates those questions.
There have been rumors for months that when the Seminoles do in fact move on from Taggart, they would do everything in their power to try and get Urban Meyer down to Tallahassee. But Meyer is currently retired and working for FS1 as an analyst. He has also been tied to a bit of a higher profile school like USC who is trending in a much better direction than FSU. But there is one person who may be worth looking into for the job and the school wouldn’t even need to leave the state to get a hold of him.
Florida Atlantic head coach Lane Kiffin.
Sources: Lane Kiffin has expressed his interest in the FSU job.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) November 4, 2019
Kiffin’s own history within the coaching world has been a bit of a roller coaster as well, with many odd goodbyes and controversial statements. But it’s almost a badge of honor as he has been surrounded by a ton of questionable publicity and still finds a way to hang around in the coaching circles.
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From the Oakland Raiders to Tennessee, USC, Alabama and now Florida Atlantic, it has been quite the journey for the son of Monte Kiffin.
Although Kiffin’s departure from Alabama was controversial, what can’t be taken away is the success he had at the school as the offensive coordinator. His time at Alabama is what has made him a catchy name again because of the way he was able to change the offense to keep up with the current age of college football. Without his help, someone like Jalen Hurts wouldn’t have been able to start as a true freshman for Alabama and lead them to success. And now he is trying to do the same with Florida Atlantic and he is building that team into a respectable program.
Since arriving at FAU Kiffin has a record of 22-13 which includes an 11 win season, a win in the Boca Raton Bowl and is currently 6-3 sitting in first place of the Conference USA East division and is favored to win their remaining regular-season games. Kiffin has also not been afraid of scheduling his team against some of the bigger teams in the country like Wisconsin, UCF, Oklahoma and Ohio State.
Even though they haven’t performed well over the past two seasons, the Seminoles do infact have some talented players on its roster who may have a chance to be good with the right guy. Unlike Taggart, Kiffin has been around great coaches and winners. After spending three years at Alabama, maybe some of Nick Saban has rubbed off on the 44-year-old.
Kiffin’s location should also factor into the team’s decision. He already has connections in Florida and knows where to go to get talent in the state. What might get overlooked about Kiffin’s time at a small school is his ability to get the most out of less talented players. You don’t see FAU grab recruits away from Clemson and Georgia, the decision-makers need to be smart about who they look at, whether it’s two-star recruits or even JUCO players.
What FSU should also consider in the current state of the ACC as a conference. The only team that seems to have any momentum moving forward is Clemson and even they have faced some question this season. Maybe hiring a trendy name like Kiffin will reenergize the program to hopefully return to its past success sooner rather than later.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
