Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Zach Kittley, Kendal Briles, and More Head Coach Candidates for Florida Atlantic

Who joins Zach Kittley and Kendal Briles as five Head Coach options for the FAU football team?

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By Mike Huesmann

We have another FBS coach fired after less than two full seasons on the job. Tom Herman coached 22 games for the Owls, winning six of them. Much like Charlotte yesterday, I don’t know what kind of expectations the administration have and how they think a down program can be turned around so quickly. Herman wasn’t doing many things to help himself, and that might be all the excuse they needed. This job has more appealing qualities than many G5 programs and could attract top-up and comers, in addition to veterans looking to get back in which has been FAU’s strategy for awhile now.

Zach Kittley

Texas Tech, Offensive Coordinator

Few in the business have had the mercurial rise of Kittley. He coached Bailey Zappe to success at Houston Baptist and then Western Kentucky before being snatched up by Joey McGuire in Lubbock. His time to be a head coach will come sooner rather than later. The question is, does he want this to be his first head job? He has little experience outside of Texas, a single year at Western Kentucky. Waiting for a better job might be an option for him.

Kendal Briles

TCU, Offensive Coordinator

Briles did well as OC at Arkansas, Florida St., and Houston. He is now doing well at TCU after a rough start. He was OC and QB coach here in 2017 before being hired away by Houston, his alma mater. He seems like a profile fit for FAU, who have gravitated towards offensive-minded head coaches who are relatively young.

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Willie Simmons

Duke, RB Coach

A candidate for multiple G5 head coaching jobs this cycle, he was a fantastic hire for new head coach Manny Diaz. Simmons came to Duke from FCS Florida A&M where he was head coach for 6 years and never finished lower than 2nd in the division. He’s a heck of an offensive coach and it feels like this could be a job he’s a candidate for. His success in the state could be a huge bonus for him.

Clint Killough

Incarnate Word, Head Coach

Killough, still only 31, took over at UIW when GJ Kinne left for Texas State. He led Incarnate Word to an 8-2 record last year. Currently, they are 6-2, ranked in the top 10 in the FCS, and will likely be a playoff team. He had been an assistant here under multiple head coaches before that and at Bowling Green. Combining his success offensively, wins as head coach, and coaching tree, I don’t expect him to be at the FCS level too much longer. His G5 experience and head coaching success make him appealing.

Jonathan Patke

Duke, Defensive Coordinator

We exist in a college football world of interconnected circles and no candidate for a job right now has more than Patke. He is coaching with Simmons now, coached in Florida, and coached with Killough as assistants at Incarnate Word. The longtime Miami assistant was DC at Texas State last year, he had followed Kinne from IWU. His aggressive style of defense, success in Florida, and intangibles make him a guy to look at here.

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