College Football: 10 Group of Five coaches with most to prove in 2019

(Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)
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Lane Kiffin is something of an enigma among Group of Five coaches. Hard to pin down, Kiffin is a young prodigy who was handed too much responsibility too soon earlier in his career. His stints with the Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Vols, and USC Trojans were all a matter of failing upward. But it is also worth noting that Kiffin has only posted one losing season in the college ranks.

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That season was last year, when Florida Atlantic followed up Kiffin’s 11-win debut with the Owls with a sub-.500 in 2018. Missing a bowl game arrested the momentum that FAU thought they had built up in Kiffin’s first season at the helm in Boca Raton.

Now, Kiffin and his crew must try to rebound with a team that lost more than 40 percent of its 2018 productivity — on both sides of the ball.

Last year the team lost some key talent, including both coordinators and their starting quarterback. This year, they lose otherworldly running back Devin Singletary as well as a big chunk of their defensive depth. Getting up to speed will be critical, especially when the Owls do not have the football. At a place like FAU, you can’t always count on blue-chip recruits to do that rebuilding for you.

Opening the year at Ohio State is tough, as is the follow-up visit from UCF. Beyond those two opening challenges, though, Florida Atlantic is set up to at least get comfortably back to a bowl game in 2019. That is the barest minimum for Kiffin, who still looks to punch his way back up to a Power Five post. To do so, he needs to reverse the downward trend with the Owls.