The best era for every current AAC football school

Florida Atlantic Owls: Lane Kiffin days (2017-2019)

Similar to Charlotte, Florida Atlantic University hasn't had a long-running football program. The Owls have only put on the pads and helmets since 2001 and have been an FBS program only since 2004. So the program is not littered with choices to pick from.

The legendary Howard Schnellenberger started the program and gave the Owls their first taste of success, with wins in the New Orleans Bowl and Motor City Bowl in 2007 and 2008, respectively. And 2007 even saw FAU earn their first conference title as they earned a split of the Sun Belt championship with Troy. However, I don't think that's as impressive as the three-season run with Lane Kiffin as the coach.

Kiffin arrived as the fifth head coach in FAU history. He had a long coaching resume which included gigs with Tennessee in 2009 and USC from 2010-13. He had some mixed results and after serving as Alabama's quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, was looking for a new opportunity. He got his third major college coaching gig in Boca Raton.

Before Kiffin's arrival, the Owls went through seven losing seasons in eight years from 2009-2016. In his first year, Lane helped orchestrate one of the best single-season turnarounds in recent memory, taking a 3-9 team and improving by six wins, to a 9-3 mark in 2017. Kiffin had a great roster that featured quarterback Jason Driskell, tailback and C-USA MVP Devin Singletary, linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Rashad Smith, and defensive backs Jalen Young, Chris Tooley, and Shelton Lewis

FAU went undefeated in C-USA play and earned a spot in the conference title game. They pummeled North Texas 41-17. The win over the Mean Green clinched the program's first double-digit win campaign. They would then earn an eleventh win in a 50-3 beatdown of Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl. Unfortunately, 2018 saw the Owls regress to a 5-7 record as several key players from the year before left.

The 2019 season proved to be Kiffin's last but he would get the program to the same level of success they enjoyed two years earlier. FAU once again enjoyed another 9-3 regular season which saw the team close out on a five-game winning streak. The Owls rode the momentum into the postseason, as they had earned and won their second C-USA title in three years, this time beating UAB 49-6.

Unfortunately, bad news would come to the program when Kiffin left before his team would play in the Boca Raton Bowl, to take a Power Five conference job with Ole Miss of the SEC. Glenn Spencer would serve as the head coach for the Owls during their Boca Raton Bowl matchup with SMU and with a 52-28 win, would end Kiffin's short tenure in style.

The two eleven-win seasons under Kiffin are by far the most wins FAU has had in a single year. Since his departure, the university has gone through four mediocre seasons including back-to-back 5-7 finishes under Willie Taggart. A Montgomery Bowl appearance took place in the COVID-19 shortened year in 2020 but it's safe to say the Owls football team hasn't been the same.