Coaching Carousel (Florida Atlantic)

Florida Atlantic football is still in it's infancy.  It was 2001 when the football program got started with the legendary Howard Schnellenberger running the show.  Schellenberger continued to build up the program highlighted in a three year stretch from 2006-2008 where they went to two straight bowl games and won the Sun Belt Conference in 2007.   After 2008 the program started to slip and with Schellenberger in his late 70's it was only a matter of time before he stepped down.  Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini was tabbed to be the programs second coach in history.

It was a curious move for FAU to hire Pelini.  Pelini came from Nebraska where he was his younger brother's defensive coordinator.  Pelini enjoyed a lot of success tutoring the likes of Ndamukong Suh, Prince Amukamara, and Lavonte David.  But you have to wonder if the success was because of his brother or should he get some credit?  Either way it was also curious to hire him because he has no ties to South Florida where almost all the recruiting would take place.  So it was no surprise that Carl struggled.  He won only three games in his first year and had only had two wins this season before he resigned amongst drug allegations.

So where do the Owls go from here?  Well the job has to be more desirable then it was two years ago.  FAU has moved on from the Sun Belt Conference to Conference USA and built a new stadium.  But they are in talent rich South Florida which makes it easy to find players.  Get the right coach and this program could easily become a UCF or Boise State type of team.  But it all depends on the right hire.

Possible Candidates

James Coley (Miami Offensive Coordinator)

My favorite to land the job has everything that FAU would want out of their coach.  He's an offensive mind that has a ton of experience as an assistant at big name programs.  he's been at LSU, Florida State, and is now the offensive coordinator at Miami.  Add in that he is a native of Miami and coached high school in the area.  He's a good recruiter and could really energize this program.

Mario Cristobal (Alabama Offensive Line Coach)

In what might be the most realistic candidate that would be the best hire would be the former FIU coach.  Wouldn't that be great if FAU hired their rivals former coach who lead the Panthers to unbridled success before shockingly being fired.  Cristobal is a Miami native whose had success as a head coach and having spent the past few years under Nick Saban only enhances his marketability.

Eddie Gran (Cincinnati Offensive Coordinator)

Gran is one of the most well respected assistant coaches in the nation and regarded as a ace recruiter.  Gran has coaches all over the South at stops like Mississippi, Tennessee, Auburn, and Florida State.  A noted special teams coach is in his first year as offensive coordinator at Cincinnati.  Gran does have ties to the Miami area as he a GA for the Hurricanes in the early 90s.  This could be a big boom or bust hire.  Either he'll be really good, or he could just be a lifelong assistant who could really struggle leading the whole program.

Mark Snyder (Texas A&M Defensive Coordinator)

Often times coaches are hired because of success of their current school or they may have ties to current administration.  Snyder has both.  Texas A&M is one of the most vogue schools going right now and Snyder was at Ohio State when FAU AD Patrick Chun was there.  However that's about all Snyder has going for him.  His defense at A&M is horrible and his tenure as head coach at Marshall ended up with him getting fired. 

Ron Zook (former Illinois and Florida Head Coach)

Zook is out there, but this would be a home run hire.  Zook was fired at both Florida and Illinois, but he still had good success at each stop and was able to bring in elite level talent.  Zook is currently working as an analysis but most coaches are always itching to get back in the game.  The FAU job would give Zook a chance to coach in a low stress environment where he recruiting skill could really allow him to stockpile the team.  It's a long shot, but he may be my first call.