As the season opener draws close this Saturday against UF this Saturday what can be expected from FAU this season. With Graham Wilbert as the starting QB who has completed one pass in his career and never starting a game. FAU has switched to a new defense going from the 4-3 to 3-4 scheme and the last year of the voice roaming the sidelines.
With the preseason polls of the Sun Belt predicting a last place finish for FAU with an extremely young offense with little to no experience at all positions except at RB and offensive line. I tend to agree with the poll as FAU will have a 3rd straight losing season next year. Including that of starting the season with games on the road against UF, Auburn, and Michigan St. which pretty much guarantees an 0-3 start.
If FAU can be 1-4 in the opening game of the new on campus stadium maybe a best case scenario. As of today this season looks like it will be a 3-9 football team on paper when you look at the schedule and the youth of this team. Although the Sun Belt Conference tends to be one of the most unpredictable conferences in the nation year in and year out.
FAU predicted finish:
7th in Sun Belt at 4-8
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
FAU's New Voice?
Florida Atlantic football will begin what will be a monumental season for the program that is a seven days away from opening the season in Gainesville. With the new 30,000 seat stadium opening and just about a week ago Howard Schnellenberger announced this will be his last roaming the sidelines for FAU.
This brings into question who will replace the only man FAU has known to roam the sidelines. With the opening of the stadium this year FAU will need to fill the seats to be able to pay off the loans it took out to pay the bills. Heading into the season indications point towards FAU struggling once again for the third straight season after being picked to finish last in the preseason Sun Belt poll. After the novelty of the new stadium wears off after the first season FAU will need to win to draw attendance.
FAU is known to make splash hires in their programs history with the hiring of Schnellenberger, Mike Jarvis, and Matt Daugherty. I would expect this to be no different. Craig Angelos has already said he expects to have a coach in place by late November or earlier. If FAU’s football team has a third straight losing season as expected after becoming college football’s youngest program to ever win a bowl game in back to back years.
There are two names I expect FAU to take hard looks at when begin the search the replacement of the voice. FAU has many areas going for them when they begin the search with the building of the new stadium, a growing school, and the most fertile recruiting in the country being located in South Florida.
The first name I expect FAU to look at would be Jim Leavitt the former coach at USF who also started that program from scratch and took them to a #2 BCS ranking in 2007. Leavitt lost his job after an altercation in the locker room during halftime of a game in 2009. He is now the Linebackers Coach for the San Francisco 49er’s. Leavitt could be a perfect fit coming from and having a success at such a young program at USF, which is comparable to the experience that FAU has. At one point Leavitt was offered job at the University of Alabama and Indiana only to turn them down in favor to stay at USF. Leavitt would be a tremendous name to recruits in the state for coach in the state for 10 years. He would know the recruiting landscape as well in the South Florida area and of course in the Tampa Bay area as well. He could also help attendance for the new stadium.
The second is Mike Leach the former coach at Texas Tech. He lost his job in a similar type of manner by putting a former player in the storage during practice. But the positives of a hire like Leach vastly outweigh the negatives. He made an average program at Texas Tech into a true powerhouse while he was at the school. Leach would also bring an exciting offense to FAU that would help put fans in the new stadium. Some may have thought FAU would not be able to bring in a coach of Leach’s stature, but he was passed over at jobs at University of Maryland and Minnesota this past offseason. This is hire that FAU would receive national headlines for and it’s a program that has struggled to do so. One other tidbit that could help FAU make this move Craig Angelos and Mike Leach attended BYU together.
Look at FAU to take their time during this process and to get the best possible coach for this job including many other candidates other than the two I just looked at.
This brings into question who will replace the only man FAU has known to roam the sidelines. With the opening of the stadium this year FAU will need to fill the seats to be able to pay off the loans it took out to pay the bills. Heading into the season indications point towards FAU struggling once again for the third straight season after being picked to finish last in the preseason Sun Belt poll. After the novelty of the new stadium wears off after the first season FAU will need to win to draw attendance.
FAU is known to make splash hires in their programs history with the hiring of Schnellenberger, Mike Jarvis, and Matt Daugherty. I would expect this to be no different. Craig Angelos has already said he expects to have a coach in place by late November or earlier. If FAU’s football team has a third straight losing season as expected after becoming college football’s youngest program to ever win a bowl game in back to back years.
There are two names I expect FAU to take hard looks at when begin the search the replacement of the voice. FAU has many areas going for them when they begin the search with the building of the new stadium, a growing school, and the most fertile recruiting in the country being located in South Florida.
The first name I expect FAU to look at would be Jim Leavitt the former coach at USF who also started that program from scratch and took them to a #2 BCS ranking in 2007. Leavitt lost his job after an altercation in the locker room during halftime of a game in 2009. He is now the Linebackers Coach for the San Francisco 49er’s. Leavitt could be a perfect fit coming from and having a success at such a young program at USF, which is comparable to the experience that FAU has. At one point Leavitt was offered job at the University of Alabama and Indiana only to turn them down in favor to stay at USF. Leavitt would be a tremendous name to recruits in the state for coach in the state for 10 years. He would know the recruiting landscape as well in the South Florida area and of course in the Tampa Bay area as well. He could also help attendance for the new stadium.
The second is Mike Leach the former coach at Texas Tech. He lost his job in a similar type of manner by putting a former player in the storage during practice. But the positives of a hire like Leach vastly outweigh the negatives. He made an average program at Texas Tech into a true powerhouse while he was at the school. Leach would also bring an exciting offense to FAU that would help put fans in the new stadium. Some may have thought FAU would not be able to bring in a coach of Leach’s stature, but he was passed over at jobs at University of Maryland and Minnesota this past offseason. This is hire that FAU would receive national headlines for and it’s a program that has struggled to do so. One other tidbit that could help FAU make this move Craig Angelos and Mike Leach attended BYU together.
Look at FAU to take their time during this process and to get the best possible coach for this job including many other candidates other than the two I just looked at.
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