Florida Atlantic football history: seasons, coaches, rivalries, bowls

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program IV#175 all-time– holding

Stature and coaches, 2005–2026

The program’s standing over time, with every coach’s tenure beneath it — read down to see who was there for each rise and fall.

Florida Atlantic is Regional Program today. Never reached Dynasty tier; Regional Program is its high, most recently in 2026.

#1 nationally

DynastyBlue BloodPower ProgramNational ProgramRegional Program

Run↔pass identity, by season

Every coach, tenure by tenure, on the coaching page →

Program outlook

Howard Schnellenberger built FAU from nothing in 2001 and promised it would one day play for championships. Lane Kiffin delivered a ranked, conference-winning season in 2017. Every year since has been the search for what comes after the proof.

Since Jun 14: W 66-10 vs Texas Southern; L 24-56 at Army; W 51-49 vs Rice; L 41-48 at North Texas. 5-3 this season.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Florida Atlantic is the program built on a genuinely improbable origin story: a Hall of Fame coach came out of retirement to start a football team from scratch on a beach campus in Boca Raton, three miles from the Atlantic, and within six seasons it was winning the New Orleans Bowl. Schnellenberger didn't just build a team — he staked a premise, that 'Winning in Paradise' was a real thing, that a Boca campus and Florida sun could recruit and sustain a program worth caring about.

Lane Kiffin made the premise look true for one perfect year. The 2017 Owls went 11-3, won Conference USA, cracked the AP top 25, and blew out McKneese in the Boca Raton Bowl — everything the founding promised delivered in a single season. Then Kiffin left for Ole Miss, and the carousel started. Zach Kittley arrived in 2025 to bring his high-tempo Air Raid offense to Boca and went 4-8 in year one — the kind of record that reopens every argument about whether location is a reason to build here or just a reason to visit.

Kittley enters 2026 in year two, and the question the season will answer is simple and uncomfortable: is FAU the program Schnellenberger imagined — a destination where coaches stay and build — or the launchpad Owls fans are tired of being told it is? The paradise is real. The program's ability to hold anyone in it is still the open question.

On the field

Kittley's Air Raid: up-tempo, four-wide, vertical distribution built on pre-snap motion and quick reads. The system produces big passing numbers when it has the right quarterback operating it — the scheme is the identity, not the athletes, which makes it replicable year to year and fragile in rebuilding years. FAU's task is finding the quarterback who unlocks what 2017 proved the pieces can do.

Program outlook · as of Jun 14, 2026

Florida Atlantic has won 45% of its games since 2002 — 56% at home, 32% on the road.

131-161 all-time · 25 seasons · 2002–2026

Home 70-54

Away 48-102

Neutral 13-5

55%

2000s

40%

2010s

40%

2020s

Era record 67-86 13 seasons

Best season 11-3 2019

Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned

Program quality AP rank (inverted) CFP appearance

Swipe left for earlier seasons

Chapters · 13 seasons · tap to open the archive

'14 3-9 '15 3-9 '16 3-9 '17 11-3 '18 5-7 '19 11-3 '20 5-4 '21 5-7 '22 5-7 '23 4-8 '24 3-9 '25 4-8 '26 5-3

Florida Atlantic’s 2014–2026 record is 67-86.

Zach Kittley

Zach Kittley is in year 2. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Zach Kittley · 2025–presentPrev: Chad Lunsford (interim) (2024)DC: Brett DewhurstPrev DC: Brandon Harris (co) / Roc Bellantoni (2023–2024)

The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →

2 years · era

Moments in Florida Atlantic history

Florida Atlantic hires Tom Herman2022
Florida Atlantic hires Willie Taggart2019
Charlotte 27, Florida Atlantic 24Nov 24, 2018

On this date, Nov 4, 2023: UAB 45, Florida Atlantic 42

2007

Schnellenberger’s first bowls

FAU wins the New Orleans Bowl just six seasons into existence

The 2017 ranked season

Kiffin's Owls go 11-3, win Conference USA, and crack the AP top 25

2019

Kiffin leaves for Ole Miss

The architect of the peak departs, beginning the post-Kiffin drift

Wound

Moment of the year · 2026

Won 45-17 at UL Monroe

Week 4 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive margin

#	Program	Record
1	North Texas	4-0
2	UTSA	4-0
3	Memphis	4-1
4	Army	4-2
5	East Carolina	2-2
6	Florida Atlantic	2-2
7	South Florida	2-2
8	Tulane	2-2
9	UAB	2-2
10	Charlotte	1-3
11	Temple	1-3
12	Tulsa	1-3
13	Navy	1-4
14	Rice	0-4

Florida Atlantic’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026

2014–2015 · Brian Wright2016 · Travis Trickett2017 · Kendal Briles2018–2019 · Charlie Weis Jr.2020 · Clint Trickett (co) / Drew Mehringer (co)2021 · Mike Johnson (co)2022 · Brent Dearmon2023–2024 · Charlie Frye

Defense2014–2026

2014–2016 · Roc Bellantoni2017 · Chris Kiffin2018 · Tony Pecoraro2019 · Glenn Spencer2020 · Jim Leavitt2021 · Mike Stoops2022 · Todd Orlando2023–2024 · Brandon Harris (co) / Roc Bellantoni2025–2026 · Brett Dewhurst

Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)

Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Howard Schnellenberger Founding (2001)

since 2001

Howard Schnellenberger — Miami national championship-winning coach (1983) — founded the Florida Atlantic football program in 2001 + coached through 2011. The Schnellenberger-as-program-founder narrative + his Hall of Fame coaching career + the rapid ascent (FCS 2001 → FBS 2005 → first bowl 2007) make FAU's institutional story unique.

Lane Kiffin 2017 Run

since 2017

Lane Kiffin's 2017 11-3 + Conference USA championship + Boca Raton Bowl championship + #24 final AP — his first year as head coach — was the program's modern peak. The 'Mango Bowl' (Kiffin's nickname for the C-USA title game) + Devin Singletary 32-touchdown season + Lance Taylor as OC made the 2017 era nationally relevant.

Winning In Paradise

since 2017

'Winning In Paradise' — Lane Kiffin's recruiting + identity tagline — captures the Boca Raton Florida beach-life-meets-football identity. The phrase appears in tweets + recruiting + alumni events + the South Florida cultural overlap make FAU's identity uniquely beach-paradise-football.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.

Canon appearancesMoments that made college football's permanent record.

Featured in The Canon

#44

Trey Hendrickson

The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era

BowlsLast 5 bowls 4-1, 4-1 since 2007

Recent postseason (2007-2020): 4-1

Most recent: 2020 Montgomery Bowl — loss 10-25. Last 5 postseason: 4-1.

2020 L 2019 W 2017 W 2008 W 2007 W

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