Save the second guessing til game is over. I ASSUME they both get a lot of touches— we know SMU has trouble stopping the run— what we do not know is if Boston at 100%.
I just dread having Kiffin in CUSA next year. Looks like FAU is going to continue to be really good. We better get our act together and I hope that begins tonight!
Most importantly Kiffin's success should forever silence the excuse-mongers who are too willing to give lousy to mediocre coaches a free pass. No, that does not mean unless a first-year head coach wins his conference, a bowl, and has 11 wins he should be fired. But it does mean STOP the crapola of defending coaches who don't get it done.
FAU is (or was) a NOTHING football program. Three straight 3-9 seasons, no history/tradition of success. Yes, Howard Smellingaburger started the program, and he was a pretty successful coach, but the program has wallowed in anonymity for years. If Kiffin had gone 6-6 and barely made a bowl, even lost that bowl, folks would still be giving him props for getting FAU bowl eligible his first year. But....Kiffin doesn't care what resident "Sunshine Pumpers" think. Their misinformed opinions mean nothing to him. He knows what it takes to actually WIN!
In just 10 months Kiffin has won the CUSA title, won more than 9 games in a season....hello! Can any of you think of a coach yet to accomplish those things?
KIffen has performed well, even kept his personality in check, he is a good coach, self destructive, but a good coach. KIffen has managed to make his team enjoy football again, his attitude of we are always going to win and not let up has kept his team going. Kiffens enthusiasm is something that is contagious and essential to rebuilding a program such as he has, there are a lot of coaches who could take lessons from Kiffen, at least in the coaching arena anyway.
I am afraid Kiffen will find a way to self destruct at some point, it will probably not affect the team, but I give him 3-4 years until he figures out a way to self destruct.
Kiffin probably will end up messing up at FAU. That's been his track record, just as much as being a successful Xs & Os coach. I think Kiffen gets bored very easily. Yes, I'm doing a profile analysis on him. He's enormously talented coaching football. But, after the "newness" wears off he loses interest in his current gig and starts looking for a change. In the meantime, maybe 2 to 3 years, if he can last that long, he'll keep FAU at, or near, the top, of CUSA. I expect him to win the conference title a couple of more times before he's done.