Florida Atlantic has hired Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley as its next head coach. The school officially announced the hiring on Monday.
Kittley replaces Tom Herman, who was fired with two games left this season after compiling a 6-16 record in two years. Herman went 2-8 this year before being fired. Associate head coach and special teams coordinator Chad Lunsford coached the Owls’ final two games of the season.
At 33, Kittley becomes the youngest FBS head coach. This season, Texas Tech’s offense was the 10th best in the country, averaging 459.8 yards per game. The Red Raiders ranked No. 9 among FBS teams averaging 298.1 passing yards per game.
Kittley began his coaching career at Texas Tech as a student assistant and then graduate assistant under then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. His first job as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach was at Houston Baptist before taking on the same role at Western Kentucky.
During his lone season with the Hilltoppers in 2021, Kittley’s offense ranked second in the nation and QB Bailey Zappe set an FBS record with 5,967 passing yards and 62 touchdown passes.
From there, Kittley returned to Texas Tech to be offensive coordinator for the last three seasons under head coach Joey McGuire.
“After an extensive search with tremendous interest from candidates across the country, Zach emerged as the ideal choice to be our next head coach,” said FAU athletic director Brian White. said in a statement.
“He is a man of great integrity and character, with an incredible reputation in the player development profession,” White added. “Zach is one of the most innovative offensive minds in the game and I am confident in his ability to build a championship program with an exciting style of football that can be a source of pride for our fans, our alumni and the FAU community.” .
Florida Atlantic has recorded four consecutive losing seasons. During Lane Kiffin’s three seasons as head coach, the Owls twice finished with 11-3 records, surely setting the bar for expectations for the football program.