fau lane kiffin

Poison Pen

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BOCA RATON – Coaching in the SEC isn’t all that different from coaching in Conference USA.

OK, there are some differences, and those differences can be the source of humor.

Poking a little fun at his current situation, and certainly needling his former boss, FAU coach Lane Kiffin tweeted on Monday that a separate tweet from an apparent North Texas backer that showed projections making the Owls a favorite to win Conference USA was like “rat poison” to his team.

Kiffin’s response can a couple days after Alabama coach Nick Saban told assembled media that their constant praise of the Crimson Tide football players was like “rat poison” to his team. Kiffin served as Alabama’s offensive coordinator from 2014-16, winning the national title in 2015. Saban removed Kiffin, already named FAU’s new coach, as the Tide’s offensive coordinator prior to the national title contest – a game won by Clemson.



On Tuesday Kiffin explained that he found his tweet humorous.

“I think it’s OK to have sense of humor, but in this profession people think you’re not supposed to, but whatever,” Kiffin said. “I thought it was funny.”

Alabama enters the season’s seventh week ranked No.1, the spot it’s held all year. FAU remains unranked, but has won back-to-back games to even its record at 3-3.

The Owls finished each of the past three seasons with three wins.

Kiffin joked with the media on Tuesday that questions pertaining to the Owls’ success in the running game – particularly those directed to offensive lineman Antonyo Woods – were exactly the kind of subtle poison that could cause players to grow complacent during a bye week.

“Like you guys were just doing when I walked in here, telling our center how great he is and how great (it is) to keep breaking records and everything – so I’m trying to not do that and you guys do that? Yeah,” Kiffin humorously interrupted when a reporter began a question about the rat poison tweet.



Kiffin also joked that he needed help from an FAU staffer when constructing the tweet to ensure the correct spelling of some of hashtags used.

FAU enters the bye week atop the East Division of Conference USA with a 2-0 record. North Texas is FAU’s next opponent, coming to Boca Raton on Oct. 21.

“I’ve said all along I was always thinking this team would be better down the stretch, middle to the stretch, then it would at the beginning because of first year staff, but also so many new players and not even knowing who our quarterback was and all those things,” Kiffin said. “I think that’s showing and it’s our job to keep doing that because we’ve put ourselves in a good position right now but it won’t mean anything if we don’t keep doing it”



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