BOCA RATON – Lane Kiffin broke open the bank for some and proved to be a little stingy with others when hiring assistant coaches at FAU.
Kiffin will pay Kendal Briles $350,000 to be FAU’s offensive coordinator. Compared against USA Today’s annual survey of coaching salaries, that would make Briles the highest paid football assistant in Conference USA.
On the defensive side of the ball, coordinator Chris Kiffin, Lane’s brother, will make $300,000 per year – which would tie him with Middle Tennessee offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tony Franklin for the second-highest paid assistant in the conference, behind Briles. Chris Kiffin made $450,000 last season as the defensive line coach at Mississippi, according to USA Today.
Chris Kiffin’s new salary is double what FAU paid former defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni. Travis Trickett also made $150,000 as the Owls offensive coordinator in 2016.
Chris Kiffin’s contract runs through 2019, while Briles’ deal is only for one year.
Not all of the new FAU assistants will be paid lavishly. Tight ends coach Charlie Weis Jr., son of former Notre Dame and Kansas coach Charlie Weis, will only make $50,000. Weis Jr.’s deal is for two seasons. This is his first assistant coaching job.
For comparison, offensive line coach Garin Justice signed a two year deal at $100,000 when he joined Charlie Partridge’s staff last year. Lane Kiffen elected to retain Justice as part of his staff.
Contracts for other assistant coaches have not yet been made available.
In December FAU made Lane Kiffin the highest paid coach in Conference USA when the two agreed to a five-year deal at $950,000 per year. FAU also gave him a $1.7 million salary pool for hiring his nine assistant coaches along with his strength coach.
FAU president Dr. John Kelly signed a five-year contract in 2014 that contained a base salary of $400,000 before raises.
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