BOCA RATON – New FAU coach Lane Kiffin appears to be close to completing his defensive staff.
OwlAccess.com has learned that Kiffin and the Owls are likely to hire South Florida defensive line coach Eric Mathies.
The Bulls defensive line coach for the past four seasons, Mathies also served as USF’s recruiting coordinator last season.
He did not follow Willie Taggart when the former Bulls coach accepted the Oregon head coaching job in December.
Mathies also served as Taggart’s defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Western Kentucky.
Like many of Kiffin’s assistants, Mathies won’t come to FAU with a clean background. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Mathies was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in 2014. An FAU athletic department spokesperson said those charges were later dropped.
Mathies also served as an assistant coach at Tennessee St. and Midwestern St.
The hiring of Mathies would appear to complete Kiffin’s hiring of defensive assistants. Chris Kiffin, Lane’s brother, is the Owls new defensive coordinator. His specialty prior to coming to FAU was also the defensive line.
Keynodo Hudson, formerly a defensive administrative assistant at Southern Cal, is expected to coach linebackers. Corey Batoon previously coached defensive backs at Mississippi with Chris Kiffin and is expected to do the same for FAU.
Kiffin still has one assistant coach opening to fill and it’s expecting to come on the offensive side of the ball. On Monday OwlAccess.com broke the news that former UCF running back Kevin Smith will join the Owls, likely as the running backs coach. Kiffin retained Garin Justice to coach the offensive line.
Charlie Weis Jr. is also a member of the offensive staff, though his specific position has not been revealed.
Kendal Briles is FAU’s new offensive coordinator. Offensive coordinators frequently double as their own quarterbacks coach.
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