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Sources: FAU preparing offer in attempt to keep Lane Kiffin

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According to Football Scoop link below, FAU is preparing an offer to keep Kiffin as Head Coach.

Sources: FAU preparing offer in attempt to keep Lane Kiffin - FootballScoop

Included in the story is another link to a previous story with details on a home loan FAU provided in addition to his original compensation package, which adds another twist.

FAU loaned Lane Kiffin a whole lot of money - FootballScoop
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My thought is they would offer to up his pay to $2m a year for the rest of his contract. He knows staying at least the next 2 years gets his house loan forgiven. It would essentially pay Kiffin 3m a year to stay the next two years. I dont know about you but next years 2020 schedule looks magic to me like an 11-1 or 12-0 season.


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I applaud FAU for swinging for the fences here I really do. Yet the only concern I have is that we are going up against a SEC school who has a lot more they can spend then we do and also whose donors might be willing to donate more to their department than ours will to bring Lane Kiffin to Arkansas. That is my concern. 
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I really don’t think the money will be the problem - P5 schools will laugh at the buyout and cost to hire pretty much any G5 coach they want once they settle on that being “their” guy. I would not expect Lane to have to pay a dime of his own money if he were to accept an SEC job.

The difference could end up being Lane seeing FAU making this kind of attempt and him staying until what he feels is a more attractive opportunity comes along.  Only Lane knows how much he covers Arkansas (or any SEC job) versus staying and moving to something that is better positioned for success in the future. 

He is mentioned in some articles for the other openings, but Arkansas remains the only job he seems to be pretty locked into as the primary candidate.  So he’ll have to decide if $3.5-$4M and trying to resurrect them is better than another season or two and having shots at future openings. If he was a serious candidate at FSU, or if Miami was open, or if a big-time position in the PAC12 was available I would expect him to already have one foot out the door.  But tough roles like Arkansas make FAU’s bid to keep him more reasonable - even if it is only a year or two from the inevitable.
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The optimist in me thinks that Lane is happy to use this as an opportunity to get more money and stay and he absolutely should. PJ Fleck, Matt Campbell have both gotten extensions/raises by their schools because they're a hot topic. Hopefully at the end of all of this, we realize that Lane took the interview, without intent to go, in order to make sure FAU takes care of him.

I also believe that Prez Kelly and team realize the value of the exposure Lane brings us, on top of legitimately being the best coach in our league. He's worth $2mm a year IMO.

We have been fed a lot about Lane's "lifestyle" desires over anything else, which is why I've always mentally planned to lose him to a coastal job at a bigger P5 program.

Miami is an interesting one for sure…don't know if Manny can't right the ship if he's on staff this time next year. They've got the fanbase that would embrace Lane, they've won national championships, he'd get to keep his boat…

It'll end eventually, might be this weekend or in a year or two, but I do think there's a lot more money and success on the horizon for Lane if he stays here and goes 11-1 next year, wins another conference championship, etc.

Every coach at this level wants a shot to beat the best…I just don't know if Arkansas is set up to beat the best in the SEC West. It feels like more of a cash grab for 3 years. Remember, Lane's quirks are cute when he's winning 11 games a year, when he's sub .500, they're what gets him fired!
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teambeer said

The optimist in me thinks that Lane is happy to use this as an opportunity to get more money and stay and he absolutely should. PJ Fleck, Matt Campbell have both gotten extensions/raises by their schools because they're a hot topic. Hopefully at the end of all of this, we realize that Lane took the interview, without intent to go, in order to make sure FAU takes care of him.

I also believe that Prez Kelly and team realize the value of the exposure Lane brings us, on top of legitimately being the best coach in our league. He's worth $2mm a year IMO.

We have been fed a lot about Lane's "lifestyle" desires over anything else, which is why I've always mentally planned to lose him to a coastal job at a bigger P5 program.

Miami is an interesting one for sure…don't know if Manny can't right the ship if he's on staff this time next year. They've got the fanbase that would embrace Lane, they've won national championships, he'd get to keep his boat…

It'll end eventually, might be this weekend or in a year or two, but I do think there's a lot more money and success on the horizon for Lane if he stays here and goes 11-1 next year, wins another conference championship, etc.

Every coach at this level wants a shot to beat the best…I just don't know if Arkansas is set up to beat the best in the SEC West. It feels like more of a cash grab for 3 years. Remember, Lane's quirks are cute when he's winning 11 games a year, when he's sub .500, they're what gets him fired!
Posted On: Dec 5th 2019, 9:10 AM #391472

Excellent post.

Go Owls!
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I know it sounds crazy but what if FAU ups his contract to 2 million but he also becomes a Vice President or co president of FAU and maybe that could pay him another 300k or so. 
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I think he will leave, and that is fine.  But this type of attempt to increase an offer shows the commitment of the university to the program and will only help attracting a quality replacement.
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Teambeer makes some good points.

Here is one I'll add, if you are in Prez Kelly's position or from the BOT's position…

We just invested $80,000,000 roughly in facilities to a $70,000,000 stadium we are still paying the debt on.  

FAU finally has momentum as a football program from a winning perspective and gaining exposure locally, regionally and nationally which is hand in hand with utilizing the program as a marketing tool for the school.  President Kelly has time and time again said we are going all in on football and has backed up that sentiment with actions.

Paying Lane $1m more a year at this pivotal time in our program (winning culture being build, stadium debt, new facilities, etc.) as a percentage of what we are investing into football as a whole every year is a literal drop in the bucket.  To put into perspective, $1m is .075% of what we have invested in facilities alone not to mention the other millions we spend on the program's operating budget.

From strictly a business perspective, we would be remiss not to spend to retain a coach that can utilize the investments we have made to in turn reach the goals those investments were made to attain (student profile, better on campus life, marketing, reputation, etc).

This is an interesting scenario with probably a lot in the background going on (that we will read 3 years from now).  Let's see what our money folks decide to do…

Teambeer is the most knowledgeable FAU sports fan I know, way smarter than me.
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walty12 said

Teambeer makes some good points.

Here is one I'll add, if you are in Prez Kelly's position or from the BOT's position…

We just invested $80,000,000 roughly in facilities to a $70,000,000 stadium we are still paying the debt on.

FAU finally has momentum as a football program from a winning perspective and gaining exposure locally, regionally and nationally which is hand in hand with utilizing the program as a marketing tool for the school.  President Kelly has time and time again said we are going all in on football and has backed up that sentiment with actions.

Paying Lane $1m more a year at this pivotal time in our program (winning culture being build, stadium debt, new facilities, etc.) as a percentage of what we are investing into football as a whole every year is a literal drop in the bucket.  To put into perspective, $1m is .075% of what we have invested in facilities alone not to mention the other millions we spend on the program's operating budget.

From strictly a business perspective, we would be remiss not to spend to retain a coach that can utilize the investments we have made to in turn reach the goals those investments were made to attain (student profile, better on campus life, marketing, reputation, etc).

This is an interesting scenario with probably a lot in the background going on (that we will read 3 years from now).  Let's see what our money folks decide to do…
Posted On: Dec 5th 2019, 12:24 PM #391477
Speaking of 3 years ago apparently Chun couldnt get the deal done with Kiffin and tried to hire Bobby wilder (the one who just got fired at ODU). Kelly went to see Kiffin directly and made the deal and then forced chun to uninvite Wilder. As ive read Kiffin and Chun never really got along.
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