Arkansas defensive line coach and long-time South Florida recruiter Charlie Partridge agreed in principle to become Florida Atlantic’s next head football coach Saturday night according to the Sun Sentinel.  

Partridge - who grew up in Plantation, Fla. - spent the past season working under Brett Bilemma at Arkansas. Prior to that, he had coaching stops at both Wisconsin and Pittsburgh.

Partridge has been known as an ace on the recruiting trail and was able to convince 13 players from South Florida to ink with either Arkansas or Wisconsin over the past five years. He was the Razorbacks primary recruiter for four-star running back Alex Collins, who spurned in-state powers such as Miami and FSU and signed with Arkansas.

The 40-year old coach will become the fourth head coach in FAU history taking over for Brian Wright, who finished the season in the wake of the fallout surrounding Carl Pelini.

Partridge was the co-defensive coordinator at Wisconsin in 2011, when the Badgers finished 15th in the nation in total defense.