The new era of FAU football is officially here as Zach Kittley was introduced to FAU nation in his opening press conference on Friday afternoon. Kittley spoke in front of a crowd of supporters and media, being introduced by voice of the Owls Ken Lavicka, along with Athletic Director Brian White and President Stacy Volnick, who elaborated on their decision to hire Kittley away from Texas Tech.
At 33 years old Kittley brings a young minded energy to an Owls program that needs a rejuvenation of life following 4 straight years without postseason play and a determination to get back there. Kittley has put up consistently solid offensive numbers at all 3 of his coordinating stops and that, along with his passion, has led him to his newest position as the 7th Head Coach in FAU history.
All of that factored into FAU athletic director Brian White’s decision to hire Kittley, but there was a whole lot more. White believes that his resume on the field speaks for itself, however his personality, including his intense determination to succeed is what really stood out to him in the end.
“I think the first thing that was really important for all of us and our players was he really wanted to be here. He really believed in FAU. I mean, everybody believed in FAU, but it really stood out with him, the passion he had not just to be a head coach, but to be a head coach at FAU, this job. He believes he can win championships here. And I think as you meet him, get to know him, you’ll see that that’s very real. So that stood out to everybody on the committee, everybody interacting with that was number one,” White said.
“Number two, but I do think it was important to know he’s won at every level, and he’s been a difference maker everywhere. For him to be 26 years old, to go call an offense at Houston Baptist, and all of a sudden that’s one of the best offenses in college football. That’s pretty darn impressive. And go on to Western Kentucky and lead one of the best offenses in the history of college football, that’s pretty darn impressive. That led the country in scoring touchdowns, points, all the good things we want to see here. And then finally, the work at Texas Tech, I thought was really important, because a lot of offensive minded coaches and high potent offenses, it’s almost a bad rep that they can be one sided, if it’s all pass, for us it was great to see having a 1500 yard running back each of the last two years makes me realize that for our players, whatever they do, well, he’s going to help be successful. And I love that for our players and our recruits. I think that was important. It’s not just a niche system, it’s whatever players can do, he’s going to allow them to be successful. I thought that was critically important,” White said.
“The next piece, you know, probably more, even more important than the above two, is who he is as a person, highly authentic, high character, high integrity. Everybody we spoke to that has ever worked with him raves about him as a human being, on top of being a great football coach, great offensive mind, and all those things you can see when you google him. But I think that that came up time and time again, and then speaking with him through several rounds of interviews, I think we all felt like that was very real. So with all that being said, I would say that he was our, definitely our number one choice throughout he was the only person off of the job,” White said.
Brian White didn’t make this decision alone however, alongside him was interim president Stacy Volnick, who echoed everything that White had to say about Kittley, while elaborating a bit more on why she believed that he was a perfect fit to be the next head coach of her alma Mater. The Owls have had a down stretch over the past couple of years, however this is a program that has won in the past and Volnick believes that Kittley’s determination is what is needed to bring them back there.
“When I met Zack i knew he would be a good fit to the culture we have created here, during our first conversation he described himself as a chill person, Zack, Coach, this is our first disagreement, when i Saw your, you are more like Brian and I, you are a type A++++ personality, you are driven, you are focused on details, you value character and you know what you want to build here and most of all he is going to give our student athletes a path to success,” Volnick said.
For Kittley, this is a dream opportunity, as the Texas native has grinded his way up the coaching ranks in a quick manner over the past decade and change, however this is his first opportunity to lead as a head coach and it’s something he acknowledged is a blessing to be able to do. Many people were thanked by Kittley for helping him get to where he is today, including his wife Emily, children, Knox, Ford and Rhoads, along with his Mom and Dad Wes, who is a legendary track and field coach for Texas Tech, also mentioned was his coaching family which included Kliff Kingsbury, Sonnie Cumbie and many more.
Kittley has had success now at 3 different schools, however the staple at all of those places has been the players who were able to find success in his system. He acknowledges this and notes he wouldn’t be where he is today without the players and heading into a new chapter at FAU he is excited, because the University and remaining players share his desire to win and there is no better place to win than in South Florida, home of some of the best High School talent in the nation.
“I am honored to be your head football coach because I know that we’re going to build a program here, and we’re going to go win AAC championships.University could not be in a better situation than it is, right now, an all time high in enrollment, climbing the ranks academically across the country, and we will continue to carry on that mission. During my time here as head football coach, we have some of the best high school football right here in our backyard, and we’re going to make sure we dominate South Florida in the recruiting trail. Most importantly, though, I took this job because the players, the football players, the student athletes. They are the most important part of this football program. I’ve spent the last three days meeting with our current roster, one on one meetings, getting to know our young men. And I can tell you this, our young men this football program are men of integrity. They’re here for the right reasons. They love this university. They’re excited to be here. After meeting with those guys, I can tell you that I’m 100% in the right place to lead these young men. And the players will be the heartbeat of our program, and we will consistently focus on the family atmosphere around them again, because the players are the most important part of the program,” Kittley said.
On the field, one thing that has been consistent for Kittley has been his ability to put up points and display an offense that is exciting to watch, however now as a head coach he will be responsible for sending out a team that excels in all 3 facets of the game. One thing that was a shortfall while at Texas Tech was the defense, as they allowed 5 or more touchdowns in nearly half of their games this season and while his offense consistently put up points, the defense sometimes left them hanging.
Now heading up offense, defense and special teams, Kittley looks to display a squad that is balanced on all 3 sides of the ball, while also sticking to his traditional roots of an offense that will dominate. Although the exciting offense is Kittley’s staple, now as head coach he knows his responsibility is to win and that will start by success on offense, defense and special teams.
“It’s going to be a lot of excitement. We’re going to light up the scoreboard. We’re going to run it up on people. A lot of air raid, you know, things going on right there, right? Well, let me tell you this, we’re going to be able to run the football. You know, Brian hit on it. I’m so glad he did. At the end of the day, it’s about winning football games. I’ve been a part of a lot of games where I’ve lost games 55 to 52 we don’t want to do that around here. I’d rather win a game 10 to 14 to five two, right? Go win a football game. That’s what it’s about. So we’re going to make sure offensively, we’re going to go put the points on the board. But when we’ve got leads and games and stuff like that. We’re going to run the football. We’re going to make sure we get out of there again. It’s all about putting our players in positions to be successful. And we get in here. We get through spring practice, we’re going to know what our guys can do, and we’re going to go attack to their strengths,” Kittley said.
“We’re going to play defense here as well. We’re going to hit you in the mouth on defense. We’re going to fly around. We will hit the quarterback, we will take the ball away. That’s going to be the end all of our defense. You’re going to be able to tell the kind of culture we have in here by watching our defensive guys fly around the field, swarming the football, and have 11 guys attacking that football in every single play.,” Kittley said.
“We can’t forget about special teams, we will play special teams here. We’re going to affect the game on special teams. We’re going to be aggressive on special teams, and our best football players will play special teams here at FAU. We’re going to have an authentic love for football and promote a positive environment constantly in this football program, we want all of you, all of the Florida Atlantic community, all of Boca Raton, to be involved in what we’re trying to do here. Y’all are going to be a key part of the success that we have during our tenure here. We’re going to have an exciting, physical, brand of football that our fans will enjoy watching,” Kittley said.
The next step in building this program will be finding a defensive coordinator to lead that defense that Kittley mentions will be a focal point of this FAU team. All of Kittley’s hires so far have been relatively young and lack florida ties, including chief of staff Harrison Hanna, assistant QB Coach Trent Vasey and special teams coordinator Tyler Schovanec, so that leaves the door for the DC to be a veteran coach with florida ties.
It is unknown who the move will be as coordinator for Kittley, however he hopes to have the decision finalized in the next 24-48 hours to give them time to evaluate the roster. In terms of what Kittley is looking for at DC, the new Owls lead man wants an aggressive defense to match his offense, a change from the Owls bend don’t break approach.
“I want to be an aggressive based defense. I don’t want to be a bend don’t break. I want to be a guy that can be multiple, not a stagnative defense where they’re going to kind of know where we’re going to be at all times. And so looking for a guy that wants to be aggressive. And again, I want to hit the quarterback and turn the ball over,” Kittley said.
With Kittley in the process of hiring a staff, simultaneously he is also responsible for evaluating the remaining roster and players currently in the transfer portal. FAU is currently set to lose a lot of talent with senior departures, however he can stop the bleeding by addressing the transfer portal and that is something he has already dove head first into.
Although an influx of new talent is on the horizon for this program, retaining talent that is already here is a pathway to early success and Kittley plans to capitalize that, already working with QB Kasen Weisman to pull his name out of the portal. It won’t end with Weisman, as Kittley plans to continue meeting with players and building this roster day by day, player by player.
“The last three days. I’ve had one on one meetings with pretty much everybody on the team. Got a couple guys out of the portal, which is going to be huge for us here. And again, we got some guys that are wavering a little bit, waiting for some staff movement that we’re going to bring into here. But I feel good about where those guys are. And then, you know, we’ll see what happens on Monday,” Kittley said.
A big piece in retaining a lot of that talent along with adding new pieces is NIL, as that is what is going to move the needle in today’s day and age of college football. The NIL situation at FAU is a bit different than what it was at Texas Tech, however Kittley sees that as an exciting challenge and is ready to dive into the community and fundraise.
“I think you absolutely have to (Fundraise yourself). I’m looking forward to getting boots on the ground here in Boca and getting out in the community and meeting people and trying to raise some money for our NIL program, for our football and athletic department in general. So looking forward to meeting the people out of the community for that,” Kittley said.
NIL can bring short term success to a program, however it is something that can also bring long term success if it’s invested into the right pieces. The Owls will take any amount of success following 4 years without a bowl appearance, however ultimately the goal for the Kittley regime is to turn FAU into a consistent winner.
Building a program is something that can take time, however in the short term that could also mean less than desirable results on the field as a team looks to work out its kinks. Although things may not be perfect right out of the gates, the goals of turning FAU into a consistent winner and one that finds success in year 1, are 2 goals that can coincide together, according to Kittley.
“I think it’s a process, it’s tough to completely turn a football program into a 12 and zero season year one. But, I mean, our goal is to go win an AAC championship right away. And so there is a fine line in it, but at the end of the day, it’s my job to come in here and win football games, and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing,” Kittley said.
Cover Photo via Richard Pereira