Tuesday morning began with two head-coaching vacancies at the FBS level. As of now, there are none.
Florida Atlantic confirmed a short time ago that it has hired Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin as its new head coach. Temple, the other opening, will look to an SEC coordinator to fill its position as well as the AAC program is reportedly set to name Geoff Collins as the Owls’ next head coach.Florida DC Geoff Collins will be named Temple’s coach, sources told @ESPN
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) December 13, 2016
#UF DC Geoff Collins is expected to become the next #Temple head coach, source tells @FOXSports .. 1st reported by ESPN.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 13, 2016
The 45-year-old Collins will replace Matt Rhule, who left Temple to take the same job at Baylor. This will mark Collins’ first job as a head coach at any level.
Collins is in the midst of his second season as the defensive coordinator at Florida. Prior to that, he was the coordinator at Mississippi State for four years.
UPDATED 4:08 p.m. ET: Temple has confirmed the hiring of Collins as its new head football coach.
“As soon as I met with Geoff I knew right away that this was the right coach at the right time for Temple University,” said athletic director Patrick M. Kraft in a statement. “Well beyond Geoff’s acumen as a coach of hard, physical football, he shares our values of embracing the student-athlete and demanding excellence in all that we do. We welcome Geoff and Jennifer to the Temple family. I know that he will be fantastic.”
“I want to thank President Englert and Dr. Kraft for this incredible opportunity to join Temple and the City of Philadelphia,” Collins said. “I have been in the game of college football for more than two decades and I am humbled and honored to be chosen to build on a great foundation of success. We will compete for championships, we will provide a world-class student-athlete experience and education, and we will represent the community with pride.