page_title: Florida Atlantic Owls
section_title: Football
hierarchical_section_title: Florida Atlantic Owls / Sports sponsored / Football
caption_attribution_description: English: FAU Stadium at night.
context_page_description: The Florida Atlantic Owls are the athletics teams of Florida Atlantic University. The Owls participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as members of Conference USA. Florida Atlantic has attracted high-profile coaches in the past for various sports, including Howard Schnellenberger and Lane Kiffin for football and Mike Jarvis for basketball. Other former coaches include Matt Doherty, Rex Walters, and Sidney Green. As of March 2018, the Owls are led by athletic director Brian White.
context_section_description: Florida Atlantic University fielded its first football team in 2001, coached by former Miami and Louisville coach Howard Schnellenberger. Their first game was a 40–7 loss against Slippery Rock University on September 1, 2001. After just four seasons of existence, the Owls jumped from Division I-AA (now FCS) competition to Division I-A (now FBS), joining the Sun Belt Conference. Through the 2008 season, after eight years of competing in football, the Owls are 47–47 overall. In 2007 they competed in their first bowl game, the New Orleans Bowl, where they defeated the Memphis Tigers 44–27. In 2008, the Owls competed in their second straight bowl game, the Motor City Bowl, where they defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas by a score of 24–21.
  In 2010, quarterback Rusty Smith became the first FAU player to be drafted.
  The Owls opened their new on-campus FAU Stadium on October 15, 2011, against Western Kentucky.
  The Owls' natural rival are the Florida International Golden Panthers, who are located just 50 miles from Florida Atlantic and also compete in Conference USA. The rivals meet annually in a conference match up named the Shula Bowl, after Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula.  The first Shula Bowl was played in 2002 at the Miami Dolphins' Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium), and since alternated between FAU at Sun Life Stadium and FIU Stadium annually; the first game in the series at the Owls' new stadium was in 2012. FAU leads the all-time series thirteen games to four.
  On December 5, 2011, the football program hired its second coach in its history; former University of Nebraska Defensive Coordinator, Carl Pelini. In 2013, the Owls joined Conference USA. On December 16, 2013, the program hired its third coach in its history; Charlie Partridge.
  On December 12, 2016, the program hired the fourth coach in program history; Lane Kiffin. Kiffin was formerly the head coach for the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, the University of Tennessee Volunteers, and the University of Southern California as well as the former Offensive Coordinator for the University of Alabama under Nick Saban. He led the Owls to two conference championships in 2017 and 2019, as well as a 2017 Boca Raton Bowl victory, where the Owls defeated the Akron Zips by a score of 50-3.
  On December 11, 2019, FAU announced the hiring of former Florida State University head coach Willie Taggart as the next head coach. On December 21, 2019, former interim head coach and current University of South Florida defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer led the Owls to their fourth bowl victory in the Boca Raton Bowl, where the Owls defeated the SMU Mustangs by a score of 52-28.
caption: FAU Stadium, current home of the Owls football team
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