FAU’s coaching search ends after Carl Pelini out due to drugs

Florida Atlantic is set to fill its vacant head coaching position by hiring Arkansas defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, according to Football Scoop.

It has been a strange, strange year for the Owls, beginning with Carl Pelini’s resignation due to alleged drug use back in November. Pelini was replaced with interim head coach and offensive coordinator Brian Wright, who promptly took a previously reeling Owls team to bowl qualification by going 4-0 down the stretch. They were not selected for a bowl berth, but did show dramatic improvement under Wright.

Florida Atlantic interim head coach Brian Wright will not be retained by the school, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Dieter Kurtenbach is reporting.

Wright got his start in coaching at Walsh University in 1995 as a graduate assistant. He moved on to Youngstown State as a GA in 1997, where he had the opportunity to coach on a team that would win the FCS national championship. He returned to Walsh the following year, before again heading back to YSU in 2001.

Former NFL quarterback and current Western Kentucky offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm could interview for Florida Atlantic’s vacant head coach position, via 247sports’s Luke Stampini.

The Owls won all four of their games after head coach Carl Pelini’s dismissal, becoming bowl eligible at 6-6. Brohm was not one of the names we brought up as possible replacement candidates.

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has vehemently denied reports that defensive coordinator Luke Fickell interviewed for the vacant head coaching position at Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic’s previous head coach, Carl Pelini, resigned from the program after alleged drug use. An SB Nation FOIA request found allegations that Pelini used both marijuana and cocaine during his time with the school.

Florida Atlantic AD Patrick Chun flew to Ohio Tuesday to interview Luke Fickell for the Owls’ vacant head coaching job, according to a report from Dieter Kurtenbach of the Sun Sentinel. Fickell is currently the defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Fickell appears to be Chun’s first choice for the job, and given his history with Ohio State, that’s not surprising. As our own Patrick Vint noted not long after Carl Pelini tendered his resignation, there was a good chance that Fickell would emerge as a target:

Carl Pelini resigned from his position as head football coach at Florida Atlantic University on Wednesday after two affidavits alleged he used both marijuana and cocaine during his time at the school.

In documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by SB Nation, a man named Matt Edwards and a woman named Allison Stewart state they witnessed Pelini’s use of illegal drugs. Matt Edwards is also the name of FAU’s defensive line and special teams coach and a longtime assistant tied to former FAU defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis, who also resigned.

Florida Atlantic head coach Carl Pelini has reportedly resigned from his position effective immediately, ESPN’s Brett McMurphy is reporting, effective immediately.

Last season, FAU went 3-9 in Pelini’s first year as head coach. Pelini is the second head coach in the program’s history, as Howard Schnellenberger manned the team from 2001 through 2011.