Lane Kiffin is hiring Art Briles’ son to be his offensive coordinator at FAU

New Florida Atlantic head coach Lane Kiffin is making longtime Baylor assistant Kendal Briles his offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports. The first:

Briles is the son of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, whom Baylor fired during a sexual assault scandal in May. The report Baylor commissioned to investigate its football program said “some football coaches and staff took improper steps in response to disclosures of sexual assault or dating violence that precluded the University from fulfilling its legal obligations” under Title IX. But Briles’ staff of assistants, including his son, stayed intact through the 2016 season.

Kendal Briles joined his father’s Baylor staff when the elder Briles took that job in 2008, and he spent the last two seasons as Baylor’s offensive coordinator. Art Briles’ remaining staff spent much of the year in a barely veiled feud with the school’s administration, while former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe led the program.

Art Briles is now suing a group of Baylor administrators. This month, Baylor hired Temple coach Matt Rhule to relieve Grobe as his long-term replacement.

Now Kendal Briles is moving on, too, just days after Baylor accepted an NCAA fine for recruiting violations by him and other Baylor assistants.

Kiffin and Briles have some stylistic differences in how they go about offense, and it’ll be interesting to see how those are worked out.

In his three years as Alabama’s offensive coordinator, Kiffin has installed a spread-like power running game with option principles, and it’s worked brilliantly. Briles comes from his father’s offensive school of thought, which is all its own but looks kind of like the run-and-shoot, often with four receivers and one running back.

The system has a much different look than what Kiffin has run at Alabama, and Baylor moves at a much quicker pace than the Tide. But the offenses share an affinity for the run, and maybe there’s more overlap than appears on the surface.

Kiffin is still coaching Alabama during the Tide’s run in the College Football Playoff. For FAU, he’s already signed quarterback De’Andre Johnson, whom Florida State dismissed after he punched a woman in 2015. He’ll move full-time into FAU business after Alabama’s season ends, which could be as late as the National Championship on Jan. 9.