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College Football Program Makes Rising Offensive Mind Youngest Head Coach In FBS

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jordan Sigler | Last updated Dec 2, 2024 9:48 PM ET

Entering the 2024 season, Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham, born April 28, 1990 (34), was the youngest full-time head coach in the FBS. The youth movement worked for ASU, as the Sun Devils are playing Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday for a chance to make the College Football Playoff.

Utah State's Nate Dreiling, born Oct. 27, 1990 (34), became the youngest head coach in the FBS when the school named him the interim head coach in July when Blake Anderson was fired in July.

On Monday, the FBS has a 33-year-old head coach.

Per a statement by Florida Atlantic, the Owls have named Texas Tech offensive coordinator Zach Kittley as their next head coach to succeed Tom Herman:

"Florida Atlantic Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White announced Monday that Zach Kittley has been named the school's Hagerty Family Head Football Coach. One of the brightest and most innovative offensive minds in college football, Kittley comes to Boca Raton after three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas Tech."

A New Era Begins

Welcome to Paradise, Coach Kittley!️@ZKittley

https://t.co/HO8ECoGapn pic.twitter.com/TrcVRqfDGk
— Florida Atlantic Football (@FAUFootball) December 3, 2024

Kittley was born Aug. 14, 1991, in Abilene, Texas. He went to college at Texas Tech and served as a student assistant under then-co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie. Kittley had stops with Houston Baptist (2018-20) and Western Kentucky (2021) as an offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Kittley accepted the Texas Tech offensive coordinator position on head coach Joey McGuire's staff in 2022.

Texas Tech was tied with Texas State and SMU for averaging the sixth-most points per game (37.4) in 2024. The Red Raiders offense averaged 453 yards per game, the eighth-best average in the FBS.

Kittley is inheriting an FAU program that went 3-9 in 2024. The Owls' last winning season came in Willie Taggart's first season with FAU in 2020, when they went 5-4 and made a bowl appearance. The Owls' last bowl win was under former head coach Lane Kiffin in 2019 when they defeated SMU 52-28 in the Boca Raton Bowl.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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