Pro Football Hall of Famer Ray Lewis candidate for vacancy at Florida Atlantic, per report

Posted by author November 20, 2024 Football

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Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis is a candidate for the vacant head football coach job at Florida Atlantic, according to ESPN.

FAU fired Tom Herman on Monday after two seasons and a 6-16 record.

The Owls have lost five in a row and are 0-6 in the American Athletic Conference this season. Chad Lunsford, who previously coached the team’s tight ends, is the interim head coach for FAU’s final two games against Charlotte and Tulsa. It is unknown if Lunsford, who coached at Georgia Southern from 2017-2021, is a candidate for the job.

Lewis, 49, played at the Miami (Fla.) before spending 17 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, winning two Super Bowls, a Super Bowl MVP award, two NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, and being named a first-team All-Pro seven times.

After his playing career, Lewis became an NFL analyst for ESPN and FOX. In recent years, colleges hiring former NFL standouts to guide programs are becoming more commonplace, especially with the success Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders has brought to Colorado. The Buffaloes are 8-2 and are ranked No. 16 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.

Lewis has not coached at any level, but whoever takes the job is in for an uphill battle. None of the previous five head coaches at FAU lasted more than three seasons, and only one of them, Lane Kiffin, left on their own. Kiffin left the school in 2019 to become the head coach at Ole Miss.