Zach Kittley
In his own words
Self-inflicted wounds; we got to clean that up
We gotta be great all around. We’ve got to communicate great, we’ve got to make sure we line up properly, we’ve got to tackle
I’m excited; we’ve got a lot of continuity back. Just excited about the leadership and maturation we’ve had going into the new year
Career arc
His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.
Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).
Style position and drift
Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
His own effect, isolated
A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.
Model fit as of 2026-09-04.
Coaching career
5th-best Florida Atlantic tenure of 9 by the numbers.
Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on offense and underperforms his recruiting talent on defense.
Followed Tom Herman (2023–2024).
| Season | 2025 | 2026 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||
| Record | 4–8 | 0–0 | |
| Postseason | — | — | |
| Recruiting rank | #85 | #130 | |
| Style — pass rate | |||
| Pass rate | 62.1 | 51.5 | |
| Coordinators | |||
| OC | — | — | |
| DC | Brett Dewhurst | Brett Dewhurst | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||
| Offense | 44 | 55 | |
| Defense | 9 | 5 | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only) | |||
| 1st-down pass% | 61.1 | 55.8 | |
| Red-zone pass% | 53.7 | 45.0 | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | 53.8 | — | |
A portal-built roster.
Brings in smaller-than-position-typical players than most.
Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.
AI Narratives — “Florida Atlantic — stat check”.
Zach Kittley
Offensive coordinator across 2 programs, 2 stints, before and after wearing the head-coach hat — every season measured on the same axis, whether he personally ran the unit or someone else did.