Adam Schefter was in the news in one more than one Wednesday.
One is a tad bit more colorful than the other.
However, the ESPN NFL insider reported that Baltimore Ravens Hall-of-Fame linebacker Ray Lewis was a candidate for an FBS opening. According to Schefter, the Florida Atlantic Owls, who recently fired head coach Tom Herman, were perhaps looking to follow the Deion Sanders model in Boca Raton.
Following the Deion Sanders-to-Colorado model, Hall-of-Fame linebacker Ray Lewis has emerged as a candidate to become the next head coach at Florida Atlantic University, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/eZk8av3Vcc
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 20, 2024
It wouldn’t be the first time a former Miami Hurricanes star turned Baltimore Raven tried their hand at college coaching. Lewis’s former teammate, Ed Reed, was hired as the head coach at Bethune Cookman. And after 25 days and a profanity-laced social media rant in which he heavily criticized the school — and later apologized — the University opted not to ratify his contract.
Reed is now in an administrative role at his alma mater, in addition to going on uncomfortable rants about Guardian Caps on the ManningCast. And while his stint at Bethune-Cookman didn’t last three weeks, Lewis as a candidate of interest didn’t even last 30 minutes.
Following Schefter’s report, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247Sports didn’t waste time in responding. Citing his sources, Zenitz reported that there’s been no direct communication between Lewis and FAU, making it highly unlikely that the Owls will make him their next head coach.
Re: Ray Lewis and FAU:
There’s been no direct communication between Lewis and the school at this point and it’s highly unlikely that FAU ends up hiring him as head coach, sources tell @CBSSports/@247Sports https://t.co/qOetA1iLiU pic.twitter.com/96izlS8Q82
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) November 20, 2024
That doesn’t mean that Lewis and FAU didn’t have a conversation between intermediaries, which very well could be the case. But according to Zenitz, there was never any direction communication between Lewis and the school, which places some doubt on whether he’ll actually be a candidate, let alone Herman’s successor.
Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports offered some “pretty blunt intel,” saying that Lewis to FAU isn’t happening.
Pretty blunt intel from the folks involved in the coaching search at FAU about the ESPN report that Ray Lewis is a candidate for coach: “It is not happening.”
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 20, 2024
ESPN’s un-bylined writeup included this note: “But other sources told ESPN that FAU is focused on other candidates at this time.”
We’ll likely see the Owls go the Power Four coordinator route. But if their search hits a snag, they can take the road less traveled with one phone call.
[Adam Schefter]
