FAU fires Charlie Partridge

FAU will be looking for a new head coach this year.

After an embarrassing 77-56 beatdown at the hands of Middle Tennessee it made FAU and Charlie Partridge finish the season 3-9 for the third season in a row with him as the head coach.

Although it had been speculated in the middle of the season that Partridge might be back for a fourth year in Boca Raton due to him being owed over a million dollars in the next two years, last night’s poor effort made it clear it was time for a change.

When hired in 2013 Partridge took over a program coming off of a 6-6 season that featured off the field drama due to the Carl Pelini scandal and on the field improvement.

The roster he inherited was built to win in a watered down Conference USA but he could never get over the hump as FAU repeatedly lost close games against teams that had no business being on FAU’s level on paper.

I say on paper because despite the lack of success on the field Partridge routinely brought in classes that ranked near the top in Conference USA.

He prided himself so much with the ability to bring in top classes despite no wins to show for it that he sent me a direct message bragging about how he was able to flip a recruit near signing day.

For the first time during his time in Boca you could tell that his #FindAWay schtick was running thin as fan attendance was dipping game by game.

As much as Partridge should be blamed for the situation FAU is currently in he does deserve some credit.

Partridge changed the FAU brand at a time we needed it. FAU is factor on the recruiting trail in South Florida in large part because of Partridge.

However, he never had the chops to take FAU to the next level as his in-game coaching from the Wyoming game in his first year to last night’s massacre never improved and because of that I’m glad he’s gone.

Partridge leaves FAU with the second most wins in school history with a 9-27 record.