Report: Former WVU QB Ja’Juan Seider Candidate for FAU Head Coach Job

Former West Virginia quarterback Ja’Juan Seider was listed as a candidate for the head coach opening at FAU in a report by the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

Seider played at West Virginia from 1995-98, primarily as the backup quarterback behind star Marc Bulger. Seidel transferred to Florida A&M as a graduate student in 1999, where he started and completed 61.5% of his passes for 2,622 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also ran 740 yards and 14 touchdowns.

He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, but spent 2001-07 coaching for three different high schools in Florida before returning to West Virginia to coach at the college ranks.

He was a graduate assistant on Bill Stewart’s staff from 2008-09 before heading to Marshall as a running backs coach from 2010-12. He then returned to West Virginia to serve as running backs coach under Dana Holgerson from 2013-16 before spending a year with Florida in 2017 in the same role. He joined Penn State’s coaching staff in 2018 and has been there ever since.

His experience at West Virginia could make him a candidate if the head coaching job were to open following Neal Brown’s 5-7 2022 season, the fourth of his tenure. A recent report by ESPN stated that Brown is likely to return in 2023.

Seider has overseen talented backs including Philadelphia Eagles starter Miles Sanders. He‘s known as a great recruiter, including being rated as the No. 8 recruiter in 2019 by 247Sports.

Penn State currently has the No. 35 offense in FBS and the No. 3 offense in the Big Ten. Penn State’s run offense, which averages 182.1 yards per game, currently ranks No. 46 in the country and No. 4 in the conference.

Seider is from Belle Glade, Florida and played quarterback for Florida A&M after transferring from West Virginia, where he was the team’s back-up quarterback for four seasons. It appears that the Florida connection is the primary reason for him being mentioned as a candidate. All coaches mentioned by Feldman have a connection to the state of Florida in some way with either a coaching or playing stint at one of the FBS schools in the state.

The interest comes after FAU fired Willie at Taggart yesterday. In three seasons at FAU, Taggart 15-18 with his lone bowl appearance coming in his first season. Taggart was a Florida staple having coached at USF (2013-16), Florida State (2018-19) and FAU. He also coached Oregon for one season (2017) and Western Kentucky (2010-12).