FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas assistant head coach Charlie Partridge has been offered the head coaching job at Florida Atlantic and is expected to take the position, the Sun Sentinel of south Florida reported late Saturday.
The newspaper reported that Partridge’s hiring is expected to be announced early next week.
Partridge, who turned 40 last Saturday, interviewed for the position Friday, according to the Sun Sentinel. He is a native of Plantation, Fla., which is less than 30 miles from the Florida Atlantic campus in Boca Raton.
Ohio State running backs coach Stan Drayton also interviewed with Florida Athletic Athletic Director Patrick Chun for the job, which was left vacant after Carl Pelini’s late-season resignation.
Neither Partridge nor Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema could be reached for comment late Saturday.
Partridge has a $50,000 pro-rated buyout as part of his agreement with Arkansas if he resigns his position prior to June 30, 2014.
Partridge, who coaches the defensive line, has been a top recruiter in south Florida during his tenure as an assistant coach. He came to Arkansas, along with defensive coordinator Chris Ash, with Bielema from Wisconsin and has spent the past five years coaching with Bielema.
Prior to that, Partridge had been an assistant coach at Pittsburgh, Eastern Illinois, Iowa State and a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Drake.
Florida Atlantic, a member of Conference USA, is searching for a permanent replacement for Pelini, who resigned along with defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis after allegations they attended a party where marijuana was present. Brian Wright took the head coaching reins on an interim basis Oct. 31, when the Owls were 2-6, and led them to four consecutive victories and a 6-6 record.
Florida Atlantic did not receive a bowl berth behind six other bowl-bound Conference-USA teams.
Sports, Pages 30 on 12/15/2013