Clarksville, TN – Welcome home, Jeff Faris. Austin Peay State University (APSU) Vice President and Athletic Director Gerald Harrison announced Saturday that Faris, a Tennessean with a dozen years of Division I coaching experience at the FBS level, has been named the 22nd head football coach in Austin Peay State University history.
Austin Peay State University will officially welcome Coach Faris to Clarksville during an introductory press conference at noon (CT) on Monday in F&M Bank Arena, with more details to be announced.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Jeff, Natalie, and the entire Faris Family back home to the State of Tennessee, specifically to Clarksville and Montgomery County,” said Harrison. “Jeff is a brilliant offensive mind and a tireless recruiter. He will be an impactful member of our community and has an infectious personality that will galvanize our student-athletes, our fans, and all of Stacheville.
“Coach Faris is committed to the tenets of the ‘Total Gov Concept’ and I am confident that he will be a great steward of Clarksville’s Hometown Team!”
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Faris spent the past two seasons as the tight ends coach for head coach Chip Kelly at UCLA. Before his time in Los Angeles, he was on head coach David Cutcliffe’s coaching staff at Duke, where he was named the 2018 American Football Coaches Association’s Assistant Coach of the Year. By the end of his 10 seasons in Durham, North Carolina, Faris had become the Blue Devils’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Faris helped return the Blue Devils to national prominence as they reached six bowl games and won the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl, the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl, and the 2018 Independence Bowl. At UCLA, Faris helped guide the Bruins to the 2022 Sun Bowl and the 2023 LA Bowl.
“Natalie, Jack, Eli, and I are thrilled to be joining the Austin Peay State University family,” said Faris. “To come home and be a part of the incredible history and tradition of our great University is a dream come true. We love the Clarksville community and look forward to meeting everyone. I cannot wait to get to work with this special group. It is a great day to be a Gov! Let’s Go Peay!”
In 2023, Faris’ tight ends recorded 32 receptions for 613 yards and seven touchdowns. Carsen Ryan led the unit with 13 receptions for 205 yards and three touchdowns while All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection Moliki Motavao recorded 12 receptions for 266 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, Hudson Habermehl added seven receptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Per PFF, the Bruins had the No. 1 tight end unit in the Pac-12 with Ryan and Motavao grading out as the No. 1 and No. 2 tight ends in the conference, respectively, while Habermehl graded out as the No. 12 tight end in the league.
In Faris’ first season in Westwood, the Bruins’ tight ends combined for 41 receptions for 475 yards and six touchdowns. Michael Ezeike led the group with 20 catches for 226 yards and four touchdowns while becoming the first UCLA player to record three touchdown receptions in a single game since 2017 against USC.
In that first season, the Bruins’ offense averaged 503.6 yards of total offense per game, the fourth-best mark in the NCAA and the first time in program history the Bruins had averaged more than 500 yards of offense per game.
In his final season at Duke, Faris served as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Cutcliffe. The 2021 Blue Devils passed for 2,855 yards and nine touchdowns, with quarterback Gunnar Holmberg leading the way with 2,358 yards – the most by a Duke quarterback since 2018 – and seven touchdown passes. Holmberg also completed 67 percent of his passes that season, which ranked second in the ACC and 22nd in the NCAA. In addition, Holmberg rushed for six touchdowns, while reserve quarterbacks Jordan Moore and Riley Leonard combined for two more passing and three rushing touchdowns.
The Blue Devils averaged 418.2 passing and 180.3 rushing yards per game en route to 418.2 yards of total offense per game in Faris’ lone season as the play-caller in Durham. In addition, running back Mataeo Duran earned 2021 First Team All-ACC honors after rushing for a Duke single-season record 1,241 yards – breaking a record that had stood for 49 years – and nine of Blue Devils’ 22 rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Jake Bobo was also a Third Team All-ACC honoree after leading the Blue Devils with 74 receptions and 794 yards with one touchdown reception.
From 2018-20, Faris was Duke’s offensive recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach. He coached tight end Noah Gray for three seasons before he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Gray recorded 29 receptions for 285 yards and two touchdowns during his senior season, ranking third on the team in yards and receptions and leading the Blue Devils in touchdown catches.
During a Second Team All-ACC season in 2020, Gray broke a 57-yard-old Duke record for receptions by a tight end, ending the campaign with 51 receptions for 392 yards and three touchdown catches. He would finish his career with 105 receptions for 948 yards and eight touchdowns.
Tight end Jake Marwede also totaled 13 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown in 2020 – Faris’ final year as Duke’s tight ends coach. Marwede’s touchdown was a 55-yard reception against Virginia that was tied for the longest touchdown catch by a Blue Devil in 2021.
Faris earned the 2018 AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year in his first season with Duke’s tight ends. The award is presented to one assistant coach from each of the five divisions of college football who excels in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success, and AFCA professional organization involvement.
On the field in 2018, Faris helped Daniel Helm earn Third Team All-ACC and First Team Google Cloud Academic All-District III honors after recording 26 receptions for 271 yards and two touchdowns. Daniel Koppenhaver also hauled in seven touchdown receptions – a single-season record for Blue Devils tight ends – en route to breaking the Duke career record for touchdown receptions by a tight end.
Faris served as the Blue Devils’ wide receivers coach from 2014-17 and added offensive recruiting coordinator duties before the 2017 campaign. With Faris on the Blue Devils’ offensive staff, Duke signed quarterback Daniel Jones (2015-18), who would finish his Blue Devils’ career with 8,201 passing yards and 52 passing touchdowns in three seasons, while also rushing for 1,323 yards and 17 touchdowns.
In his final season with Duke’s receivers, T.J. Rahming earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors after he led the team with 65 receptions and 795 receiving yards. Under Faris’ tutelage, Rahming topped the 40-catch and 500-yard plateaus in three straight seasons and became the 10th player in Duke history to post 2,000 receiving yards in a career.
In addition to Rahming’s breakout with a team-leading 70 receptions and 742 yards in 2016, wide receiver Johnathan Lloyd added 34 catches for 301 yards and a team-best three touchdown receptions in his second year under Faris’ guidance.
During the 2015 season, Max McCaffrey, who signed an NFL free-agent contract with the Oakland Raiders in 2016, led the Blue Devils’ wide receivers with 52 receptions for 643 yards and five touchdowns – all team highs for the season. In his first season at Duke, Rahming complemented McCaffrey with 43 receptions for 571 yards and two touchdowns while setting the Duke single-game records for receptions (12) and receiving yards (190) against Virginia.
In his first full-time season as the Blue Devils’ wide receivers coach, Faris guided senior Jamison Crowder to a record-breaking finish to his career. Crowder led Duke with 85 receptions and 1,044 receiving yards while ranking second on the team with six receiving touchdowns and was a First Team All-ACC selection. Crowder was a fourth-round pick by the Washington Redskins in the 2015 NFL Draft – Duke’s first wide receiver selected in the draft since Clarkston Hines went to the Buffalo Bills in the ninth round of the 1990 draft.
In addition to Crowder’s exploits, Faris helped wideout Issac Blakeney turn in his best year as a Blue Devil with 47 receptions for 559 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. After the season, Blakeney would sign as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers.
Faris served as a graduate assistant at Duke during 2012-13 seasons. Duke won the ACC Coastal Division championship during the 2013 campaign with Faris working alongside Scottie Montgomery with the team’s wide receivers.
The Blue Devils’ offense ranked among ACC leaders in scoring (5th; 32.8 ppg), total offense (4th; 426.1 ypg), and passing offense (6th; 248.1 ypg) in 2013 while setting the program record for total points (459) and becoming the first team in school history to post 25-plus rushing touchdowns and 25-plus passing touchdowns in the same season.
Faris is a three-time graduate of Duke, earning his bachelor’s degree in economics in 2011 before earning a master’s degree in economics in 2012 and a second master’s degree in Christian Studies in 2013. Faris also played safety for the Blue Devils from 2008-12 and earned the Mike Suglia Award in 2009, an honor that is annually presented to the sophomore member of the Duke football program who best exemplifies the academic and athletic qualities of the late Mike Suglia.
Faris and his wife Natalie welcomed twin sons, Jack and Eli, in June 2023.
Jeff Faris’ Coaching History
Dec. 2023, Named Austin Peay Head Coach
2022-23, UCLA, Assistant Coach (tight ends)
2021, Duke, Co-Offensive Coordinator
2018-20, Duke, Assistant Coach (tight ends)
2014-17, Duke, Assistant Coach (wide receivers)
