Florida Atlantic quarterback Jason Driskel has decided he no longer wants to play football.
On Thursday, Driskel took to social media to announce he has ended his playing career. He posted on his personal Twitter page, “after a lot of thinking, talking with my friends and family, and prayer, I have made the decision to end my career. It was always a dream of mine to play quarterback at the FBS level and I’m proud of accomplishing that goal.It has never been a dream of mine, however, to play football beyond college.”
He is the younger brother of Jeff Driskel, a former Florida and Louisiana Tech quarterback who is now a backup with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The younger Driskel, who had one year of eligibility left, played a large role in the Owls’ successful season. They finished 11-3 and defeated Akron in the Boca Raton Bowl. After becoming the starter the fourth game of the season, Driskel completed 185 of 278 passes for 2,247 yards with 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions. The Owls lost just once in games he started, ending the year on a 10-game winning streak.
Driskel played in 35 games in his career and finished with 5,627 yards and 27 touchdowns. Despite a strong junior season, he was expected to compete with De’Andre Johnson and Oklahoma transfer Chris Robison for the starting spot in the spring. Johnson was sidelined most of last season because of blood clots while Robison sat out per NCAA transfer rules.
Shortly after the bowl victory, FAU coach Lane Kiffin said he would hold an open competition. That led to backup quarterback Daniel Parr, who began last season as the starter, transferring to Duquesne.
The loss of Driskel and Parr means Johnson is the only quarterback on the roster to have taken a snap at the college level. Johnson completed 2 of 3 passes for five yards and an interception in his lone appearance against Navy in last year’s opener before being sidelined.
Changes to FAU’s offense seemed inevitable before Driskel’s decision. Nearly two weeks ago, FAU offensive coordinator Kendal Briles left to take the same job in Houston. This week, FAU reached an agreement with Atlanta Falcons offensive assistant Charlie Weis Jr. to fill the position. Before working for the Falcons, Weis was FAU’s tight ends coach.
The decision to leave football will provide Driskel more opportunity to focus on academics. A civil engineering major, he was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team following last season. He posted a 3.3 grade point average and was twice selected to the league commissioner’s honor roll.
He will graduate in May.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the coaches that helped me to live my dream at FAU,” Driskel wrote. “Thank you to coach [Charlie] Partridge for honoring my commitment to FAU when he didn’t have to, as well as coach [Brian] Wright, who saw in me what a lot of others didn’t. Thank you to coach [Travis] Trickett for coming in and further developing me. Thank you to coach Kiffin for coming and taking us to another level and finally to coach Briles for always believing in me and showing me that football is what we do but not who we are.”
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