Florida Atlantic University football, led by Hagerty Family Head Football Coach Tom Herman, solidified its December 2022 signing class on Wednesday morning. The class encompasses 16 players that will represent the Owls in 2023, which is FAU’s first season in the American Athletic Conference. Coach Herman had the below to offer on the day’s activities. On the signing class primarily recruited by the outgoing staff “I think when a young man commits to a university, I think it is our responsibility to uphold that commitment,” said Herman. “For me, even watching all the commits that were from the previous staff/previous era, it was very apparent that all of these guys could help us win and help us win early. I just wanted to make sure that we were true to our word as a university as they were when they committed.” It didn’t seem as if there was drama or surprises today. That’s always good? “It’s really good. The best part of signing day is when you can be done by 10:00 AM, no surprises, no drama, everyone has signed on the dotted line. We are really, really excited about this class.” Plans going forward? “I do think that we need a couple of pieces in the transfer portal, regardless of years left and all of that. We need some immediate help in certain areas. I think you build a culture through high school guys and through guys that have been in your program for three, four, five years. We don’t want to be transfer U. We do know that we can use the portal and transfers to fill some immediate needs.” Two signees, Kiemar Richardson and Chris Tooley, will enroll in January classes and will begin working with the Owls prior to “Spring Practice.” The remaining 14 players will join after their spring commencement ceremonies, first with summer conditioning and then preseason camp. Class Notables 14 from the Florida Atlantic Territory (encompasses the area from Orlando, follows I-4 to Tampa and south) 6 Tri-county high school alums 2 (Jabari Smith and Chris Tooley) from Jones High School joining nearly a handful currently on the roster Tooley is second player of the same name to play at FAU and both as DBs 2 (Germari Sands and Xavier Terrell) from the highly acclaimed St. Thomas Aquinas High School They are the first St. Thomas duo to join the Owls on Signing Day The Raiders are coached by former FAU assistant Roger Harriott who focused on the running backs 1 (Fabian Scott) played for current FAU assistant coach Brandon Harris’ father As it stands, FAU has the number two ranked outgoing class for Conference USA. With the same metrics applied, the incoming rank for the American would place them 7th. Class Commitment Posts GA Military Academy OL Kiemar Brown-Richardson IMG Academy OL Jordan Church NMMA CB Darius McClendon Gulliver Prep DB Antonio Smith McEachern OL Ovie Dubre Jones DB Chris Tooley Clewiston DB Preston Thompson Dillard WR AJ Jenkins Booker T Washington Safety Fabian Scott Seminole QB Luke Rucker Roswell TE Zeke Moore St. Thomas Aquinas RB Xavier Terrell Venice TE Fin Jones Jones WR Jabari Smith Clearwater OLB Curtis Roberts Aquinas RB Gemari Sands
