Thursday marked the eighth day of Florida Atlantic football fall camp, and the Owls got back to work again at Tom Oxley Field. Today’s focus will be shifted towards the kick and punt return group, a group that has a couple new faces that look to make a big impact.

But before diving in to that reflection, he offered some candid feedback on his wide receiver group, one that is looking to replace LaJohntay Wester but is much deeper overall.

"We've got a bunch of guys who can jump out of the gym, and I'm pleased that we have some guys that can do that", said Beaty. "We did a really good job of vetting these guys. All of them have a role to play and I am hoping that we can play them all."

Moving on to the topic of the day, Beaty has coached and seen his fair share of great return specialists. This season, the Owls have like many other position groups, much more depth than the previous season. It's not just depth, it's skill across the board with the return specialists this season, something Beaty touched upon in the post practice press conference.

"We have a bunch of great competition back there, Wendol obviously has a resume where he's done it in games. I'm really high on Omari Hayes, I think Omari Hayes can be one of the best I've ever had back there. Platt can do it, if we needed Platt to do it, he could do it, he's just a guy who wears so many hats so we have to be careful not to overuse him. Milan Tucker he's really a kickoff return specialist, but don't sleep on him in the punt return game," Coach David Beaty said, talking about the skill in the return group.


Kick and Punt Returners

Returners:

Jayshon Platt - 6’1” Junior 1 RET, 29 YDS
Omari Hayes - 5’9” Redshirt-Sophomore

Newcomers:

Milan Tucker - 5’11” Redshirt-Senior 23 RET, 547 YDS
Wendol Philord - 5’9” Graduate Student 41 RET, 829 YDS

Coach David Beaty has coached and seen his fair share of great return specialists. This season, the Owls have like many other position groups, much more depth than the previous season. It's not just depth, it's skill across the board with the return specialists this season, something Beaty touched upon in the post practice press conference.

Quotable: We have a bunch of great competition back there, Wendol obviously has a resume where he's done it in games. I'm really high on Omari Hayes, I think Omari Hayes can be one of the best I've ever had back there. Platt can do it, if we needed Platt to do it, he could do it, he's just a guy who wears so many hats so we have to be careful not to overuse him. Milan Tucker he's really a kickoff return specialist, but don't sleep on him in the punt return game," Coach David Beaty said, talking about the skill in the return group. ", Coach Beaty said. 



Jayshon Platt: Platt (pictured above) is coming into his Junior season, and his second with Head Coach Tom Herman. He's shown promise as a kick returner, putting up 135 yards across seven returns as a freshman in 2022. Coming into the 2024 season, Platt will continue to be a leader now as an upperclassman, and continue to be ready to assist the Owls on special teams when needed.

Quotable: Special teams, I've been doing that since freshman year. Anything the coach needs me to do I'm going to do", Platt said in a post practice press conference on Thursday morning. 

Omari Hayes: Hayes is coming into this season receiving praise from the coaching staff. Hayes (photo below) has had the chance to learn from former return specialist Lajohntay Wester, who since transferring to Colorado now opens up the punt return spot to a guy like Omari. When asked about what his overarching goal would be for the 2024 season, Hayes was all about team achievements being the main goal.



Quotable: "Conference championship, I think that's the whole teams goal and that's mine too", Hayes said in the post conference press conference. 

Milan Tucker: Coming in from Appalachian State is expected to make a large impact at the returners spot. Tucker put up 1,316 yards returning kicks for the Mountaineers from 2021 to 2023. He is also on the Jet Award Preseason Watch List, which is an award given out to the best return specialist in the country. Tucker (photo above Rick Henderson) is just one of many returners in the group that has the versatility to play both in the kickoff and punt return. 

Wendol Philord: Philord is coming into Florida Atlantic as a Graduate Student from Keiser. Philord put some incredible numbers up as a kick and punt returner at Keiser, and should make a similar impact at the Division I level. The transition from the NAIA to the NCAA is a hard one, but Philord talked about how this coaching staff, particularly Coach Beaty helped him unlock new things in the punt return game for him.

Quotable: "Sometimes I feel like if the ball's in the air, I'd just coast to it and come late and have time to make the punt team force a fair catch. Coach Beaty teaching me how to beat them to the spot, get there so I know where the ball is going so I can get a jump on the team", Philord (photo below) said.



Owl Bytes

New faces

The Owls obtained a couple new faces for their kick and punt return units in Milan Tucker and Wendol Philord. The two have posted great return numbers at the previous schools, and now provide depth into a rather overlooked part of a football team.

Hardware watch

An already mentioned new face to the Owls is expected to make a massive impact in the special teams aspect of games. Milan Tucker was named to the 2024 Jet Award Preseason Watch List, and an additional narrative to this season will be his chase for the award.


Coaches Corner

Coach David beaty headlined our interview period after today's on field session.



Up Next

The Owls close out action at the Tom Oxley fields tomorrow before moving to the stadium for Saturday's Fan Fest and open scrimmage. We will be taking a break with our positional previews as well and will have an extend OwlByte mash-up following the action.