Spring Practice is underway for Florida Atlantic football and the Owls took the field with a sense of purpose on Tuesday afternoon as the Zach Kittley era is officially here. Spring ball is just a microcosm of what the squad will look like this season, however these next few weeks present valuable opportunities for the coaching staff to begin instituting a new culture and that is exactly what took place on day one.
The next few weeks will be the first real opportunities for the position coaches to work with their individual groups hands on and although there will be limited contact there will still be an opportunity for players to work hard and make their name known early on. That is why throughout the spring according to Kittley, the common goal throughout this team will be taking advantage of opportunities.
“The biggest thing is just taking advantage of our opportunities. You know, again, who knows what spring football is even going to be like a year from now. So everything we do is an opportunity to get better. You know, whether it’s in the weight room or it’s conditioning or it’s meeting rooms or walk throughs or practice, I kind of hit our staff and our team with we get 15 opportunities this spring to go be as good as we can be, keep taking this program where it needs to go in the right direction, and just taking advantage of those opportunities there’s not a lot of them out there. That’s been the biggest thing for me. I’m not trying to over complicate it. I want to keep the main thing, the main thing, that’s football right now, just trying to really keep the camaraderie in the locker room good and get these guys bought into what we’re trying to do here,” Kittley said.
The structure of practices remains fairly similar to how the last regime ran it, as players workout with their individual position coaches to start and then come together for installation and scrimmages in the latter part of practice. On day one, the energy was as a high as ever, as can be expected on the first day of spring, however it was also a sign of a team that has taken advantage of time to get to know each other off of the field.
Through one day, Kittley praised his team for being able to follow through with the staff’s instruction without issue and also complimented his staff for coming together and working out the logistics for a clean practice unit by unit. As for changes, the one thing Kittley wants to implement is more situational work, as he wants his squad to be prepared for anything that can come at them on game day and that was evident on day one.
“I’m a huge believer in, and I haven’t been around it a lot, but just rolling the ball and playing football, I think that football is so situational and we want to practice the situations, which you absolutely have to do. You have to practice third downs. You have to practice short yardage, two minute drills, four minute drills, coming out backed up, all the stuff, right? But a lot of the game is still played on first and second down, and then you’re naturally going to get the third down. Sometimes you’re naturally going to have to defend an explosive play after an explosive play. So that’s one thing that I’m big on that’s probably a little bit different, is we’re going to put the ball down and we’re going to play football, and what happens, happens,” Kittley said.
It is tough to gauge a lot during Spring ball, as there are still a lot of moving pieces around this team that will not be finalized until fall ball approaches, however for those already on campus the next few weeks is an opportunity to get a leg up on those not here yet. With a brand new coaching staff across the board it is a clean slate for everyone which can be a good or bad thing depending on how a player approaches spring ball.
That is why over the next few weeks, Kittley will be looking for players who do the little things, such as lining up the right way, as if they can execute and be a good teammates during the dog days of spring, they will be more likely to do the same on game days.
“Yeah, execution, alignment, assignment, lining up in the formations the right way, defensively, understanding. You know, Hey, is that, formation, the boundary, where’s the field, where’s the strength, stuff like that. That’s the biggest thing, as an offensive guy, running the football for me is really hard in shorts and T shirts, but you know, stuff like that you just have to kind of understand that is what you’re kind of going in to with these first couple days, and just the helmets and spiders practices. So the biggest thing is just lining up, you know, and understanding your job, no matter what that is, that’s not just the guys between the white lines, guys on the sidelines too, being teammates that are substituting in here and there. It’s everybody. So that’s the biggest thing I’m looking for these first couple days, is alignment, assignment, everybody doing their job, understanding their role and being good teammates,” Kittley said.
As for the offense, the Owls will be led by Western Kentucky transfer Caden Veltkamp, who is coming off of a year where he won CUSA player of the year and threw for 3108 yards and 25 TDs. Alongside Veltkamp, his go-to target Easton Messer joins him to take over the slot wide receiver position, while Virginia transfer JR Wilson joins him on the outside and if all goes to plan 2025 will be a big year for the offense as a whole.
Coach Kittley recruited Veltkamp during his time at Western Kentucky, however he departed to Texas Tech before Veltkamp arrived at WKU, which means although the two are familiar with each other, these next few weeks will be the first time they have truly worked together. According to Veltkamp, the offense will be a good fit because he will have more control than he’s had previously, but what he has liked about working with Coach Kittley so far is his approach with the players.
“Since I’ve gotten here I have had a good relationship with him and his family when he was in Western Kentucky, and, you know, I never actually got to play for him. So, you know, our relationship was my dad works with you, and that kind of thing, but now, just being around him, he’s really one of the guys, he treats everybody the same that’s been really awesome to see and the guys in the building respect him for that,” Veltkamp said.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Owls will be led by first time defensive coordinator Brett Dewhurst as the Unit looks to bounce back after an up and down season a year ago. Talent has been brought in to help achieve that goal, as on the D-Line Ohio transfer CJ Doggette brings a boatload of playing experience, at linebacker Minnesota transfer Tyler Stolsky brings P4 experience and will look to takeover the MLB role and in the secondary Dooda Rogers brings length as well as playing experience to potentially takeover the CB1 role for this defense.
It is not just newcomers that make up this Owls defensive unit however, as many players opted to return, one of them being DB Wendol Philord Jr., who thanks to a new JUCO ruling was able to gain one more year of eligibility. According to Philord Jr., the decision to come back was easy, especially after a conversation with his teammate Jayden Williams.
“I’m not very much into starting over, but I called JWill to make my decision. He was basically talking to me and saying, like, why would you leave, everybody coming back stuff like that. We got a better team. We got better coaches, not better but, a higher coaching staff. And you know, it wouldn’t be fair for me to leave Jay, JWill like a brother to me can’t just leave him out to dry. We got a young DB core, so me coming back being able to give the young guys a mentor to look up to and just help them develop in their game, that’s been my decision to come back,” Philord Jr. said.
Following the next few weeks of spring practice the Owls will participate in the 2025 Spring game on April 11th at 6:30 PM, a change from the past few years when the game was held during the day. The decision to host a spring game was an easy one for Kittley, who mentioned his love for simply playing football.
“Man, I love playing football, there’s going to be a million reasons why you may or may not do it. To me, you know, in this football program, we still got to get better. And not playing a spring game, to me, is taking opportunity away from, not only us as coaches, us as players, but our fan base as well. You know, I think that’s going to be a great environment for us to be able to come out here on a Friday night. And it should be unbelievable weather. And, let the local fan base and hopefully a lot more people come get a taste of what we want to do, won’t get a whole lot, as far as the scheme and stuff like that, but a small taste of where we’re heading here at Florida Atlantic,” Kittley said.
The Owls will be back in action for more practice on Thursday and Saturday, before stacking days and doing the same thing again next week, as they look to put a good product on the field come April 11th.