Day 6 of Fall Camp played out Tuesday evening as full pads were on display. After a hot day in South Florida, the Owls had their first evening practice. Despite a weather delay, most of the practice had the opportunity to play out including an open two-minute drill.
After practice wrapped up we spoke with Head Coach Zach Kittley, QB Caden Veltkamp, and DT Bryce Langston.
With media not allowed to film during drills, the notebook played an important role as to jotting down quick thoughts from the day overall. Here is our notebook from FAU Fall Camp
First Day in Pads
The viewing period made sure of one thing quickly: Veltkamp and Easton Messer are an explosive duo. During first team drills the two connected on a nearly 50-yard pass and catch for a touchdown.
Messer popped up during second-team drills as well as he broke off an end-around play for nearly 15 yards. On Monday, the WKU transfer highlighted his role picking up at FAU. If the short viewing period on Tuesday were to tell the full story, that would definitely be the case.
Coach Kittley shared his overall thoughts on the day, “I mean, we had a lot of energy. And, you know, it was cloudy out there, so it wasn’t so hot. So I think that gave them a little bit more juice, but also to just kind of getting out some of the fluff, I guess, if you will, some of the individual periods and some of that, and just rolling the ball playing football.”
The Position Battles
Defense
On the defensive side of the ball, Coach Kittley mentioned “five or six” guys competing for the edge rusher position and the secondary.
For the edge rushers, Kittley shared “We’re battling it every single day. We’re grading every single clip, really trying to find out who’s great, not the best, doing what we want. So we’ve got some talented guys in that room. We’re just trying to, again, find out, really, who are the best two.”
On the secondary, Kittley spoke about a rotation as well; “We’re really trying to find those five defensive backs and where they fit best to where we can go attack defensively, what we want to do.”
Coach mentioned many names during his presser on Tuesday, but he was very high on one defensive back, “You got Zion Paret. Telling you right now, Zion Paret, true freshman, like, dudes gonna play. He’s a football player. Really, really, like, where he’s at for a young cat.”
Offense
While the quarterback position is locked up for Veltkamp, the majority of the offense is still up in the air.
For the running backs, Kittley shared the production is “by committee.” For now, we know to expect the “three-headed monster” of Gemari Sands, Xavier Terrell, and Kaden Shields-Dutton.
But what about the hands? In our wide receiver positional preview, we mentioned a few names that expect to be out on the field, but who was running the two-minute drill with the ones?
The names of Jayshon Platt, Asaad Waseem and Easton Messer were running with the ones. Waseem spent time as the X receiver primarily while the rotation field in the Z and Y slots. During the second-team two-minute drill we saw Quincy Brown at the X, Waseem at the Y, and Jabari Smith at the Z.
The tight ends are also still up in the air as Kittley shared “we’re still trying to figure out exactly who’s that number one tight end.” But Veltkamp highlighted Mike Kirch as a redzone target that he likes.
PLAYER INTERVIEWS from NIGHT 6⃣ of @FAUFootball Fall Camp with QB Caden Veltkamp and DL Bryce Langston 🦉🎙️🦉 pic.twitter.com/32e0jcyzaj
— FAU Owls Nest (@FAU_Owls_Nest) August 6, 2025
The Team Connections
During the past three days of camp, The Owls Nest has highlighted the wide receivers and running backs. With Caden Veltkamp speaking with us on Tuesday night, we had the opportunity to ask him about how he is meshing with the two skill positions we have covered this week.
Veltkamp responded, “Yeah, it’s been good just doing some things outside of football. You know, we’ve gone to dinner. The O line, running backs, quarterbacks have gone to dinner. Me and the receivers have gone out before. So doing things outside of football, but then, on field, just everybody doing their job and whatnot. You know, those guys have been doing a nice job.”
That leadership role has been major. Since Veltkamp has been highlighted as a team leader he was added to the 2025 Allstate Wuerffel Trophy Watchlist. The watchlist highlights leaders on the field and in the community.
The connection is not only on the offensive side of the ball. It’s the whole team. DT Bryce Langston highlighted a notable change for all involved in the locker room compared to last season, “It’s been way different. I mean, all the guys talk with each other. It’s just not clique, clique, clique. It’s just, we all come together, we have fun in the locker room, we laugh. It’s been a good time. I really feel like this team is going to have a great season, and a winning season.”
Team Captains
Coach Kittley hit on how the team will be picking team captains. Kittley shared there will be a vote on Sunday, but said it depends on the vote on how many players are elected to the leadership role.
It seems Kittley already has his picks as he shared, “I’ll be shocked if [Veltkamp and Langston] aren’t two of em.”
Up Next
Florida Atlantic will return on Thursday for Day 7 of Fall camp. We will continue our positional previews as we will focus on special teams coordinator Tyler Schovanec and the special teams.