The Florida Atlantic football team, led by head coach Tom Herman, solidified its December 2023 signing class on Wednesday morning. “This was the class that we really get to dive in and build relationships with and I’ve said before today, the way that college football is trending, you build your culture and your foundation with your freshmen,” said Herman. “It was imperative for us to really dive in to the makeup and DNA of this freshman class and I am really impressed with the families, the way these young men were raised, the competitiveness of them, and they’re really good players too. They’re highly ranked, have had a lot of really good options as to where to play their collegiate football and get their degree and they chose us and we’re really excited about it.” FAU concentrated its efforts on immediate needs, at positions both vacated by player graduation and needs based on last year’s play. In an effort to assemble the best possible class of student-athletes, the FAU coaching staff did not anticipate completing the signing class yet, with the knowledge that more players will enter the portal between now and the national championship as well as the Owls’ need to balance the roster. “The toughness and the ability to prepare and the importance of football in these guys’ lives has been something that stood out to me,” added Herman. As it stands, FAU has the 80th-best overall recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports. When compared to their colleagues in the American Athletic Conference, they are ranked seventh, having the edge over UAB, UTSA, Tulane, Temple, Rice, and Navy. They rise up to fourth in the league (73rd-nationally) when it only involves the high school recruits, only being under USF, Tulsa, and East Carolina. Herman stated that the Owls are going to keep using the transfer portal to continue focusing on improving their strength and depth in the secondary, a position that has room for improvement due to the inconsistencies and injuries sustained throughout the 2023 campaign. The class encompasses 17 players that will represent the Owls in 2024, which will be FAU’s second season in The American. FAU was successful in keeping all but one of their verbal commitments in the leadup to Early Signing Day throughout the past couple of months. The lone player, Elijah Cannon, wound up switching to the SEC’s Mississippi State earlier this morning. Here’s what Coach Herman had to say about the class so far, in full: Highlighting the class are four offensive linemen, two athletes, two defensive linemen, two cornerbacks, two linebackers, two defensive backs, a wide receiver, a running back, and a safety. Among the group, seven players will enroll in January classes and will begin working with the Owls prior to “Spring Practice.” The remaining 10 players will join after their spring commencement ceremonies, first with summer conditioning and then preseason camp. Class Notables Two are international: Mauricio Hinds (Canada) and Keon Rohe (Germany), becoming the seventh and eighth international to play at FAU and the third and fourth to play offensive line Nearly half of the class hail from the tri-county area Ten are from the defensive side of the ball, seven are projected to play on the offensive side One will come from Arkansas and another from Georgia Mike Wright III signed out of Palm Beach Gardens High School which is under the direction of Tyrone Higgins, an FAU alum and a member of the program’s inaugural class Class Commitment Posts Palm Beach Gardens Safety Michael Wright III Trinity Christian ATH Kyle Boylston Bishop Kenny OL Ethan Proffitt Edgewater RB Kaden Shields-Dutton Belen Jesuit EDGE Gavench Marcelin Westminster Christian LB Jarvis Johnson Jr. Cocoa DL Loren Ward Fleming Island OL Braden Cunningham Miami Palmetto CB Lawrence Johnson German OT Keon Rohe Chaminade-Madonna DB Curtis Janvier North Florida Christian ATH Leon Washington Jr. Miami Palmetto LB Char’Quez Lee Clearwater OL Mauricio Hinds Coffeyville CC WR Joseph Young Georgia Military College DB Cameron Goggins Miami Norland CB Jaheim Miller
