Florida Atlantic University’s 2022 football team was treated to an idyllic opening day on Wednesday.
The day began for the Owls at 8 a.m. in Arlington, Texas where Haggerty Head Football Coach Willie Taggart, graduate transfer and quarterback N’Kosi Perry and redshirt junior safety Teja Young participated in the 2022 Ryan Conference USA Football Kickoff event. The trio posed for photos, hammed it up for social accounts, paused for a press conference and wrapped it up with an ESPN+ live interview and an ESPN.com “national scope” one-on-one.
While the media day participants were making their way back to Boca Raton, 2022 preseason camp opened with keynote speaker Chris Shepherd, an FAU alumnus and inaugural team football member. Shepherd’s message was simple yet poignant – CPR – Consistency, Purpose, and Results. Those were words and energy that the Owls took to into the evening practice, the program’s first opening day practice held under the stadium lights in the team’s history.
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Wednesday was split into two groups, position veterans and newcomers either by position experience or age. The split practice allowed the experienced group to move through drills quickly and the younger group to learn the nuances of their position and a collegiate practice. Two Thursday sessions were modeled similarly, giving the lesser experienced players another day to adjust, while allowing the more experienced players the opportunity to move faster, all in an effort to gain more snaps for everyone without the quality suffering.
QUOTABLE
Hagerty Head Coach Willie Taggart
On the First Day of Practice
“It started off with our guys reporting back on Tuesday, which was interesting. Our guys have been here all summer. They went home for two days and (when) they came back, it was like they had been gone for two weeks…everyone had excitement for practice. It was great to be able to go to the Conference USA media day with Teja (Young) and N’Kosi (Perry). I thought those guys did a great job of representing our team. Being able to travel with them was interesting, but it was really nice. And then for us to come back and have a nice practice was really good. It was good to see young and old guys go out and make some plays.”
On the Split Practices
“We have a lot of talented young guys in here. They need reps, and that is a big part of it. To be able to split it up and for those guys to be able to get really good individual coaching and understand how we practice is great. That way, by the time we all come together, we aren’t slowing anyone down. We tell all these guys that they are coming in to compete and the more you do things the better you get at it. I’m giving them the opportunity to go out and get reps and have a good understanding, so that when they do come together, those guys can compete against each other. It all goes back to development and that is what we are trying to do – develop and compete. Some guys that are in group one and do a good job will go to group two the next day. Some guys in group two that don’t do a good job will go to group one. It has been cool to keep it competitive like that and allow the guys to come out and compete with each other. It is making us better.”
OWLPALOOZA
Owl fans will have the opportunity to watch football practice on July 30 from 12:30 – 1 p.m. While the practice is taking place on the Schmidt Practice Fields, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball will host activities on the Delray Hyundai Deck. Following practice, the deck will be setup for autograph seekers to sign the 2022 team posters, which for the first time are a collector’s series. Collect all four and discover the hidden image. Owlpalooza is free and open to the general public.
SEASON OPENER
FAU will open the 2022 season on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, versus Charlotte at FAU Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be televised on CBSSN and will air locally on Sports640 AM South Florida.
FOR SEASON TICKETS
To purchase FAU tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or click HERE or HERE. Individual tickets are now on sale as well. Call the FAU ticket office, today, to secure your tickets. Stay informed by reading FAUSports.com, or through football’s Twitter and Instagram accounts @FAUFootball.
