BOCA RATON, Fla. – Friday marked the final session of Florida Atlantic University’s football preseason camp, held in the afternoon on the Schmidt practice fields. The day was also the final tuneup for the team ahead of Saturday’s first scrimmage.
THANK YOUThe FAU coaching staff would also like to thank everyone that helped throughout these last two weeks. Without the help of student-workers, volunteers and the support staff, football camp would not be possible.
“We Appreciate You”
| Equipment | Athletic Training | Strength and Conditioning | Video | Support | |
| Matt Byrnes | Rayana Alomar | Autumn Bartlet | Jakob Cianci | Ryan Able | Katrina McCormack |
| Devin Collins | Kari Blamick | Dillon Coletto | Elyse Appelblatt | Myles Notkin | |
| Justin Fribbley | Wana Deronvil | Madison Krueger | Jake Beckett | Russell Philipp | |
| Sam Marozzi | Chloe Dohler | Alex Lanzone | Nick Bergstrom | Julie Reed | |
| Nick Presto | Zack Figura | Joey Pumilia | Frank Forte | Rudy Rodriguez | |
| Maddie Trudnak | Kyle Garcia | Jonathan Fraysure | Chris Ryder | ||
| Keegan Wargel | Michelle Harris | Mary Giardina | Marc St. Felix | ||
| Jake Williams | Jesenia Narcisse | Alvin Hines II | John Stephenson | ||
| Marisa Nielson | Nathan Hinkley | David Ventress Jr. | |||
| Vanessa Salmeron | Kevin Johnson | Hines Ward | |||
| Kristina Stokes | David Kelly | Jaylon Watson | |||
| Kira Theodore | Bob Marco | Matt Wiesner | |||
| Jamie White | Conor Marlatt | Craig Wilder | |||
| Adam Wiener | Brad Marsic | Ryan Zinsmayer |
*Joining after camp
TAGART’S TAKE
Head Coach Willie Taggart
On the progress of camp and Saturday’s scrimmage:
Another great day in Paradise. Who has it better than us? Noooooo body.
It has been a short camp. Usually, we have more practices than we have this year, but because school is starting here soon, camp is a little shorter. We have a scrimmage tomorrow, which will be a situation scrimmage for us. I’m looking forward to the guys going out there, everybody off the field and the players having to execute throughout the scrimmage. That will be big. It will be a big scrimmage for our players. They know that. They understand that and I’m looking forward to seeing how guys are going to respond to it. So far, we have had a good camp. We have gotten better and I see our guys understanding what we are trying to do. They have a better understanding of what we are trying to do now. Again, tomorrow will say a lot because we will be out of the practice atmosphere and into a game-like atmosphere. We will be able to see our guys execute without guys being in their ear. They will have to go out there and take care of business.
MEET THE PLAYERS
Freshman quarterback Willie Taggart, Jr.
On camp thus far:
Camp has been exciting. It has been really competitive, on both sides of the ball, and it seems like we are both, offensively and defensively, having fun competing. We are in the facility 24/7 now. We are always seeing each other, but we are doing other activities like playing cards or any other kind of competitions, one-on-one type of deals. Any kind of goofy thing that we can do around each other we are building each other every day and it is exciting…It is just a really fun experience see each other and feeling the brotherhood, B.O.B., and competitiveness from everybody.
On the transfers and what he can learn from them:
It is exciting because he (N’Kosi Perry) has gone through a lot of things that I haven’t yet and want to one day…it is great to have someone like that around because he is going to teach me how to get to the position where he is at. I’m glad that we got him here and I’m glad to have the other guys that I have in that room, not just him, but Michael (Johnson, Jr.), Nick (Tronti) and Coach (Michael) Johnson, because they are all helping each other every day and I feel like we all bring a certain piece to the table and I’m learning from not just him (N’Kosi) but all collectively…My confidence has risen because of them. My knowledge of the game has risen because of them and I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to be around and to learn from.
Graduate student quarterback N’Kosi Perry
On your camp progression from last week to this week:
Practice has still been going good. We are still installing new things. I’m still picking up on it very well. As far as the scrimmage tomorrow, I hope obviously to do very well. Throw as many touchdowns as possible and to have the highest competition percentage as possible, like any other time…I want to see how we do as an offense, if there is adversity, I want to see how we react and how competitive we are.
On offensive improvement between last week to this week:
I think the overall confidence of the team. I think everyone is buying into what we are doing. I feel we are believing in the plan that Coach Taggart and Coach Johnson has for us. It seems like we have been clicking a lot better this week.
Redshirt junior linebacker Ahman Ross
On camp and this weekend’s first scrimmage:
“Camp has been competition filled, with the offense and defense. We have taken a huge step from last year. We have an explosive offense and being able to compete with those guys, them getting us better and vica versa. Competition within the team is very important and I feel like it is going to help us a long way throughout the season. Just seeing so many things that the offense brings and so many pieces that we have on both sides of the ball. Competition is everything. That is one thing that has really been helping us this fall camp. This weekend will let us see where we are at, what we need to do and what we need to improve on, to fine tune the things that will ultimately help us on September 4th.”
SPEED ZONEFour guys were clocked at speeds greater than 20 mph on Friday. All four are repeat offenders: D’Marcus Adams, Je’Quan Burton, Willie Wright and Teja Young.
2021 SEASON
The Owls open up the 2021 campaign on the road on Saturday, Sept. 4, in Gainesville against Florida. The home opener is the following Saturday, at 3:30 p.m., hosting Georgia Southern. For more information on season tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit HERE.
Also scheduled for opening weekend at FAU Stadium is the Coach Howard Schnellenberger Celebration of Life, to be held the night before the game against GSU, Friday, Sept. 10, with the public event starting at 6 p.m. with videos and photos. The guest speaking portion of the evening will begin at 7:30 p.m.
