Florida Atlantic University football staff and players welcomed university faculty to a spring practice session on March 26, before moving to Flagler Credit Union Stadium for team drills. The Owls’ defense showed strong performance with multiple takeaways and several three-and-outs, particularly in the red zone.
The event underscored the team’s focus on improving defensive play and fostering connections between student-athletes and university faculty. Defensive Coordinator Brett Dewhurst said, “As we got here and you’re retaining guys and recruiting new guys in the room, you truly don’t know who they are until you get around them and then you get them here for a while. You do all the research you can from coaches and trainers and all that…I do think as I bounce around on these off days at every position meeting room and being around the guys. I think we have not only some good players, but I think we have the right guys that love coming around the building, and I think Coach Kittley establishes that with guys who want to come into the building. I think they love being up there and they want to be coached hard. I think that’s huge when you get a group of talent, but [also] guys that want to be coached at every position and love being there, you just love being around those guys at the end of the day. It’s just like a staff. Just consistently coming in every day and keep getting better and improving.”
Dewhurst also discussed increased height among defensive backs: “Every DB coach says they want 6-foot and then you look across the NFL and there are guys that are 5’8″ that are really good players… If there’s a shorter player, he has to have some different intangibles… It’s like how I relate it to basketball: you can’t go out there and have five point guards, or five centers on the field. You have to have a mixture of positions… Anytime you have length, that can cover up some issues…”
On bringing in playmakers for defense, Dewhurst said emphasis has been placed on ball skills during recruitment: “You always start as you’re recruiting DBs in ball skills… It all starts with effecting the quarterback… Coach Kittley made a huge emphasis of that during the offseason… We chart everything of shots on the ball … We’re making it a huge emphasis because that’s obviously a key stat. The number one thing to winning games is turnover margin …”
Redshirt senior defensive back Tyson Rooks spoke about his decision to join Florida Atlantic: “Coach (Antonio) Fenelus definitely played a big role because he had me at Illinois. Just having that relationship, I knew I could come in comfortable…. it’s five hours away from home rather than 13 …” Rooks also commented on team dynamics: “That has been fun [Georgia vs Florida rivalry] … Just being able to compete with them … show them we can ball too.” On emphasizing takeaways this season he added: “Coach speaks all the time. I know he wants to focus on taking the ball away this year…Just anticipating the play before … helping us take away.”
The team announced upcoming events including Ladies Night scheduled for April 23 at Schmidt Family Complex next to Flagler Credit Union Stadium.
Looking ahead, Florida Atlantic continues its preparations for upcoming games while encouraging fans to stay engaged through official channels.
