Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Kiffin eager to see newcomers in action
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin has a lot of newcomers on this year’s team who he has never seen react to game situations. From a loaded recruiting class, to a slew of transfers and walk-ons, Kiffin will get his first glance at them in the Owls’ first fall camp scrimmage on Saturday.
“We have a lot of guys that haven’t played,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know the exact number, but I would bet this is the most freshmen that we’ve had in a class because our classes have been more transfers than this one that just came in, so there’s a lot of guys that we haven’t really seen.”
For players, they get to display to coaches that they can take what they’ve learned in the first week of training camp and prove they’re able to translate to game scenarios what they’ve worked on in practice.
“Just everything we’ve installed so far, [Saturday] you see who has studied, who has paid attention and who has worked hard,” said redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Tronti, who is competing to be the Owls’ starter with incumbent starter Chris Robison, who was suspended throughout the spring, and junior Justin Agner.
The evaluation of the quarterbacks will be pivotal for Kiffin on Saturday. He would not say definitively how he would distribute quarterback reps but imagined he would maintain the three-way split in first-team opportunities.
“Game situations, managing, timing and accuracy, decision-making,” Kiffin said of what he wants to see from the quarterbacks. “In this offense, how well do you manage it so that it can go fast and be productive?”
Some newcomers will make their first impression on coaches outside of a practice setting, some can improve depth chart position and others will look to build on strong performances in past seasons or in the spring.
Six-foot-four redshirt junior wide receiver John Mitchell, for example, has had to rebound from multiple injuries, is yet to produce in-season in his college career, but was a spring standout.
“That spring game has completely changed him,” Kiffin said. “He’s much more confident out there. Every day it seems like he makes a significant play, where he [used to be] up and down since we’ve been here. I think that spring game has a ton to do with it.”
The Owls defense, now under the direction of coordinator Glenn Spencer, showed signs in the spring that it could be better than it was in 2018, especially with how the unit forced turnovers in scrimmages and the spring game.
“We just have to make sure we play disciplined, make sure we’re running to the ball, make sure everybody’s on the same page, get the right calls,” said redshirt junior David Belvin.
Added redshirt senior Noah Jefferson, the former Southern Cal defensive tackle who now has nearly a full year with FAU: “Just be mentally locked in, mentally prepared, physically as well. … Had a good first week, I’ll say. Just keep getting better and keep making strides.” Scholarship moment: FAU offensive guard Nick Weber was granted a scholarship at the conclusion Friday’s practice.
Kiffin called him up in front of the team on the practice field, first to make him apologize to teammates for a false start, as a video Kiffin tweeted Friday showed. After Weber apologizes, Kiffin breaks the good news to the redshirt sophomore out of Stoneman Douglas and teammates mob him joyfully.
“I didn’t even jump offsides, so I was like, ‘Hmm …’ ” Weber told reporters. “But I just went with it anyway.”
Weber has been working with the first team at right guard during fall camp. He was in the offensive line rotation last season, saw action in all 12 games and made one start — against Charlotte in the season finale.
“It’s a lot of stress relieved, like with money and all that stuff,” Weber said. “So now, you can really just focus on football and school at all times.”