First-year Florida Atlantic football coach Zach Kittley met with the media at the American Athletic Conference football media days in Charlotte, North Carolina last week.
Any team would be expected to have a sizeable roster turnover with a new coaching staff. But in this era of NIL and the transfer portal, the changes can be cosmic.
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With that said, Kittley pointed out he’s been looking for “good dudes” to come in and help turn the program back to its winning ways. FAU was 6-16 under former coach Tom Herman the last two seasons.
“We are looking for guys that fit the scheme and the culture that we want to build,” said Kittley, the former offensive coordinator for Texas Tech. “I feel really good about it. It is just crazy the world that we will live in; you have to have somewhere between a 25 [to] 30-percent of a roster flip almost every year. You always want to attack the right guys and bring in the right guys, and we were able to do that. [I’m] really excited to get on the grass with everyone next week.”
First-year FAU coach Zach Kittley hopes to bring the success on offense to the Owls that he had as Texas Tech’s offensive coordinator.
Many of those newcomers played high school football in South Florida.
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“We want to try to dominate South Florida as much as we can. We want to keep those local talent guys home as much as possible,” Kittley said. “In the transfer portal world, a lot of the transfers we bring in are guys that left Florida from Miami, West Palm, or the overall tri-county area that wanted to come home. We want to keep those guys home [because] we have a lot of special athletes in south Florida.
“We’re also heavily recruiting in the state of Georgia. We are also working the Midwest to find some offensive and defensive linemen. And when it comes to quarterback, we are going to go to wherever it takes to find the quarterback. But again, our biggest footprint is going to be in south Florida.”
The quarterback Kittley found – redshirt junior quarterback Caden Veltkamp – and redshirt junior defensive linemen Bryce Langston were both in Charlotte. Veltkamp, a transfer from Western Kentucky, said he’s working on a better understanding of the offense Kittley has installed.
““The way Coach Kittley calls it, and the way he wants me to see things,” Veltkamp said. “I cleaned up my footwork quite a bit, and heading into fall camp, I want to focus on knowing what plays go with what defenses, when I need to make checks, and when I do not.”
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Kittley said he has grown close to his quarterback.
“I think that is what makes a great QB and coach combination. I know I’m 33 and he’s 21-22, but he’s like a son to me,” Kittley said.
Caden Veltkamp flying under the radar heading into 2025 season
Quarterback Caden Veltkamp, a transfer from Western Kentucky, leads the FAU offense during Friday night’s spring game in Boca Raton.
Veltkamp is not getting a lot of publicity heading into the 2025 season despite being the CUSA offensive player of the year at WKU where he passed for 3,108 yards and 25 touchdowns.
“I do think he is being slept on a lot,” Kittley said. “You are talking about one of the top passers in the country from last year. He is not getting the notoriety that he needs. But at the same time, he has a huge chip on his shoulder, and I am expecting a huge year from him. I’m giving him the keys to the Ferrari, and I’m going to let him go.”
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The Owls held 15 practices in the spring but things will be at a higher level when practices start this week.
“Just higher execution and getting more comfortable,” Kittley said. “You get the 15 practices in the spring, and did a good job of getting comfortable. But I want to get to a point where we are not thinking at all. When we get to that Saturday at Maryland (season opener on August 30), I want to get to a point where we are not thinking and we can run our plays at an extremely high level.”
Veltkamp and Langston both noted the high energy their new coach has brought to Boca Raton. Kittley, 33, is the youngest head coach in FBS.
“He is always bringing the energy, whether it is in the team meeting, on the practice field, or in the quarterback meetings,” Veltkamp said. “And I think we really appreciate that. It is easy to connect with him; he is not that much older than us, and he has really became a friend to me. It’s really easy to play for a coach when that is your relationship with him.”
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Added Langston, “He’s the most energetic head coach I’ve been around. He’s young and still has young legs so he can run around on the field. It’s really great seeing that and it gives me energy.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU Owls rest fortunes on new coach Zach Kittley, transfer QB Caden Veltkamp
