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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Football Doesn’t Back Off, Just More Efficient
4/3/2025 5:57:00 PM | Football
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic football team completed practice number 11 nearly 20 minutes earlier than the spring's first 10 practices, but it was not a lighter work script, it was just handled by the players in a more efficient manner. Simply put, the team that bought into learning the intricate playbook in January is on pace to be where they need to be at the conclusion of the 15 allowable spring practices.
Mother Nature also gave the Owls a solid cloud cover and light breeze throughout practice, a gift to make the shorts and shoulder pad day easier to manage.
On what intrigued him about coming to Paradise
"First and foremost, I want to give a shoutout to my previous Head Coach, Scotty Walden [UTEP]. We had a great time at Austin Peay and at UTEP and I learned a lot from those guys. Ultimately, my decision came with wanting to get closer to home…and to continue to grow my offensive mind. Coach (Zach) Kittley - I got the opportunity to play for his mentor Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech when Coach Kittley was working with the quarterbacks. There is a lot of familiarity there…It is a great offense to be in. I love everything about it."
On the challenges of learning a high-flying offense
"I love a good challenge. I love to challenge myself. My biggest thing is, one, I'm a former offensive lineman. There are a lot of things in the passing game that I necessarily don't know. But, when you are the type of guy that is coming into that type of position, you have to be egoless. You have to have an open mind, and you have to be ready to learn new things that you may not be used to. Fortunately for me, I have been able to say that I have been around some pretty good skill guys, and I like to consider my guy [TEs] as 'big skill'. I like to hang out with those guys, the ones who make plays. I have always been intrigued with what goes on out wide and how they are getting to their route. How they are working their releases. How they are getting lined up. Those are the things that have always engaged my interest. It has been fun to kind of mesh the two worlds."
Reid Mikeska, redshirt sophomore tight end
On his transition to Florida Atlantic
"It has been great. It has been a really seamless transition. The group of transfers coming in all have the same mentality. Come in and set the culture and lead by example. I came in with Easton (Messer) and Caden (Veltkamp). We became friends pretty early on and tossed the ball around just to build chemistry. That just helps with route running and so on. Obviously, it is south Florida. It is not hard to get adjusted. I'm used to the weather. I'm from Houston and played at South Carolina. Heat is not something new. It has been seamless.
As a tight end are you enjoying the variety that you are getting out of Coach Kittley's playbook
"Coach Kittley, everybody knows, is an offense genius. He will get you the ball in creative ways. He can dice up defenses. We go really fast, catching the defense off guard. I can be playing split-out solo receiver one play and on the next play I'm in line and the next play I'm an H-back, just all over the field. We keep the ball rolling. It is a fun offense to be in for sure."
Martavious Collins, redshirt freshman tight end
On the competition in the tight end room
"I expected the competition. Having competition in the room makes everybody better. Every day that we compete against each other we get one percent better. Everyone competing and giving their best is what is going to make us better."
On having coach Dulaney come to FAU from UTEP
"It is easier because I know the expectations he has and the expectations he has for our room and the goals he has for us…it carried over and was second nature. He is a tough coach and will always coach hard."
Kam Bell, redshirt freshman tight end
On the jump between practice one and now
"Coach 'Kit' is a great play maker. He is a smart man. When he put in his playbook, you had to know everything because we could be put anywhere in the offense. We have learned so much from practice one to where we are now. Practice one was rough, knowing all the plays and knowing what to do at a high level. I feel as if now, we are able to play football without thinking and be just football players."
On the level of tempo that the team is playing
"If you would say another team's tempo is here (holds hand waist high), we are probably right there (two foot higher)."
Gallery: (4-3-2025) Spring Practice #11
Mother Nature also gave the Owls a solid cloud cover and light breeze throughout practice, a gift to make the shorts and shoulder pad day easier to manage.
QUOTABLE
Jajuan Dulaney, Tight Ends CoachOn what intrigued him about coming to Paradise
"First and foremost, I want to give a shoutout to my previous Head Coach, Scotty Walden [UTEP]. We had a great time at Austin Peay and at UTEP and I learned a lot from those guys. Ultimately, my decision came with wanting to get closer to home…and to continue to grow my offensive mind. Coach (Zach) Kittley - I got the opportunity to play for his mentor Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech when Coach Kittley was working with the quarterbacks. There is a lot of familiarity there…It is a great offense to be in. I love everything about it."
On the challenges of learning a high-flying offense
"I love a good challenge. I love to challenge myself. My biggest thing is, one, I'm a former offensive lineman. There are a lot of things in the passing game that I necessarily don't know. But, when you are the type of guy that is coming into that type of position, you have to be egoless. You have to have an open mind, and you have to be ready to learn new things that you may not be used to. Fortunately for me, I have been able to say that I have been around some pretty good skill guys, and I like to consider my guy [TEs] as 'big skill'. I like to hang out with those guys, the ones who make plays. I have always been intrigued with what goes on out wide and how they are getting to their route. How they are working their releases. How they are getting lined up. Those are the things that have always engaged my interest. It has been fun to kind of mesh the two worlds."
Reid Mikeska, redshirt sophomore tight end
On his transition to Florida Atlantic
"It has been great. It has been a really seamless transition. The group of transfers coming in all have the same mentality. Come in and set the culture and lead by example. I came in with Easton (Messer) and Caden (Veltkamp). We became friends pretty early on and tossed the ball around just to build chemistry. That just helps with route running and so on. Obviously, it is south Florida. It is not hard to get adjusted. I'm used to the weather. I'm from Houston and played at South Carolina. Heat is not something new. It has been seamless.
As a tight end are you enjoying the variety that you are getting out of Coach Kittley's playbook
"Coach Kittley, everybody knows, is an offense genius. He will get you the ball in creative ways. He can dice up defenses. We go really fast, catching the defense off guard. I can be playing split-out solo receiver one play and on the next play I'm in line and the next play I'm an H-back, just all over the field. We keep the ball rolling. It is a fun offense to be in for sure."
Martavious Collins, redshirt freshman tight end
On the competition in the tight end room
"I expected the competition. Having competition in the room makes everybody better. Every day that we compete against each other we get one percent better. Everyone competing and giving their best is what is going to make us better."
On having coach Dulaney come to FAU from UTEP
"It is easier because I know the expectations he has and the expectations he has for our room and the goals he has for us…it carried over and was second nature. He is a tough coach and will always coach hard."
Kam Bell, redshirt freshman tight end
On the jump between practice one and now
"Coach 'Kit' is a great play maker. He is a smart man. When he put in his playbook, you had to know everything because we could be put anywhere in the offense. We have learned so much from practice one to where we are now. Practice one was rough, knowing all the plays and knowing what to do at a high level. I feel as if now, we are able to play football without thinking and be just football players."
On the level of tempo that the team is playing
"If you would say another team's tempo is here (holds hand waist high), we are probably right there (two foot higher)."
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