FAU Football: 2025 American Kickoff Offers Insight into Owls’ Future

The start of FAU training camp is right around the corner, which means the college football regular season will arrive soon, too. However, Florida Atlantic’s season cannot begin without the American Kickoff media event.

Over the course of two days, head coach Zach Kittley, quarterback Caden Veltkamp, and defensive linemen Bryce Langston participated in multiple events, and spoke to various media outlets. Through their quotes, the leaders of the Owls gave some insight into what the team is looking to do in 2025 and how they are preparing for the start of the college football season.

American Kickoff: FAU Football Takes Center Stage

Day 1 – Photo and Video Sessions

To start things off at the American Kickoff event FAU had a video shoot and photo shoot in their football uniforms. This provided media materials to the team, ESPN and its broadcast partners, and the American Conference as a whole. Veltkamp and Langston also attended radio row to do some podcast and radio appearances.

Among other activities, the Owls wrapped up their night at Truist Field in Charlotte, which is the home of the Chicago White Sox’s Triple A affiliate. Both Kittley and Langston were able to play cornhole and take some swings on the field, with the quarterback taking some impressive ones that almost went over the fence.

 

Lastly, I personally had the chance to interview Coach Kittley, Veltkamp, and Langston in exclusively on Day 1.

Speaking with Veltkamp, I asked the quarterback about the strides he has made within the offensive scheme and what more strides he is looking to take in fall camp.

“I would say just getting a better understanding of the offense, the way Coach Kittley calls it, and the way he wants me to see things. 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.”

When speaking with Langston, I asked him about what he and the Owls’ unit wants to showcase this season.

“We want to showcase that we have dogs. [That] we are not going to back down from any teams. We are going to play hard, fight hard, and win games on defense as well as offense.”

In my interview with Kittley, I asked the HC about the type of players he brought in during the spring portal and his excitement level for them.

“The first thing we are looking for are good dudes. We are looking for guys that fit the scheme and the culture that we want to build. 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.”

Additionally, I asked Kittley how he is looking to build upon the offensive foundation in fall camp.

“Just higher execution and getting more comfortable. 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, I want to get to a point where we are not thinking and we can run our plays at an extremely high level.”

 

Day 2 – Press Conference and ESPN+ Sessions

On the second day of the event, the Owls had even more media appearances. After the trio did some promotional interviews for some important programs, head coach Zach Kittley did his SiriusXM interview while the players hopped onto the ESPN+ set. From the ESPN+ appearance, the players spoke about the energy that Kittley brings to the team.

“He is always bringing the energy, whether it is in the team meeting, on the practice field, or in the quarterback meetings. 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,” said Veltkamp.

“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,” said Langston.

Afterwards, Kittley stepped up to the podium to talk about the Owls’ football program. With most of the questions provided by the League Winners’ own Thomas Christopher, the FAU head coach addressed some key aspects surrounding the team.

Asked about his relationship to Caden Veltkamp and what he expects from the QB, Kittley was very frank about it.

“Him and I are extremely close – 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. I agree, I do think he is being slept on a lot. You are talking about one of the top passers in the country from last year, the CUSA offensive player of the 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.”

The FAU head coach also spoke about his recruiting strategy and how he is targeting specific positions for the football program.

“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. 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, as well. 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.”

Additionally, Kittley spoke about the player leadership on the Owls’ roster outside of Veltkamp and Langston.

“They are doing some of their own stuff. We got a great group of leaders. We got Tyler Stolsky. He is a transfer linebacker from Minnesota, and he has been a really good voice for us. Dooda (Derrick) Rogers, one of our defensive backs, is coming back home. CJ Doggette is a transfer coming in from Ohio who is a really good guy. Easton Messer, we talked about him. And arguably the biggest guy coming back is starting offensive linemen Alex Atcavage. He really knows what it takes to get everyone going, and he is someone that I have been really high on.”

FAU opens fall camp next week, and opens the 2025 college football regular season at Maryland in Week 1.