Year Two of the Kittley Experiment: Can Florida Atlantic's Aerial Show Finally Reach a Bowl?
Florida Atlantic finished 4-8 (3-5 in the American) in Zach Kittley's debut season, a first-time head coach who inherited a program that had not sniffed a bowl since 2020 and immediately reshaped it in his own pass-first image. The centerpiece move was importing the quarterback-receiver tandem of Caden Veltkamp and Easton Messer from Western Kentucky, and the transplant took: the Owls flirted with 30 points per game and ranked among the most productive passing attacks in the country. The problem was the giveaways. Veltkamp paced the FBS with 17 interceptions, the Owls led every team in the nation with 29 turnovers, and a turnover margin near minus-21 turned promising afternoons into blowout losses. That single number is why Boca Raton enters Year Two labeled a strong candidate for one of the sport's larger turnarounds.
Offense
Veltkamp is back for his senior season as one of the more accomplished throwers in the conference. The 6-6 senior led the nation in completions and ranked third in passing yards per game near 303, piling up 24 touchdowns against those 17 picks, and he set a program record with 494 yards in a shootout loss to UConn. He was a conference offensive player of the year during his time at Western Kentucky, and Kittley recruited him there, so the fit is seamless. The whole season hinges on whether he can protect the football; if he does, the ceiling is high. Rice transfer Drew Devillier provides experienced insurance behind him.
Messer is the security blanket, a slot weapon who led the American with 104 catches for 1,052 yards and earned second-team all-conference honors. Dominique Henry, a BYU product, adds a proven complement after a 40-catch, 575-yard campaign. The intrigue is Kelby Valsin, a Texas Tech transfer who was a freshman for the Red Raiders in 2024 when Kittley ran that offense; he reportedly had a standout spring and gives Veltkamp another downfield option. RJ Garcia II arrives with more than 500 receiving yards on his resume. At tight end, Villanova transfer AJ Johnson and Coastal Carolina addition Brooks Johnson round out a receiving corps that should again be the strength of the team.
The backfield could finally give the offense some balance. Fairmont State transfer Leonard Farrow ran for 1,438 yards at the Division II level and was a Harlon Hill Trophy nominee as one of that division's premier players, and he staked a claim to the starting job in spring. He pushes returning junior Kaden Shields-Dutton, who was second on the team with 460 yards at 5.5 per carry and remains firmly in the mix. Edward Waters transfer Brady Tillman III adds depth. A more reliable ground game would take pressure off Veltkamp and diversify one of the most pass-happy attacks in college football.
Continuity is thin but the top returners are solid. Left tackle Ja'Kavion Nonar, a 6-8 senior and former Maryland player, is back after 11 starts, and Vincent Fiacable returns as well, sliding from center to guard. Braden Cunningham is penciled in at center, and Georgia Tech transfer Ben Galloway is a notable addition at tackle. The group carries limited combined FBS starts but has the size and upside to be a strength if it gels quickly, because line play is the swing factor for this offense.
Defense
The unit that allowed a program-worst 36.3 points per game was gutted by attrition, with all four starters gone from the front, so the staff leaned hard on the portal and Kittley pointed to this group as the one he was most excited about on defense. Interior anchor CJ Doggette Jr. is a decorated returnee who led the team with four sacks after arriving from Ohio, and he is joined by SMU transfer Blake Burris, who played for Kittley at Texas Tech in 2023. On the edge, TCU transfer Jonathan Bax emerged from spring ahead of holdover Deshaun Batiste, who logged nine starts, while Ohio transfer Jay Crable brings six sacks from a year ago. The talent influx should push the pass rush numbers up.
This is the steadiest spot on the defense. Leon Hart Jr., a Marshall product, is the returning leading tackler with 96 stops and 4.5 tackles for loss, and he carries all-conference potential. Portal addition Joseph Sipp Jr., a first-team all-conference pick during his run at Bowling Green who spent last season at Kansas, gives the group an experienced, productive presence in the middle. Khamari Johnson and Hector Chavez provide depth behind them.
The secondary underwent a near-total overhaul, and the new blood could help stop the bleeding over the top. The most experienced newcomer is JK Johnson, a senior corner who arrives from Oklahoma State and spent the 2022 season at Ohio State, where he logged five starts; his pedigree at high-major programs makes him the projected boundary starter and the draft name to watch in this group. Returning starter Damarius McGhee brings 32 tackles and a 94-yard fumble return to the other side, while nickel Chris Tooley III is back after eight starts. Jayden Sweeney, who started the final four games, and Ferris State transfer Ahlston Ware, a Division II All-American and national champion with five interceptions, add playmaking at safety.
Both specialist jobs turned over, and both look like upgrades. Placekicker Collin Rogers transfers in from SMU as that program's all-time leading scorer and an all-America selection, and punter Reed Chandley arrives from Georgia State after leading the Sun Belt with a 45.8-yard average. Messer handles punts and led the conference with a 20.8-yard return average, with Valsin a candidate to take over kickoff duties.
Overview and Prediction
The schedule opens hard, starting at Florida, where the Owls remain winless all-time against SEC opposition, before conference play brings Navy, the Shula Bowl against FIU, and road trips to Army, North Texas, Tulsa and East Carolina. There is enough winnable inventory in there, including Texas Southern, ULM, Rice and a Senior Day date with USF, for a jump to be realistic.
The preseason consensus pegs Florida Atlantic in the middle-to-back half of the American, roughly ninth to eleventh, but nearly every projection points in the same direction: this is a most-improved candidate whose fortunes ride almost entirely on ball security. If Veltkamp cuts the interceptions and the rebuilt defense simply climbs off the bottom of the league, six or even seven wins and a first bowl bid since 2020 are within reach. Our verdict is that the offense is good enough to get there; the make-or-break is whether a transfer-heavy defense can hold up long enough to let the passing game win shootouts rather than lose them.