FAU signs 24 new recruits

With the chance to play in a brand new stadium as its main selling point, coach Howard Schnellenberger and his staff convinced 24 high school athletes to play football in Boca Raton next season.
Since key players like wide receiver Lester Jean, Rob Housler, and Jeff Van Camp have graduated and will try their hand in the NFL, the coaching staff made it a priority to replace them this off-season.
Some key facts about the 2011 class:

• The team signed four wide receivers and all of them are 6'2 or taller.
• They also signed five linebackers to correlate with their switch from 4-3 to a 3-4 defense.
• Seven players are from Miami-Dade County but only one is from Palm Beach County.

The Owls signed a ton of receivers to try and deal with the loss of Jean, who was the team's most productive wide receiver last season finishing with 64 receptions for 988 yards and eight touchdowns. The returning player with the best stats behind Jean was sophomore Deandre Richardson who finished with 12 catches for 114 yards and no touchdowns.

On defense, the team stockpiled on linebackers to add depth as the team transitions from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense. The 3-4 defense requires three defensive lineman and four linebackers on the field so it should be interesting to see if any of the new recruits earns any playing time this season, particulary Pompano Beach Ely linebacker Conard Johnson who was listed as a three-star recruit on rivals.com.

The team also made some inroads down in Miami bringing in seven players from Miami-Dade County. That includes two players from the Class 6A state football champion Miami Central Rockets. However, the team bucked a recent trend by only signing one player from the Palm Beach County area. In past years, Schnellenberger and his staff signed multiple recruits from the area.

For a complete list and quick bio on the future Owls check out FAU's athletic website.