Youth Served

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FORT LAUDERDALE – With kids – some young, some close to being college graduates – swirling around them on the Carter Park football field, FAU coach Lane Kiffin and Parkland-Douglas football coach Willis May stood near midfield and talked for about 20 minutes.

Following the Owls’ two-hour practice at Carter Park, Kiffin, his coaches and some of the FAU players stuck around to host a camp for youth football players, with proceeds pledged to the victims and families of February’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting.

“It goes to show you what an outstanding man coach is,” May said. “He cares about people. He cares about our lives that were lost. He’s a good man.”



Approximately 75 kids aged kindergarten through eighth grade participated in the camp, which cost $20 per participant.

Nearly 30 of those came with former rapper Luther Campbell, now the head of a Miami youth football league.

“This is a beautiful thing. This is a great thing,” Campbell said. “Kids get coached by college coaches. That doesn’t normally happen.”

NCAA recruiting regulations prohibited FAU from opening the camp to high school players, including those from Douglas.

The youths circled around the field, moving from station to station while receiving coaching from an FAU assistant and Owl players at each stop.

As FAU coaches and players encouraged the youths, at times it appeared as though the FAU players enjoyed the camp as much as the kids did.

“It’s nice to see these kids out here having fun,” FAU safety Jalen Young said.



Fast Franklin: Former FAU wide receiver John Franklin said he ran a 4.38 40-yard dash time at the Miami Dolphins local workout on Friday.

Franklin, Antonyo Woods, Jakobi Smith Henry Bussey, Kalib Woods, William Dukes and Andrae Kirk were among the former Owls who attended Saturday’s scrimmage.

Check the Schedule: FAU’s 2020 game at Illinois has been moved to 2023, an FAU spokesperson said. A trip to Minnesota will take the place of the Illinois game in 2020. In 2020, FAU will now travel to Minnesota and Georgia Southern, with home games against South Florida and Stony Brook.

A complete look at FAU’s future football schedule is here, below the 2018 football schedule.