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Panther Football Report: FIU Opens Training Camp

Bigger, stronger FIU holds first practice of the 2018 football season on Friday.


The roster comprising the 2018 FIU football team shows just about an equal mix of underclassmen and upperclassmen.

During the Panthers' first practice for the 2018 season on Friday morning, a smile came across head coach Butch Davis's face after he noticed something he had seen before from some of the top teams he's coached in his career.
 
"As I told the team at the end of practice, one of the hallmarks of really good football teams is when the veteran guys are sharing their knowledge all throughout practice," Davis said. "There was dozens of guys standing next to a freshman or redshirt freshman talking about things or pointing things out. When the team takes ownership of its own success you have a great chance to have a winning program."

FIU enters the new season with more depth and more talent throughout its roster. With more depth and more talent comes more competition especially for the returning Panthers who will be pushed throughout camp. Still, the veterans welcome anything that will make the team better.

"Since the first day [coach Davis] stepped foot in here he told us that the best teams that he's been around are the teams where the older guys were coaching the younger guys," said senior defensive lineman Anthony Johnson. "Nobody is afraid of competition and that's why everybody is so coachable on this team. Everybody wants everybody to be good."

One of several positions that is expected to be very competitive this month is at quarterback where the Panthers will have a new starting quarterback for the first time in four years after Alex McGough was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks.

Redshirt junior Christian Alexander and graduate transfer James Morgan alternated snaps on Friday morning.
 
"The success of any football team is tied directly to the quarterback position," Davis said. "We have competition which I love. Both those guys are really smart. They've got strong arms. They're big, physical and I want them to compete to see who wins the job.

"I can tell you from the way which you evaluate you have to put them equally in every situation: two-minute drills, blitz drills, red zone drills, backed up drills. You have to see how they go in when adversity strikes. We're going to watch that closely over the next 25 practices and we're going to try to have both of them ready to play in that first game."

Regardless of who earns the starting quarterback job, the backup may also see significant playing time. Davis doesn't want to go through again what happened in last year's Gasparilla Bowl when McGough was injured on FIU's third offensive play of the game.

"Ideally, you would like to have a starter a week to 10 days before the first game," Davis said. "One of the lessons and I take full responsibility for this: we were totally unprepared for what happens when your starting quarterback goes down. Alex McGough had a phenomenal year. Imagine what would have happened if he broke his collarbone in week three or four because we were completely not prepared to win that bowl game. There's a real good possibility that we are going to play both quarterbacks in almost every game. Prepare them so that if something unfortunate happens, the second guy can go in and we don't miss a beat."

Besides depth another feature of this year's FIU team is the noticeable difference in size of the new additions and the returning players after another year in the weight room under FIU strength coach Chad Smith.
 
"We tried to focus with the guys already on the team to make them bigger and stronger," Davis said. "Certainly in the last two recruiting classes that has been a big focus point. We needed to recruit bigger kids: 6-4, 6-5, 6-6, offensive and defensive line guys. Guys in the 275 to 310-pound range. We were undersized, and we didn't have much depth. Hopefully in those two areas we have addressed those causes."

Senior running back Napoleon Maxwell experienced that new size on the defensive line firsthand where JUCO transfers 350-pound Tayland Humphrey and 290-pound Teair Tart joined the likes of the 291-pound Johnson.

"Today we saw the D-line get back there a few times," said Maxwell, who rushed for 477 yards and 5 TDs last season. "It's going to make us better as running backs, make our reads better, get through traffic and get out of traffic quicker and faster. It's going to help our team on both sides of the ball."
 
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Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIU.Football on Instagram and @FIUFootball on Twitter and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Alex McGough

#12 Alex McGough

QB
6' 3"
Senior
Christian Alexander

#8 Christian Alexander

QB
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Anthony  Johnson

#91 Anthony Johnson

DL
6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
Napoleon Maxwell

#23 Napoleon Maxwell

RB
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
Tayland Humphrey

#97 Tayland Humphrey

DL
6' 5"
Junior
Teair Tart

#93 Teair Tart

DL
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
James Morgan

#12 James Morgan

QB
6' 4"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Alex McGough

#12 Alex McGough

6' 3"
Senior
QB
Christian Alexander

#8 Christian Alexander

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
QB
Anthony  Johnson

#91 Anthony Johnson

6' 3"
Redshirt Senior
DL
Napoleon Maxwell

#23 Napoleon Maxwell

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
RB
Tayland Humphrey

#97 Tayland Humphrey

6' 5"
Junior
DL
Teair Tart

#93 Teair Tart

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
DL
James Morgan

#12 James Morgan

6' 4"
Redshirt Junior
QB