Florida Atlantic — American Athletic
PPA off / def
0.16 / 0.22
2025
Class rank
#130
class of 2026
Returning PPA
68%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (4–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 Florida Atlantic's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (22 in / 30 out)
| Incoming |
|---|
| JK Johnson | CB | ← Oklahoma State | ★★★ |
| RJ Garcia II | WR | ← Bowling Green | ★★★ |
| Brady Tillman III | RB | ← Edward Waters | ★★★ |
| Kenyon Garner | EDGE | ← Livingstone | ★★★ |
| Marcus Vinson | TE | ← New Mexico | ★★★ |
| Leonard Farrow | RB | ← Fairmont State | ★★★ |
| Bo Simpson-Nealy | S | ← Western Carolina | ★★★ |
| Jonathan Bax | EDGE | ← TCU | ★★★ |
| + 14 more |
Origins
Schnellenberger founded the program at 67, having already won a national title at Miami, and took it to a bowl in its seventh season. Lane Kiffin won the conference here on his way back to the SEC.
Founded 1961 · Built on a decommissioned WWII airfield in Boca Raton · first football 2001 · defined by Howard Schnellenberger
All-time record
Win %
44.4%
24 seasons played
Winning seasons
7
29% of seasons
By level: FCS 9–4 (2002–2003) · FBS 117–154 (2004–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2004 | 14 | 3 | FBS Independents |
| 2019 | 11 | 3 | Conference USA |
| 2017 | 11 | 3 | Conference USA |
| 2003 | 9 | 1 | FCS Independents |
| 2007 | 8 | 5 | Sun Belt |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 2002 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 314 | 37% |
41% | 105 of 136 | 5.9 | 12% |
| 2nd down | 219 | 36% |
39% | 114 of 136 | 6.1 | 11% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 40 | 65% |
70% | — | 4.5 | 8% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 46 | 22% |
43% | — | 6.2 | 7% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 63 | 24% |
21% | — | 5.7 | 8% |
| 4th down | 42 | 33% |
67% | — | 9.5 | 17% |
149 drives · 33% ended in points · 7.4 plays and 43.6 yards per drive · 1.04 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 13 | UConn |
Dominique Henry 90 Yd pass from Caden Veltkamp (Garrison Smith Kick) |
90 | 7.22 |
| 13 | UConn |
Easton Messer 33 Yd pass from Caden Veltkamp (Garrison Smith Kick) |
33 | 5.53 |
| 7 | UAB |
Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Dominique Henry for 43 yds for a TD (Garrison Smith KICK) |
43 | 5.47 |
| 11 | Tulsa |
(06:06) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short right to #3 J.Platt caught at… |
47 | 5.35 |
| 6 | Rice |
Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Asaad Waseem for 38 yds for a TD (Garrison Smith KICK) |
38 | 5.30 |
| 9 | Navy |
(12:21) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep middle to #3 J.Platt caught at… |
43 | 4.92 |
| 6 | Rice |
Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Easton Messer for 55 yds to the RICE 21 for a 1ST down |
55 | 4.43 |
| 12 | Tulane |
(06:07) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short middle to #8 E.Messer caught … |
50 | 4.17 |