FAU football coach Charlie Partridge weighed in on the satellite camp debate Monday, just minutes after closing the first of two high school camps on the Boca Raton campus this week.
FAU coach Charlie Partridge speaks to players following Monday’s FAU football camp. (Photo by Jodie Wagner)
Partridge, who will be entering his third year with the Owls this fall, said he supports the concept of holding camps for high school players, as long as there is proper supervision of them.
“Satellite camps have been going on for a long time, and for whatever reason they’ve caught a lot of story lines lately,” he said. “Back in the early ’90s, I was going to work the Bill Bates Camp in Dallas, and the Robert Brooks Camp in Green Bay. It’s really not new.
“However, I think we just need to take a look at what has changed. There’s a lot more evaluating and recruiting-type of things going on at camps, and we just need to make sure that the oversight for that is appropriate based on what’s happening now.”
The NCAA Division I Council banned traveling satellite camps conducted by Football Bowl Subdivision schools April 8, and then rescinded the ban three weeks later following an outcry from coaches around the country.
Satellite camps give high school players a chance to showcase their abilities in front of college coaches from all levels at an off-campus site.
Jupiter quarterback Alex Piccirilli was one of 300 players to participate in an FAU football camp Monday. (Photo by Jodie Wagner)
UM coach Mark Richt opposes the camps, which he says allow programs to recruit at times the NCAA says they should not.
Partridge said he doesn’t consider FAU’s camp to be a satellite camp, as it’s held on campus and conducted by Owls coaches.
This week, the camp will draw guest coaches from two schools. Arkansas coaches attended Monday’s camp, and N.C. State and Kentucky coaches will take part in Tuesday’s camp.
“This is really our camp,” Partridge said. “Some coaches from other schools join us and help us orchestrate the camp. In our mind it’s not a satellite camp. It’s Florida Atlantic camp. It’s semantics, but we have some schools that we allow to come join us and help us work it.”
Dozens of Palm Beach County players were among the nearly 300 that attended Monday’s four-hour camp, which included drills, instruction and 7-on-7 games.
Dwyer defensive back Cedrick Dort, who is ranked No. 10 on the Post’s 2017 Big Board, said he took part in the camp in the hopes of drawing attention from college coaches.
“I’m hoping to get better and show my face around, get my name out there,” he said.
Jupiter quarterback Alex Piccirilli said he also hoped to impress college coaches. The senior ran drills at tight end Monday.
“My goal is to get a scholarship,” he said. “I’m working hard every day. I’ve learned a lot.”
