UNF Ospreys Football: The Newest Addition to the Sunshine State

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UNF Holds Tryouts

Aug. 25, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — North Florida University’s head coach Brian Jenkins met with over 60 students, Thursday night, as the first wave of walk-ons gathered for an orientation meeting in preparation for their attempt to land a stop on the UNF football team.

“I’m not at all surprised by the turnout,” said Jenkins. “It was pleasing to see so many young men interested in joining the program.”

UNF begins practice at the Practice Field, Monday afternoon at the UNF Jacksonville campus.

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As Others Played, UNF Prepared

Sept. 1, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — In a year of first, the North Florida University football team reached yet another milestone Tuesday afternoon. For the first time, the inaugural football team went through a full-contact practice in pads.

“They looked good out there, the enthusiasm was there and you could tell all those young men wanted to be out there,” said UNF head coach Brian Jenkins.

The number of players at Tuesday’s practice including kickers and punters totaled 110. Next year Jenkins and his staff will only get to dress 70 players in compliance of the NCAA dress policy.

“We had a lot of guys out there going hard,” said Jenkins. “It’ll be tough making cuts later on down the line but for now, we’re building a foundation here at UNF.”

North Florida will continue practice each afternoon for the remainder of the week before introducing a new series of weekly intrasquad scrimmages starting later next month.

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EverBank Field

UNF Announces Stadium Deal

Sept. 26, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — North Florida University football now has a place to call home next season. The University unveiled an agreement with EverBank Field in which all UNF home games will be played at the Jacksonville facility beginning with UNF’s inaugural season in 2016. The deal allows for UNF to play at EverBank Field for a maximum of three years.

“Playing at an NFL venue, even if it’s a home game, is an honor to any college student,” said UNF head coach Brian Jenkins, a former Cincinnati Bearcat. “This is an addition that’ll really help us with scheduling while also giving our fan base a fantastic and comfortable stadium.”

EverBank Field is home to the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars and the Jacksonville Armada FC of North American Soccer League. The facility also plays host to the NCAA’s TaxSlayer Bowl.

“We’re excited about hosting the UNF Ospreys and being a part of their history,” said EverBank President Tom Crane. “This is a football program that’s surely on the pathway to success.”

Capacity at the stadium for UNF’s home games will be 67,164. Ticket sales will be handled on both the universities behalf as well as the EverBank box office. The Ospreys will begin intercolligate play in September 2016 as a NCAA Division 1-A Independent. Next year’s schedule will be released at a later date.

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Hodge Stadium, Currently

Construction Continues On UNF Venues

Oct. 8, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — When North Florida University was approved of a football team late last year the main subject of discussion during board meetings quickly became the building and renovating of athletics facilities around campus. In the agreement to join FBS football, regents gave UNF a time frame of three years before they’d be penalized for not having a stadium that met NCAA requirements.

So far progress has been on tack. UNF inked a contract to play their home games at EverBank Field for those three years. Hodge Stadium, the on-campus venue, continues to hold construction but the main headline of UNF is the steady uprising of the David Frank Center, a multi-million dollar athletic facility in the process on being made thanks to a generous donation of former UNF alum.

The planned 48,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art-facility is planned to serve as a nerve center for each and every athletic team at UNF. Features are intended to include locker rooms for a number of sports, training room, weight room, meeting rooms and coaches’ offices.

“Athletic facilities are essential to opening doors in the recruiting cycle,” head coach Brian Jenkins said. “We can’t thank Mr. Frank enough for what he’s done here. This project is another big upstart for our football program.”

Meanwhile, blueprints for the Hodge Stadium have been released. The venue is expected to seat a capacity of just under 30,000 people while also featuring numerous skyboxes and luxury seating options. There is no scheduled completion to the stadium as of now. See below the blueprints:

[thesportsguru11]

Too bad to hear you feel that way about your Miami dynasty. I can say that I've felt that way about my UConn 'chise at times as well, a good break can help, or simply making changes to how you operate (I changed up my Around the NCAA format over the past two seasons for this reason). Hopefully you'll find it in you to keep it up. Looking forward to this one!

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Josiah Thomas

UNF Receives First Ever Commitment

Oct. 8, 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Five thousand percent.

That’s how much easier North Florida football coach Brian Jenkins believes recruiting will be this year.

“When I say 5,000 percent I’m exaggerating, but not by much,” Jenkins said.

UNF nabbed its first football commitment, Tuesday, in school history. Josiah Thomas (Port Charlotte, FL), a two-star offensive lineman, handed the inaugural program his verbal. Thomas mulled over the chain of regions; North Florida, South Florida, and Central Florida. At the end, the Ospreys came away with the in-state recruit.

“The idea of coming out to play football for a brand new program is one of the most intriguing things to many of these young men,” Jenkins said, a main benefactor in the recruiting circuit so far. “They’re all thinking ‘hey, I could be a star here’, and quite frankly at this point, if they work hard enough that can very well be the case.”

Josiah Thomas, of Port Charlotte High School, is a hulking prospect at 6-foot and 297 pounds. The all-conference nose guard earned the attention of multiple Division-1 programs over the summer after turning in notable numbers in multiple combines. Not only did Thomas squat 620 pounds, but the near-300 pound lineman also clocked a 4.72 forty, the fastest amongst all lineman recorded in the Sunshine State.

“That’s the type of young man that shows, not tells,” said Jenkins. “You look at his tape and it’s not hard to see the improvement. He’ll be a big piece for us moving forward.”

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Head Coach, Brian Jenkins

Time Will Tell

Jan. 4, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The 2015 college football season is now complete as Ohio State routed Georgia Tech 47-20 in their second straight BCS National Championship victory. In Florida, we find the chain of teams within the Sunshine State on top of things as four of its seven universities finished the year with a winning record as well as bowl appearances. Now, all the attention goes to recruitment of the UNF 2016 football team.

North Florida University is in a much different situation than one year ago. For the first time, they're working with a full deck: a full coaching staff, a first year schedule, EverBank Field, the David Frank Center, and a 68-member football team. All are in place where none was a year ago, giving confidence that this recruiting class will outstrip the wonderful first class.

Of 16 commitments in hand, five students are enrolled this spring semester and eight will arrive on campus in August 2016. They'll make up part of the 25 to 30 players to be signed in February.

The team's goal, according to Coach Brian Jenkins, is to sign two tight ends, three offensive linemen, seven defensive linemen, two linebackers, three defensive backs, three running back, and four wide receivers. Anticipation grows as the team lost no recruits over the holiday break. Jenkins has spoken out about his plans to of the recruiting trail. In the next three weeks, the first-year coach will visit 15 homes weekly, Sunday through Thursday.

“This is our first class, it’s going to be the foundation of this program,” Jenkins said. “We may lose one or two players, we may pick up one or two where we didn't think we had a chance.”

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Caleb Poinsette, Highest Rated Signee

UNF Football Signings

Feb. 2, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — The countdown to North Florida University's first football season continued Wednesday with the announcement of the team's second recruiting class. Head coach and Director of Football Operations, Brian Jenkins, announced 25 scholarship student athletes have been added to the UNF football roster.

“Today was great day for us at UNF, this was a tremendous class we put together,” said Jenkins. “I feel even more confident because we’ve got men coming in that really want to play for our program. Their arrivals next fall is something we’re all looking forward to.

In all, eight of the 25 players are from outside of the state of Florida. The class was good for the #71 ranking, according to ESPN. It features nine three-star recruits, 13 two-stars, which is the most of any FBS team, and just a single one-star.

Jenkins credits the work of his coaching staff in the success the program has made in bringing in some of the region's top talent.

“I’ve gotten most of the credit on the [recruiting] trial but my assistants have put in a lot of work over the last couple of months,” he said. “They know more about every kid in the North Florida territory than Miami, Florida, Florida State, South Florida, or anybody else. For that reason we are going to be successful over the years.”

"We are fully loaded and fully prepared to start this journey now, said Jenkins.

UNF begins play in September against Texas A&M after years of preparation.

The list of UNF recruits signed Wednesday:

Spoiler

North Florida also lost four players to decommitments (due to recruiting glitch):

Spoiler

In addition, UNF received the word from two transfers as well as 10 former Bethune-Cookman players who played under coach Jenkins, all 10 of the BCU players will be eligible to play in 2016 per NCAA transfer exceptions (these players are glitches from the TeamBuilder file):

Spoiler

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David Frank Athletic Center

David Frank Athletic Center Officially Open

Mar. 2, 2016

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — North Florida University, today, held its ribbon cutting event for the David Frank Athletic Center, and already it's obvious that this building is a springboard to enthusiasm not only for the football team but for all athletes and students at UNF University.

Women's track, soccer, volleyball, and softball have taken full occupancy of their individual locker rooms within the unnamed women's suite. The football team's off-season strength and conditioning program is taking advantage of the magnificent state-of-the-art weight training and cardio-vascular machines.

“We’re all happy to call such a thing ‘ours’,” said Lukas Gaines, UNF student government.

The David Frank Center has become the talk of the campus, and each day students bring their friends to see the addition. The interplay between athletes and the general student body has become even better in result.

“It’s really cool, it serves its purpose plus it’s bringing the community together every day,” said Brandon McNamara, a Bethune-Cookman transfer who followed Coach Jenkins to North Florida.

Each coach's success in the recruiting field makes it evident that this building stands as a clarion call for the clear and undisputed statement that UNF takes great pride in its athletic teams. Results already show that facilities do make a difference-not only for this year but for the decades that lie ahead.

It is easy to stand back, observe our young athletes in action and feel extremely proud of improvement at every moment. Attendance is up. Funding is rising. School spirit is sprouting. Campus life has been enhanced. The Ospreys of North Florida continue to make the right tracks.