September 4, 2021 – Lauderhill, FL –
The University of Fort Lauderdale Eagles are members of the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) and participate in the first division. They just officially joined the NCCAA this summer and are looking for long term success within the well-established, faith-based athletic association. The team that has the most spotlight already is their football program. In the past, UFTL has produced a football team that competed on a club-based level. To start the official inter collegiate program, the UFTL athletic department brought in former NFL wide receiver Chris Chambers. The UFTL athletic department officially announced the hiring of the former Miami Dolphin on April 27th and Coach Chambers immediately got to work.
“Recruiting a team from scratch is not an easy task, especially when you only have months to get it done”, said Coach Chambers. Even with a very short time frame, the Eagles now bolster a 45-man roster for this season. One of the biggest signings to the roster was that of Crispian Atkins, a transfer from the University of Miami. Entering the 2021 campaign as a senior, Atkins will be a valuable veteran asset to the team with NCAA DI experience. Recently named the starting QB, Kyle Kaplan will look to pressure off the running game by attacking through the air. Kaplan is a JUCO transfer who’s ties with Coach Chambers though Chambers coaching his 7v7 team brought him to South Florida. Even with the talent that Coach Chambers has brought in, he admits that there will be growing pains along the way.
The Eagles find themselves with one of the most difficult schedules probably ever seen within the NCCAA. Due to Covid-19 their first two games have been cancelled. Even with those cancellations they will a NCAA DI team, a reigning NCAA DII National Champion, a 2017 NCAA DII National Champion, and a potential NCCAA rival in Virginia University of Lynchburg. Their schedule will demand a lot from their staff and players both mentally and physically. Their first test will be Presbyterian College, a NCAA DI FCS member. Leading the team under center is Tyler Huff, whom averaged 244 yards per game passing during the 2021 Spring season. He will look to attack any Eagles defenders finding themselves unfamiliar with new defensive schemes, which is likely with a young group of players who are playing together for the first time this season. Even with a young team, Coach Chambers believes that his defense will be able to it’s own and expects even more from Kyle Kaplan and the rest of the offensive unit. “I expect us to be able hit our receivers at any time within the game, especially in crunch time minutes”, said Coach Chambers. Only time will tell if UFTL can live up to it’s high expectations this season, but it is certain that UFTL football has a future with Coach Chris Chambers and nobody should be surprised when they are NCCAA championship contenders within a few seasons.
