Offensive Coordinator Nick Coleman Previews FIU Offense In 2025

Behind Jenkins will be Holy Cross transfer Joe Pesansky. The Tampa native started all 12 games as a captain for Holy Cross last season and will be the backup to Jenkins. He completed 176 passes for 2,399 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.

Throughout fall camp, Pesansky has consistently been taking reps with the second team while redshirt freshman Clayton Dees has been with the third team. True freshman Christian Langford has also seen some reps, but with the fourth team.

"(Joe) being an older guy has been a blessing," Coleman said. "He's done a great job competing, done a great job doing exactly what he asked him to do. It's raised the competition level in the room as well."

Running backs:

Similar to the spring, the belief is that running backs Kejon Owens, Anthony Carrie and Devonte Lyons can all start in this offense, and expect them to all split close to equal reps.

One name to keep an eye out for is true freshman Sterling Joseph, who was the highest-rated signing from this past signing class per 247Sports. He ran for 1,570 yards and 12 touchdowns in his senior season at Edison High School. He has been seeing plenty of reps with the second team offense.

"Depending on the play and the timing on who's in, Kejon (Owens), Ant (Anthony Carrie) Devonte (Lyons) and Juice (Sterling Joseph) is great. We've got a really good room. Within that, in the style of offense we play, those guys are going to be just like the receivers, they're going to try to keep each other fresh and be dynamic. They all have different strengths, but they all can do everything in the offense too. It's not one point in time you look in and see one of them, you're like, 'dang, I wanted this guy'. They all can do it, so that's a blessing. You don't have any guys that are one trick ponies."

Expect Owens to start against the Wildcats, but in reality, expect Carrie and Lyons to get some run. FIU has four games to give to Joseph if they'd like to conserve his year of eligibility.

Wide receivers:

Hawaii transfer Alex Perry has easily been the top target throughout the fall, but Jenkins has been spreading the ball around plenty. Juju Lewis, who was likely going to see a considerable amount of time out on the field, tweaked his other knee in the second practice of the fall.

The expectation is that the Panthers will be rotating plenty of receivers in and out throughout the season, given the style of offense that they will play, but a couple of names to keep in mind are returners Kyle McNeal and Eric Nelson Jr.

McNeal, a redshirt sophomore, has been primarily on special teams, yet to take an offensive snap. The long 6'1," 175 pound target will be someone who can use his long arms to his advantage, similar to Perry.

Nelson, who turned a lot of heads last fall camp, appeared in only two games last season is another long ball option who can use his stature to his advantage.

Newcomers include Jojo Stone (Louisville) and Tar'varish Dawson (Jax State), both of whom have had strong camps thus far. Stone, who has been with the second team throughout most of camp, is someone who impressed during the first scrimmage. Dawson has been switching between the first and second team. He is likely the fastest wideout on the team and has used that speed to his advantage, being a long ball target in the end zone, similar to what Eric Rivers was last season.

One big surprise throughout camp has been the high usage rate of freshman players on both sides of the ball. Gulliver Prep product Kenny Williams made the play of the fall during the first scrimmage, a one handed catch for a touchdown. Amari Isaac, who you would think is a sophomore or junior with his 6'0" 200-pound stature has also been making some plays. Tyson Carter, an Orlando native, has been running with the first team as well. The expectation is to see some of those guys take the field throughout the season.

"The one thing about playing skill position in this offense is that you're gonna get reps," Coleman said. "They've done a good job of taking advantage of every opportunity they've gotten. All those dudes just got here in June. It's not like they were here with us in the spring. There's a lot of ways to learn a different language, right? You can learn it slowly through Rosetta Stone, or you can get dropped in Mexico and have to figure out how to order tacos. They've had a little bit of both. They're trying to figure it out, but it's been good that they're definitely really talented kids."

Tight ends:

If there was a room that was ravaged the most by the transfer portal following the conclusion of the 2024 season, it was this one. Only one returner from that room is on the roster: redshirt sophomore Braiden Staten.

Joining the room is UAB transfer Dallas Payne, who should be the expected starter for the first game of the season. Although Payne may take the first snap of the season, expect a rotation of four tight ends this season, per position coach Frank Ponce.

Along with Payne, there is UPenn transfer Justin Cayenne, who hauled in nine receptions for 57 yards and one touchdown. Staten, the lone returner, appeared in ten games, but all on special teams. Finally, the true freshman Jackson Verdugo, who comes all the way from College Station, Texas, has been one of the coaching staff's favorites, so it'll be interesting to see how much he is used.

Offensive line:

At the moment, the first team offensive line looks like this: Jaleel Davis (left tackle), Jaheim Buchanon (left guard), Julius Pierce (center), Antonio Tripp (right guard) and Daniel Michel (right tackle).

Buchanon is the lone returning starter of a group who surrendered the lowest amount of sacks in Conference USA.

"We attacked that position since we've been here from a recruiting standpoint," said Coleman "To be able to build a room of offensive linemen, not just four or five guys. We feel like we've done that now and then the competition that was growing too. Those guys that we've brought in have been competing and been working."

Tripp, one of the first offensive lineman to transfer over has been a standout for Coleman, noting that he's had "a great camp." He currently is listed at 6'4," 310 pounds. He is a transfer from the University of Miami, so he follows offensive line coach Edwin Pata.

Through the spring portal, FIU added some size with the additions of Rice transfer Miguel Cedeno, who measures 6'7" and 315 pounds, and Zaire Flournoy, a UAB transfer standing at 6'4" and 335 pounds. They have both been with the second team, but that can be partially attributed to their late arrival.