Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Skip navigation

Austin Bland

Add topic

Post

Austin Bland plays plantation this week and will once again go head to head against Monty Nelson. In the first match up Austin thoroughly dominated Nelson making him irrelevant the entire game. FAU has gotten a Steal by landing Bland. Rivals at the end of last year had Austin ranked as the 21st best guard in the nation. Austin had to sit out the entire spring with a minor knee problem so rivals decided to take him from 21st best guard to not ranked! I know Austin well and I can tell you that FAU is getting a Beast. On Paper he is not the biggest he is 6'3" 285 but there is not a lot of fat on this kid…. Austin lives in the weight room and has close to a 400lb bench. There are not a lot of players in this country who can say they have played the level of competition that Austin has. He has matched up with some of the top d-lineman in the nation and pretty much beat them all…. As a junior he dominated all world D tackle and Sr. FSU commit Justin Shanks. Not to mention that he plays against probably the best D-lineman in the nation every day at practice Ohio State commit Joey Bosa and more than holds his own. Austin as most of you know attends St Thomas Aquinas high school and he has been a 3 year starter there witch at St Thomas that is saying something about the kids ability.  He has been coached by probably the best high school o-line coach in Florida Jay Connolly and will be college ready right away… I'm writing this post to just enlighten Owl fans on who Austin Bland really is. He is a great kid with no baggage and I know that he has passed on bigger schools to stay home and he is excited to be apart of the 2013 class that Will help turn things around.This is my first post here everyone and I hope I didn't babble to much…I will be around the program the next few years so I hope to get to know as many of you as possible…. Thanks everyone and lets go owls…..Jay
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

Thanks for the info and welcome!
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

cbboarder said

Thanks for the info and welcome!

+1

Awesome post, Welcome Jay!

And…….

+10 to this statement:

theirish1973 said

FAU has gotten a Steal by landing Bland…

We have longed for a quality OL signee for some time. From all accounts, whether close or far in relationship, the tale is the same:

Solid.

Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

I already knew about the talent part of Austin, but as an outsider, I always wonder about the quality of the kids. This really answers a lot of questions. As a fan, the one thing FAU needs, is to get quality players, that are quality students, that are quality kids, stay local to build our local D-1 University. St. Thomas produces a hand full of college athletes every year and maybe Austin will be the start of a pipe line to FAU. Thanks to the Irish for taking the time to share his info..Good luck with the National Championship run.
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

GREAT REPORT and thanks for sharing! C'mon Owls Coaches, stay on the kid, LET HIM KNOW HW IS TRULY WANTED HERE, the centerpiece of our O line for 4 years!
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

The fact that he wants to be here is awesome. Glad he is solid.

We lose 3 starters and 2 other guys off of the 2-deep next year.

Hope he can play right away!
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

We have ton's of size sitting on the bench, I hope they are up to starting next year. If not why do we keep them on the roster.
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

With 3 of 5 starting olinemen  gone next year this will be HUGE any chance Austin enrolls In the spring.
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

Austin Bland

owlcountry40 said

With 3 of 5 starting olinemen  gone next year this will be HUGE any chance Austin enrolls In the spring.

Bland can't early enroll because St. Thomas Aquinas doesn't allow it.

However he told me today that he, "just can't wait to be an Owl!!!"
Back to the top

Post

Re: Austin Bland

I know we brought in some transfer / juco OL last year. Our center had a great year. The others couldn't break into the starting line up. We recruited some good , young HS kids over the last two years. Usually , OL need time to mature and get stronger in order to play. I'm sure , like every year, the best players will start. After watching the games this year, I wonder about our HUGE transfers mobility. I know our young Fr. and So. OL can move. We will see.
Back to the top
Control functions: