Friday Features: FIT football’s quick rise leads to poll position
By Maurice Patton
For Steve Englehart, Florida Tech’s presence in the AFCA Division II poll isn’t about the destination.
It’s about the journey.
The Panthers, listed at No. 16 heading into this weekend’s Gulf South Conference matchup with host West Florida, have been among the top 25 teams in the country for the past three weeks of their fourth season of existence.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” said Englehart, whose team is 4-0 (2-0 GSC) following last week’s 28-7 win over Division I-FCS member Presbyterian. “It simply means we’re getting some notice and being noticed by other coaches across the country. It’s a nice thing.
“We talked about it the first week we got into the Top 25 -- it was the first time in program history, congratulations, if we keep winning, we’ll go up. But we’re not really talking about it. We haven’t talked about if we’re 19th or 16th. We’re just taking it one week at a time and trying to do the best job we can this week.”
Englehart can’t help but reflect, though, on the early years when Florida Tech was getting up and running. The first season, 2013, saw the Panthers give up 45 or more points on five different occasions in a 5-7 campaign that included four losses in five league games. A year later, FIT finished 6-5 overall and 3-4 in league play.
“We knew we had a good opportunity when I took the job to be a team that would be nationally recognized as a top-tier Division II program because of our location and the quality of the school,” Englehart said. “Obviously, playing in the GSC is not easy.
“The first years took us taking some lumps, some hits on the chin. I think it kinda hardened us and helped us improve. There’s not a better way to improve than by being thrown right in the fire.”
Five games during that 2014 season were decided by less than a touchdown, before FIT put itself in position to compete for the league championship last fall – losing at perennial national title contender Valdosta State to finish 7-4.
All of that has helped lead to what this year’s team has done, and has a chance to do, according to Englehart.
“We started seeing the improvement in Year 2 (2014), and we beat some pretty good teams the last couple of years,” he said. “We’ve come a long way with recruiting, with the development of those kids. From an overall standpoint, this is a totally different team than the last few years.
“Obviously these guys have all gotten a lot of experience and played a lot of football. There’s experience they can draw on from the beatings they took, the close games we had. In (2014), 7 of our 11 games were decided in the last two minutes. It seemed like every week we were trying to go down and score to win the game or trying to stop somebody. We took some years off my life that year.”
The payoff is starting to come, if the current poll and the first four games are any indication.
Cornerback Jo Jackson had a pair of interceptions – the second, an 83-yard ‘pick-6’ – against Presbyterian to earn GSC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He’s the second Panther to be so honored this season, following lineman Adonis Davis. With those two leading the way, FIT is allowing just 8.8 points per game while scoring 37.8. Both figures are conference-best marks.
“We’re a lot different than we were those first years,” Englehart said. “We were playing babies, high school kids. Now these guys are young men, they look different, they’re mature, they hold one another accountable. We’re older, wiser, bigger, stronger, faster.”
With tight end Kenny Johnston and quarterback Mark Cato filling similar roles on the offensive side of the ball, FIT could be built to last – though the league will certainly provide a challenge.
“Most of the time, there are three or four GSC teams in the Top 20,” Englehart said. “We just happen to be one of those. But every week, there’s a tough opponent.”
Next, it’s West Florida – a program making its debut this fall.
“They’re a startup, but you look at what they can do; they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league as well,” the coach said. “They’ve got quality players and quality coaches, and they’re getting better every week.
“We asked our guys to look back to that first year, how hard we played and how much of a chip on our shoulder we played with. That’s how (UWF) is going to be.”
Follow Patton on Twitter at: @mopatton_sports. E-mail comments to: mopattonsports@gmail.com.
Join in on the conversation using #FridayFeatures on Twitter and Facebook.
2016-17 GSC Friday Features
9/09/2016 - UWA QB Grammer Wants to 'Pay It Forward' for Tigers.
9/16/2016 - UWF's Rookie Program Gets Boost From Veteran QB.
9/23/2016 - Hall of Famer Kuhns Excited to be Back at Valdosta State.