Communication is key for FAMU football's defense entering the last day of fall training camp

Florida A&M football's training camp days are numbered.

With the Aug. 27 season opener at North Carolina less than 10 days away, the Rattlers are polishing their craft as they slowly shift the attention to the Tar Heels.

Thursday's practice was one that concluded rather early as it was abbreviated down to end about 20 minutes early to beat and incoming rain and also give players an opportunity to rest their bodies.

"We wanted to give the guys a chance to get their legs back," FAMU head coach Willie Simmons said.

"We're winding down training camp -- tomorrow (Friday) is our last day. We're starting to finalize what we're doing in all facets of the game."

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Speaking Up

Before a defender can lay a puzzling hit on a ball carrier, the defensive unit must effectively communicate reads and adjustments.

Serving as a liaison is what's imperative to the Dark Cloud Defense's success with plans of repeating its top 10 FCS defensive ranking.

Redshirt senior linebacker Nadarius Fagan was right in the middle of it on Thursday.

"Our defensive staff preach to us that communication is key even in the worst of the worst situations, you have to be on one accord because you're all wrong and you're all right," Fagan said.

"Coach put our backs against the wall and continuing to communicating is key and we pride ourselves on that and flying to the ball."

Fagan, 6-foot, 215 pounds, is a reliable option in all nuances of the defense as his speed allows him to beat offensive linemen by pass rushing along with being able to drop in coverage to guard wide receivers.

"This offseason, I worked a lot on my pass rush and coming off the edge to blitz," Fagan said.

"I'm trying to be as explosive as Isaiah Land, BJ Bohler, and Eric Smith. Something I pride myself on is helping my team as much as I can."

As the defense got beat on three plays as it squared off against the offense on Thursday, the Goulds, Florida homer rallied his teammates to emphasize flocking to the ball.

"Being on any defense, you're going to have broken plays and give up plays. But you have to come together and continue to fly to the ball," Fagan said.

"Getting my team to understand flying to the ball continuously is what's going to help us and get us to where we need to be."

Practicing a two-minute drill, the Rattler defense recovered it's losses by forcing two takeaways with an interception by safety Lovie Jenkins and another by Texas A&M transfer safety Jordan Moore - which was the final play of the morning.

"We're continuously working on communication on the defensive side of the ball led by guys like Nadarius Fagan, Isaiah Land, and BJ Bohler," Simmons said.

"We shortened the field and took a lot of time off the clock to put the offense in a stressful situation to have to try to move the ball. The defensive did a great job and got two interceptions against the ones and the twos.

"We got to be able to win those critical situations if we want to be the dominant football team that we aspire to be."

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Looking ahead...just a little

FAMU doesn't want to get too invested in the North Carolina game just yet until game week begins on Sunday.

But as the team install and emphasize playing with a fast game speed, it is prep work for the Tar Heels.

Simmons feels that UNC may be the fastest team that the Rattlers will face across 11 regular season games.

"We know North Carolina's going to try to play fast," he said.

"We got to try to match that tempo on offense and line up against it on defense. We want to clean it up and use our tempo to our advantage.

"We'll transition to North Carolina on Sunday."

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2022 Florida A&M Football Schedule

Aug. 27: North Carolina -- ACC Network, 8 p.m. ET

Sept. 4: Jackson State (Orange Blossom Classic , Miami Gardens)* -- ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET

Sept. 10: Albany State, 6 p.m. ET

Sept. 24: Alabama A&M* -- ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET

Oct. 1: Mississippi Valley State*, 6 p.m. ET

Oct. 8: South Carolina State, 2 p.m. ET

Oct. 15: Grambling State*, 3 p.m. ET

Oct. 29: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Homecoming)*, 4 p.m. ET

Nov. 5:  Southern* -- ESPNU, 6 p.m. ET

Nov. 12: Alabama State*, TIME TBA

Nov. 19: Bethune-Cookman (Florida Classic, Orlando)* -- ESPNU, TIME TBA

Home games are in BOLD

*SWAC

Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Fagan urges defense to communicate during training camp