Center Joe Gold (51), who started six games for FAU last season, has announced he’s quitting football and leaving school. (FAU Photo)
What was expected to be a team strength for the FAU football team this season took a hit earlier this month when starting center Joe Gold made the decision to quit, according to published reports.
Gold, 19, worked his way into the starting lineup early last season, prompting coach Charlie Partridge to move Braden Lyons back to tackle after Lyons had moved to center the previous spring. Gold wound up starting six games and was credited with being a key factor in the Owls’ strong rushing offense.
While Gold was debating his future this spring, he lost the starting center job to Roman Fernandez, a 6-foot-2, 310-pound redshirt freshman.
Gold told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in a phone interview Monday that he quit the team two weeks ago because he felt the demands of the game had become too great.
“I didn’t like how my life wasn’t my own,” Gold said. “I just really had enough of it.
“I really enjoyed playing in the games. The games were a lot of fun, but 12 days of enjoyment out of 320 is not the best turnover.”
FAU players not only are expected to be fully engaged in football from the start of practice in early August through the final game in early December but also for six weeks during spring practice and, as of last year, informal workouts throughout the summer as well.
While Gold said he enjoyed playing for coach Partridge, he said negative feedback, particularly from assistant coaches, was a factor in his decision.
“I didn’t agree with a lot of the things they did in the system,” he said. “A lot of it was focused on … negatives. No one ever got praise for positives. I just think they could have done a lot of stuff different.”
Partridge declined the newspaper’s request for an interview, but athletic director Pat Chun said Gold “made a very mature decision” in ending his career.
“You go to college to figure out who you are,” Chun continued. “You’re away from home and you build friends. You grow and you learn from your failures. This is all just part of the process.”
An FAU spokesman said there would be no official announcement regarding Gold’s departure from the program. FAU is serving as host to Conference USA Media Days this week.
The Owls had expected to have four interior linemen back this year prior to Gold’s announcement. They now return sophomore tackle Reggie Bain, who was All-C-USA last year, as well as senior guard Mikingson Marsaille and junior guard Dillon DeBoer.
A native of Charleston, S.C., Gold said his next stop will be to go to community college and earn an associate of arts degree. He said he also plans to attend FAU’s home opener against the University of Miami on Friday, Sept. 11.
