BOCA RATON – Miami-Edison defensive end Travon Thomas knew that suiting up in a Florida Atlantic football uniform, posing for pictures, and holding the Turnover Bat was on the agenda when he visited the school last weekend.

But a meeting with FAU athletic director Brian White?

“He’s a really cool guy,” Thomas said.

Hired last March as FAU’s sixth full-time athletic director, White and FAU president Dr. John Kelly have both taken an increased role in the recruiting process in recent months. In addition to meeting head coach Lane Kiffin and their potential future teammates, recruits can have opportunities to interact with two of the university’s key figures.

“For us, it’s good to have a different perspective,” White said. “It’s incredible to have a university president that’s willing to spend the time and talk about the whole university, so he can give a whole different perspective than Lane or I can give.”

That perspective, White explained, is from things that go beyond the football field. Everything from how FAU develops student-athletes, to its academic services — FAU announced that nearly 60 percent of its student-athletes, including 37 football players, earned at least a 3.0 GPA during the fall 2018 semester — and what makes the school appealing beyond a new indoor training facility and the ability to play under Kiffin.

“Ideally, we’re able to explain to parents and to the recruits different perspectives and values that FAU can bring to the table,” White said.

The approach has had success, as numerous recruits have told The Post they’ve enjoyed their conversations with White and Kelly while on campus.

Although most of the players he meets hope to eventually play in the NFL, White said the topic of “life after football” and other opportunities — including those in the South Florida area — come up in those conversations.

“I think because our community is so vibrant, because there (are) so many successful businesses right here, I think that’s a recruiting advantage for us,” White said.

St. Lucie West Centennial defensive back Dwight Toombs II had FAU as one of his top four schools when the Early Signing Period arrived in December. Toombs told reporters that a phone call from Kelly after his visit led to a genuine conversation that solidified his decision to pick FAU.

Toombs already is enrolled at FAU and will participate in spring camp.

Tallahassee-Rickards running back Kelvin Dean said he spoke to both White and Kelly on his visit and had a productive conversation with Kelly right after he signed.

“He congratulated me and told me they really needed my talents,” Dean said.

White added he uses his own family background — he’s a father to two daughters and his own father is Duke athletic director Kevin White — to help better communicate with recruits and their parents.

“Think about yourself and you’re sending your son to go to a school,” White explained. “You don’t want him to just be thinking about one thing. … Football may not be the way it works out and then they’re gonna want to make sure they have the ability to have success in life in whatever they decide to do after football.”

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