By Chris Vannini, Matt Baker and Manny Navarro
Florida International is firing football coach Mike MacIntyre, according to a source involved in the decision, one day after the Panthers finished off a 4-8 season with a 35-24 victory over Middle Tennessee.
MacIntyre went 12-24 in three seasons, never winning more than four games in a season. He went 6-18 in Conference USA play.
The news also comes after former player Reggie Peterson alleged on Nov. 21 that MacIntyre once threw a chair that hit a player during halftime of the 2022 game against FAU. In an interview with The Athletic, Peterson also said MacIntyre knocked over chairs and a projector during the incident. Another player on that team, offensive lineman Lyndell Hudson, corroborated the details in a separate interview.
“All of that is 100 percent facts,” Hudson said. “Anybody that was in that locker room knows that.”
Peterson, one of the team’s best players, retired from football before the season, citing team politics as a main reason. Peterson recently went public with allegations of MacIntyre belittling him and running what Peterson called a “scheme.”
An FIU spokesperson said in a statement last Sunday that the administration is “aware of issues raised surrounding the football program.”
“They are being taken very seriously,” the statement said. “The matter is being addressed following the university’s standard procedures; therefore, we have no further comment at this time.”
It’s unclear what role, if any, the off-field allegations played in the decision to make a coaching change. MacIntyre has not publicly addressed the allegations. He did not immediately respond to a request from The Athletic seeking comment.
A tipping point for Peterson speaking out, he said, was a comment MacIntyre made during a news conference a few weeks ago in which he said the program “hasn’t had a good history at all.” MacIntyre later apologized for the remark.
The 59-year-old was previously the head coach at Colorado and San Jose State. He’s also held various assistant coaching jobs at the collegiate level and in the NFL. He served as the defensive backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys (2003-2006) and New York Jets (2007) before returning to the college ranks. FIU named MacIntyre, a Miami native, its head coach in December 2021 to replace Butch Davis.
FIU started playing football in 2002, moved up to the FBS level three years later and has made five bowl games over that span, but hasn’t had a winning season since Davis was in charge in 2018. The Panthers won their only league title — the Sun Belt Conference — in 2010 under current Miami coach Mario Cristobal.
The program has consistently lost some of its top players to the transfer portal the last several seasons, including standout receivers Kris Mitchell (Notre Dame) and Tyrese Chambers (Maryland), tight end Rivaldo Fairweather (Auburn), starting offensive linemen Phillip Houston (Colorado), Lyndell Hudson (Florida) and Miles Frazier (LSU), defensive tackle Jordan Guerad (Louisville), linebacker Gaethan Bernadel (Stanford) and safety Demetrius Hill (Illinois).
In August, the school signed a contract to rename its football stadium after recording artist Pitbull, bringing in $1.2 million per year over five years. The deal was also expected to assist in name, image and likeness deals for athletes.
(Photo: Nelson Chenault / Imagn Images)
