As new coach MacIntyre settles in, expect quiet early signing period for FIU football

While hundreds of football players are set to sign scholarship offers throughout the country on Wednesday, the FIU Panthers are expected to be mostly silent.

Mike MacIntyre, who signed a five-year contract last week to replace Butch Davis as the fifth football coach in FIU history, will likely wait until February to sign most of his players in this cycle. He will also try the transfer portal.

“It’s going to be really hard,” MacIntyre said of the early signing period, which runs from Wednesday through Friday. “The one thing you don’t want to do is rush in to sign people. You want to make sure they want to be here and that they fit what you want to do offensively and defensively.

“I will take (this signing period) at a little slower pace. But I think it will work out fine. We have to be picky about who we choose.”

Due to numerous defections and graduations, FIU will likely be well below the 85-scholarship limit for 2022.

But MacIntyre said he will use some of the tactics he tried at San Jose State, one of his two previous head-coaching stops.

“We had our guys practice at different positions, switching offense and defense,” MacIntyre said. “We also played some guys both ways in the games.”

The first part of that plan yielded several hidden gems, including David Quessenberry, who went from a third-string, walk-on tight end to the Tennessee Titans current starter at right tackle.

In other words, look for FIU to try wide receivers at cornerback; linebackers at tight end; defensive tackles at offensive guard and vice versa.

“We want to put the best 22 on the field,” MacIntyre said.

MacIntyre, who plans to fill out his coaching staff by January 10, has spent most of his first days as FIU’s coach attempting to get to know the players already on his roster.

“I haven’t been in any of their homes,” MacIntyre said last week. “Their parents don’t know me. I may have to fly to get to see some of them.”

MacIntyre said his challenge at FIU reminds him a lot of San Jose State.

“Both schools are in big metropolitan areas with a lot of other competition (for the sports dollar),” he said. “In San Jose, we had (to contend with) a little team called the San Francisco 49ers as well as the Raiders. We also had Cal and Stanford right there.

“We knew we were fighting that battle, but we overcame it. Both FIU and San Jose State have a diverse student body. There are a lot of commuter students and a lot of first-generation college students.”

At San Jose State, MacIntyre also faced an initial scholarship reduction.

“San Jose State was on APR penalty at the time, and we were limited to 72 scholarships,” he said. “We got to the 85 (scholarship limit) the second year, and we took off.”

MacIntyre said FIU’s location in Miami had “almost everything” to do with him taking this job.

“I had other opportunities at different times,” he said. “But I’ve recruited in Florida so many times, and it’s not just that there are great athletes here. It’s that football is really important to them, and they play with a chip on their shoulders.

“We hope to have that hunger here. Good athletes with a hunger to succeed.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ On FIU’s chronically poor attendance, MacIntyre said he used to visit local morning shows at 5:30 a.m. to talk about San Jose State football.

“We will go from small crowds to filling the place,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen at other places. It will happen here.

“I’m going to keep working and wait for everyone to catch up to my passion.”

▪ MacIntyre’s predecessor, Butch Davis, said FIU’s administration cut the football budget by $500,000 in each of the past two years.

MacIntyre has a plan for that, too.

“When I was at Colorado, our budget was (much smaller than Pac-12 rivals) Southern Cal and Oregon,” he said. “So, I went out and raised money. There are people out there who have a passion (for sports). If you show them what the kids need to succeed, it will get done.”