FIU starting quarterback Jenkins stays, new coaching staff nearly complete

The big news out of FIU’s football program is that quarterback Keyone Jenkins has removed his name from the transfer portal, and, according to sources, all but one assistant coach has been hired.

In addition, several FIU players have announced that they have committed to other programs.

Things have been busy for the Panthers since they defeated Middle Tennessee on Nov. 30. Coach Mike MacIntyre was fired the next day – done in by three straight 4-8 records – and Willie Simmons was hired less than one week later.

Here are four takeaways on the state of FIU football:

1. OFFENSIVE STAFF ALL NEW

Nothing is official until contracts are signed. However, here is how it looks:

Nick Coleman will be the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. In December of 2022, he was hired by former NFL star Trent Dilfer as QB coach at UAB. In his first year at UAB, Coleman helped QB Jacob Zeno break the school records for completions and completion percentage (73.6). Zeno was second all-time in yards.

Benedick Hyppolite will be the running back coach. He should be a good local recruiter as he has worked in Florida for years. That includes his experience on staffs for college (Florida and Miami) and high school (Carol City, Edison, Hallandale and Booker T. Washington).

Edwin Pata will be the offensive line coach. He spent six years with Miami, including the 2024 season as an assistant offensive line coach.

Jelani Berasa will coach wide receivers. For the past two seasons, he had the same title at Youngstown State. A Miami native, he went to Killian High and was a standout wide receiver at Youngstown, with 1,238 reception yards and 15 touchdowns in his career.

Published reports/tweets had suggested former Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill was set to mentor FIU’s tight ends. But, according to sources, that is not true.

Tight end coach is the one vacancy on the staff.

2. DEFENSIVE STAFF HAS CONTINUITY

Three coaches were retained from the previous staff – all on defense. Jovan Dewitt will be the coordinator; Kenechi Udeze will coach the line; and and Anthony Gaitor will train the cornerbacks.

Of the two new hires on defense, both of them have experience at Florida A&M, where Simmons was once the head coach.

Ryan Smith is the linebacker coach; He comes from Murray State, where he was the defensive coordinator in 2024. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at FAMU.

Kenneth Gilstrap will coach safeties and special teams. He coached UAB’s secondary the past two years. As a player, Gilstrap made 30 starts in four years at Middle Tennessee.

Among other stops as an assistant, he worked at FAMU in 2018 and Middle Tennessee for several years. In fact, he coached cornerbacks at Middle Tennessee in 2021 when the team ranked fifth in the nation with 17 interceptions. The next year, they ranked second with 20 picks.

3. LOTS OF PLAYER MOVEMENT

Getting Jenkins back was huge for FIU. He is set to become a third-year starter in 2025, and it will be interesting to note his progress with the new staff, including Simmons, who is a former quarterback.

However, FIU lost wide receivers Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson to Georgia Tech, according to their Twitter/X announcements.

Similarly, linebacker Travion Barnes is headed to Baylor; safety JoJo Evans and guard Naeer Jackson picked Louisville; and center John Bock II chose Tulane.

All six of those players are starters, and Rivers set the school single-season record for reception yards and touchdown catches. Barnes had 129 tackles, three short of the FIU record; and Patterson had a career years with 50 receptions.

Two more starting offensive linemen are in the transfer portal, although they have yet to pick a new school: Travis Burke and JaDarious Lee.

If they leave, that would mean that rising sophomore guard/center Jaheim Buchanon will be the most prominent returning starter on FIU’s 2025 o-line.

4. WHAT’S NEXT?

The last day in this cycle for players to submit their names into the transfer portal is Dec. 28.

There will be another portal period from April 16 to April 25.

FIU has yet to bring in any transfers in this cycle. However, five recruits visited FIU on Saturday and – according to a source – that included a prominent edge rusher and cornerback.

Also, while FIU had no NIL money to offer players last season, there are funds available this team around.

Simmons also plans to be active signing high school seniors when the next window opens on Feb. 5.