FIU football team’s kick-coverage wild men earn a colorful nickname

They call them “The Cocaine Cowboys” … and it has nothing to do with narcotics but rather their wild football-playing energy.

Just before FIU’s team takes the field, coach Willie Simmons usually implores his Panthers to match the energy of his core-four kick-coverage players.

Those four players -- Maguire Anderson, Jose Corbo, Ross Fournet and Bobby Salla Jr. -- all arrived at FIU as walk-ons. And even though all of them except Corbo are now on scholarship, they still play with the reckless abandon of athletes trying desperately to earn a tuition-free education.

“We know what we’re going to get from Bobby, Ross, Maguire and Corbo,” Simmons typically tells his team in the pre-game meeting. “But who’s going to match the effort of The Cocaine Cowboys?”

Anderson said FIU special-teams coordinator Kenneth Gilstrap came up with their attention-grabbing nickname.

“From the beginning of spring practice, we were all trying to earn a role on the team,” Anderson said. “Ross, Bobby, Corbo and I were the first guys in line for coverage units.

“We were running around people and through people, and Coach Gilstrap (was impressed).”

The name stuck, although the foursome has yet to capitalize with T-Shirts or other marketing attempts.

Sadly, FIU’s First Responder Bowl against Texas-San Antonio on Friday will be the last ride of the football-playing Cocaine Cowboys. Only Anderson will return to FIU next year. The other three players will be out of eligibility as soon as the bowl game ends.

So, before it all comes to a half, here’s a closer look at FIU’s Fab Four:

• A Mormon, Anderson’s dream was to play wide receiver for Brigham Young University just like his father, RJ Anderson. So, Maguire Anderson walked on to BYU, where he spent the first two years of his college career.

He transferred to FIU for the 2024 season, but he didn’t make his first collegiate catch until this season, when he rung up 22 receptions for 255 yards and one touchdown.

Anderson, listed at 6-0 and 180 pounds, is capable of even more, according to Salla.

“When you are a white wide receiver, they say you’re a ‘good fundamentals’ guy,” Salla said. “Maguire can do that, but he’s also an athletic freak. He’s fast, and he can put on a show with spectacular catches.”

Anderson, a native Floridian who played at J.W. Mitchell High in Pasco County, said it was too cold at BYU, and he’s happy to be back in the Sunshine State.

In addition, since he was a kick returner in high school, he feels he has an advantage in knowing what blocking walls opponents are trying to set up against him.

Asked about he and teammates Corbo, Fourent and Salla, Anderson said: “We’re not the four fastest guys, but we wreak havoc. People don’t want to block us.

“Personally, I don’t care who tries to block me. I’m going to try to hit them harder than they hit me.”

Anderson said making a tackle on special teams feels as good or better than grabbing a pass.

“It’s exhilarating because you run to the sideline and everyone is celebrating, jumping on top of you,” Anderson said.

• A 6-0 and 190-pound running back from Miami’s Palmer Trinity School, Corbo graduated from FIU on Thursday with a degree in Finance.

Corbo, a first-team All-Dade player at Palmer, went to Ole Miss as a walk-on track athlete, training in the javelin throw as a freshman and in the decathlon as a sophomore.

He walked on to the Ole Miss football team in the spring of 2023, and coach Lane Kiffin’s staff moved him to wide receiver.

Then, after his brother Lucas was diagnosed with leukemia, Corbo walked on to FIU’s football team in the summer of 2023. Thankfully, Lucas is now healthy.

This year, Corbo became a key to FIU’s coverage unit.

“He’s the unsung hero or our group,” Fournet said. “He’s the one who takes on double teams. He does the dirty work and never complains.”

Corbo said his play “popped” on film earlier this season, which is why he started drawing double teams.

“Sometimes I get double-teamed to the ground,” Corbo said. “But that just opens things up for my teammates.”

Corbo is a good-natured guy. His teammates poke fun at his high-pitched voice with their customary greeting of “Hey Corbo!” They also tease Corbo because he doesn’t speak Spanish despite having Puerto Rican and Cuban ancestry.

Through it all, these four guys are close, and Friday’s game figures to be highly emotional, especially for the three graduating seniors.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Corbo said. “We live our lives to create memories. This bowl game will be something I tell my kids about one day.”

• Listed at 5-11 and 195 pounds, Fournet is highly physical. In fact, this past summer he recorded a personal best with a bench press of 365 pounds.

“Ross is our Swiss Army Knife,” Anderson said. “He’s our best blocker on our punt team, he’s great on kick coverage, and we use him for trick plays. He’s the smallest of the four of us, but he packs a punch.”

Besides his strength, Fournet in April graduated summa cum laude with a 3.91 grade-point average, majoring in Biology. Next up, he will go to dental school, and his goal is to become a dentist.

After the bowl game, Fournet will fly to Bogota, Colombia to spend New Year’s with his roommate’s family.

In the meantime, Fournet is thrilled to get the chance to put on his FIU uniform one last time.

“We will cherish the moment,” Fournet said. “Our No. 1 goal was to make the postseason, and we’re grateful that this coaching staff has led us here.”

Simmons has praised Fournet’s consistency, which is a point of pride for the player.

“I never take a play off,” Fournet said. “I know my assignments, and I study my playbook vigorously.”

• Salla is following in his father’s cleat marks. Salla Sr. was also a safety, leaving Temple University with 13 interceptions, which was a program record at the time.

Salla Jr., listed at 5-11 and 210 pounds, is a huge Eagles fans in honor of his father, who was born in South Philadelphia. Salla Jr. played high school ball at American Heritage in Delray Beach.

After that, he spent two years as a walk-on at Temple, where they moved him to wide receiver. Salla Jr. transferred to FIU in 2023, and – now back at safety -- he has 42 tackles and one interception in 42 career games, mostly as a reserve.

Last week, Salla graduated with a degree in Communications. He plans to work in marketing or sales, but one of Salla’s biggest talents is his photographic memory.

“Bobby’s a walking record player,” Anderson said. “I’ll just say one word, and he connects it to a movie quote.”

To sum it up, FIU’s “Cocaine Cowboys” are an unselfish group.

“We put the team before ourselves,” Fournet said. “That can’t be coached. The intangibles we possess are what separate us.”