FIU extends football coach Mike MacIntyre’s contract through 2027
FIU coach Mike MacIntyre spent Thursday in the home of two football recruits, and he was able to break some news to those players and their families.
That’s because FIU athletics director Scott Carr on Thursday afternoon announced that MacIntyre’s contract has been extended through the 2027 season.
The extension comes less than one week before the first of two national signing day periods opens Wednesday. The second period opens in February.
“It’s always good to have stability and to show that everyone that our university is going in the right direction,” MacIntyre said when asked by the Herald how his extension could benefit recruiting.
MacIntyre last month finished his first season at FIU, going 4-8. That’s a significant improvement from the 1-16 record FIU accumulated in the two seasons before MacIntyre arrived.
In addition, MacIntyre had the third-youngest roster in the nation (Football Bowl Subdivision).
FIU has long struggled to get fans to attend their sporting events, but the school’s media relations staff reports that season-ticket sales doubled this year under MacIntyre. Single-game-ticket sales were up 40 percent, they said, and student attendance was at its highest point in more than a decade, including 4,000 showing up for the opener against Bryant.
Carr took notice and offered MacIntyre the extension for all the good work on and off the field.
“Scott and I meet once a week,” MacIntyre said. “We were talking about the whole program, and he brought [the extension] up to me.
“I said, ‘Yea, that would be awesome. We love it here. We love where we’re going. We love the future of everything.”
According to 247 Sports, FIU has 11 freshmen recruits and two transfers committed and expected to sign Wednesday. The transfers are Louisville tight end Christian Pedersen; and wide receiver Shamar Sandgren, a junior college recruit from Mississippi.
Among the incoming freshmen on the 247 list, seven are from South Florida: safeties Mister Clarke (Carol City) and Jamari Holliman (Miami Norland); cornerback Victor Evans III (Miami Gardens Monsignor Pace); defensive lineman/athlete Mykeal Rabess (Norland); edge rusher Toddrick Brewton (Miami Northwestern); wide receiver Luby Maurice (Palm Beach Central); and offensive tackle Daniel Michel (Fort Lauderdale Dillard).
The other players on the 247 list are: tight end Braiden Staten (Tennessee); guard/center Jaheim Buchanon (Lehigh Acres); safety Landon Hale (Yulee); and defensive lineman AJ Cobb (Frostproof).
“We always want to keep improving,” said MacIntyre, who cannot comment on specific recruits until or less they sign. “We want to eventually compete for a Conference USA championship, which I definitely think we can in the future.
“I don’t know when exactly that will be, but I believe we’re headed in that direction. It’s a process — how our guys buy in and how they are improving and getting bigger and stronger.”
