FIU hiring ACC assistant as defensive coordinator

The Florida International Panthers have a new defensive coordinator, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. North Carolina special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt is headed to Miami to join FIU.

Dewitt has more than two decades of coaching under his belt. Dewitt joined Mack Brown’s staff in 2020 after a two-year stint in the same role at Nebraska.

The former Tar Heels assistant followed Nebraska head coach Scott Frost to Nebraska from UCF where he was also the associate head coach.

In the 2020 season, Dewitt’s group of outside linebackers helped produce 36 sacks, the most for a Carolina defense since 2000.

Before joining the UCF staff, Dewitt was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Army in 2014.

FIU will be his third stop in Florida after also working at FAU in 2012 and 2013.
 
Dewitt earned his college degree in physics and mathematics from Northern Michigan in 1999. As a player, he was a two-time All-American and the 1996 Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He played three seasons in the Arena Football League following his college career.

According to his North Carolina bio, Dewitt turned down an opportunity to work at NASA following graduation, instead opting to enter the coaching profession.