Ryan Smith, who previously coached under Willie Simmons at Florida A&M (FAMU) during the Rattlers 2023 HBCU championship winning season, will rejoin Simmons in South Florida as he takes over as head coach of Florida International University (FIU), and FBS school playing in the Conference USA. Smith spent the 2024 season as defensive coordinator at Murray State.
While working with Simmons at FAMU, Smith’s defense was known as the “Dark Cloud” defense, a moniker dubbed by former president Dr. Larry Robinson. During the 2023 HBCU national championship season, FAMU’s defense was ranked No.1 in FCS for most of the season, ending the year at the No.2 position.
Smith’s defense featured several All-SWAC and All-Americans, including Markquese Bell (Dallas Cowboys), Isaiah Land (Indianapolis Colts) and Isaiah Major (All-SWAC/All-American/ Celebration Bowl Defensive MVP). Known for a defense that featured its linebackers, Smith’s run with FAMU also included at trip to the NCAA playoffs in 2021.
In 2021, Smith helped lead one of the best defenses in Rattlers’ history as they ranked Top-25 in 15 different categories, Top-10 in nine, and Top-five in one. Smith featured Land, who led the nation in sacks and tackles for loss, as he was named the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and became the Rattlers’ first Buck Buchanan Award (national defensive player of the year) winner, this will be a formula the duo hopes to duplicate at the FBS level.
Before joining the Rattlers in HBCU football, Smith served as the assistant recruiting coordinator at the University of Florida under former head coach Jim McElwain from 2016 to 2018.
Simmons is rebuilding the FIU Panthers after a 4-8 season, going 3-5 in Conference USA play. Simmons’ first order of business was to secure quarterback Keyone Jenkins who had expressed interest in the transfer portal before Simmons’ arrival. Jenkins announced that he would remain at FIU after meeting with Simmons. This will be a key figure in the rebuilding of the Panthers in the current 12-team playoff era of FBS football.
FIU scored 28 points per game last season. That was not the issue. Their problem came on the defensive side, which is why Smith was added to the squad as linebackers coach. The Panthers allowed nearly 2,500 yards rushing and 2,200 yards passing. The biggest immediate impact the Panthers could see would be on the defensive side of the ball. Simmons will continue to fill out his staff with the full support of FIU Athletics as they seek to return to their winning ways and be competitive in Conference USA play.