FIU Football: Mike MacIntyre Speaks On Two Key Veterans

Year three under head coach Mike MacIntyre is a big one, but with the veteran leadership of Reggie Peterson and Lexington Joseph, the vibes in Miami are high

FIU Athletics

FRISCO, TX - After two straight 4-8 seasons for Mike MacIntyre's Florida International Panthers, the need for improvement is apparent in year three. Helping the Panthers head coach are FIU linebacker Reggie Peterson and running back Lexington Joseph, the two oldest players on the team.

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"They are phenomenal leaders not just on the football field," MacIntyre said of the pair. "They've become leaders...the team trusts them. Our coaching staff trust them. As for what they do off the field, what they're doing in the locker room, how well they do academically, they're really well-rounded. They both have unique stories. Reggie was a walk-on and moved his way up the ladder and did phenomenal. Flex was highly recruited out of high school and then was playing really well, got hurt and now is coming back from a knee injury. Everybody has their own story, but these two young men are remarkable people and excellent football players and they're great leaders on our team."

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The last time the FIU Panthers made a bowl game came in the magical 2019 season. Then, the Panthers ended the regular season going 6-6 with a win against the Miami Hurricanes, their last win against a power conference opponent. Joseph was on the team during that time and has high hopes that the 2024 team can replicate what happened in 2019.

"The team is more together and we trust Coach Mac," Joseph said this week. "Now going into year three [under MacIntyre], that bond and that trust is really there and we're playing for each other. Coach Mac and all the coaches preach family, family, family first. Going into this year, we feel great, we feel together and we glue together."

As for Peterson, he went through a couple years of the Butch Davis era where things began to go downhill and during that time he was not given much of an opportunity to play on defense until MacIntyre took over.

"I wasn't really recruited," said Peterson. "Everybody loves a great underdog story. I'm pretty sure for the ones who's playing NCAA, you go and click underdogs. Just being a walk on was definitely tough, but when you find guys like Flex and you finally get a head coach like Coach Mac, people that honestly believe in you and make you want to keep moving forward. Flex was just saying coach Mac does a great job about preaching family, and I think the problem was before coach the Mac era, we were trying to reach and shoot for perfection, but there's no such thing as perfection."

A rather favorable schedule for the Panthers this season kicks off on Saturday, August 31st at 3:30 PM against the Indiana Hoosiers, their only "power conference" opponent of the season. That game can be streamed on the Big 10 Network.