Cancer survivor who is passionate about football – that’s FIU’s new defensive coordinator

For 37 years, Jovan Dewitt never missed a single football practice.

Throat cancer in 2019 ended that streak.

But even then, Dewitt’s passion for football stood out.

“I told our graduate assistants (at the University of Nebraska) to sneak me out of the hospital and take me to some practices,” Dewitt told The Herald, “and they did.”

That love of the game is what FIU is getting in its new defensive coordinator. Dewitt, 46, beat cancer, but it wasn’t easy. He went through 38 rounds of radiation and three terms of chemotherapy.

Before he got sick, he checked in at 6-foot-1 and 300 pounds. During his fight with cancer, he lost 105 pounds.

“I almost died a couple of times,” said Dewitt, who now weighs 270 pounds. “I was given just six months to live.

“Because of what I went through, I appreciate every day so much more.”

FIU coach Mike MacIntyre is convinced Panthers football fans will appreciate Dewitt, who will also mentor the team’s inside linebackers.

With one week left before National Signing Day, MacIntyre – who was hired last month – is close to completing his staff. The only opening left is for a cornerback or safety coach.

Dewitt, a 46-year-old native of Milwaukee, started playing football at age seven, which is when his streak of never missing a practice began.

He became a star linebacker at Northern Michigan University, a Division II school, and he played three years in the Arena League.

As an assistant coach, he has worked at six Division I schools: Northern Iowa (2009-2011); Florida Atlantic (2012-13); Army (2014-2015); UCF (2016-17); Nebraska (2018-19); and North Carolina (2020-21).

Dewitt was the special-teams coordinator at his previous four stops, but he has limited experience running a defense at the D1 level. He did it in 2011 for Northern Iowa and for the final four games in 2013 at FAU.

“I had the opportunity to stay on as defensive coordinator at FAU,” Dewitt said. “But I wanted to continue to evolve and adapt to different systems.”

At Army, Dewitt learned how to out-scheme teams that had more talent.

After that, Dewitt coached at UCF and Nebraska under Scott Frost.

“(Under Frost), I learned about the simplicity of communication in order to handle an offense’s tempo,” Dewitt said. “In that system, one word could mean a bunch of different things to different players.”

Through it all, Dewitt knew he would one day return to running a defense. Now he has his chance with FIU and MacIntyre, a coach he had never worked with previously.

Dewitt said he wants to play multiple fronts – 4-3 and 3-4 – but his goal is to make a complicated defense simple for his athletes to play.

He also said he loves coaching South Florida athletes.

“Every coach in America wants to recruit down this area, and I get to live here full-time,” said Dewitt, who is married and has three kids from age six to 18. “There’s not a happier assistant coach in America than me.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Panthers are expected to sign about 10 freshmen next Wednesday. About eight recruits will be on FIU’s campus this weekend. Sunday is the last contact allowed with recruits ahead of National Signing Day.

▪ The position FIU is most looking to improve is defensive back.