FIU Cornerbacks Coach DeMarcus Van Dyke Joins South Florida Staff

On Saturday, the University of South Florida announced that they have hired DeMarcus Van Dyke to be their next cornerbacks coach. He spent the 2023 season in the same position with the FIU.

South Florida parted ways with former cornerbacks coach Matt Birkett last week.

Prior to joining the Panthers, Van Dyke spent one year at ASA College as a cornerbacks coach and then from 2018-2022, Van Dyke went back to his alma matter to join the Miami Hurricanes staff. With the Hurricanes, Van Dyke spent time as a defensive quality control coach, then assistant director of recruiting, cornerbacks coach in 2021 and finally as a defensive analyst.

Van Dyke left his position with the Hurricanes after 2022 to join FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre and his staff.

In his one year with FIU, Van Dyke oversaw the growth of cornerback Bryan Blades who was amongst the top 20 in passes defended in Conference USA. Along with seeing growth of individual players, the Panthers ranked sixth in pass defense this season, an improvement from the previous year. He also had a hand in recruiting part of FIU's most recent class. 

Van Dyke now joins USF, who went 7-6 in 2023, including a win in the Boca Raton Bowl against Syracuse. As for the defensive unit, the Bulls ranked as the worst defense against the pass in the American Athletic Conference, giving up 288.8 yards per game through the air.

The 35-year old played cornerback at the collegiate level as well as the NFL from 2011 through 2016. He was a third-round pick by the Oakland Raiders in the 2011 NFL Draft.