Florida International is hiring Duke assistant coach Willie Simmons as its next head football coach, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
Simmons, 44, will replace Mike MacIntyre, who was fired Sunday after three consecutive 4-8 seasons.
Other finalists for the position, according to reports, were UCF offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr., and FIU defensive coordinator Jovan Dewitt, who became interim head coach this week.
Simmons is in his first season as running backs coach at Duke, which went 9-3 in the regular season, but the native of Tallahassee, Fla., has experience as a head coach at the FCS level with a 66-24 overall record.
Simmons was head coach at Prairie View A&M from 2015-17 and at Florida A&M from 2018-23. He guided the latter to a 45-13 record. He was 21-11 (.656) at Prairie View.
Simmons also lists offensive coordinator at Alcorn State (2012-14) and Middle Tennessee State (2011) among his assistant coaching experience.
He played quarterback at Clemson in 2000-02 and at The Citadel in 2003.
