The 2021 FIU Panthers football team represented

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

(FIU) in the

2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 152nd season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The r ...

. The Panthers played their home games at

Riccardo Silva Stadium Riccardo Silva Stadium is a college football and soccer stadium on the campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Westchester, Florida. It is home stadium of the FIU Panthers football team and the Miami FC soccer team from the USL Cha ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and competed in the East Division of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

(C-USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach

Butch Davis Paul Hilton "Butch" Davis Jr. (born November 17, 1951) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Florida International University. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, he became an assistant col ...

. The season was marred by drama and controversy, with athletic director

Pete Garcia Pedro Andres Garcia (born September 18, 1961) is a Cuban-born American sports administrator who was the athletic director for Florida International University since 2006. Previously, Garcia was director of football operations at the University ...

clearing his desk out in the middle of the night, with no prior announcement or news conference. A few days later, it was announced that head coach

would not be returning following the season. Davis alleged that university administrators had cut the football program's budget by $500,000 each year for the past two years and that coaches were not allowed to recruit on the road. University administrators have not commented on Davis's allegations.

Preseason

C-USA media days

The Panthers were predicted to finish in sixth place in the East Division in the Conference USA preseason poll.

Schedule

Personnel

Game summaries

LIU

Texas State

At Texas Tech

At Central Michigan

At Florida Atlantic

Charlotte

Western Kentucky

At Marshall

Old Dominion

At Middle Tennessee

North Texas

At Southern Miss

References

{{FIU Panthers football navbox

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...

FIU Panthers football seasons

FIU Panthers football FIU Panthers football program represents Florida International University (FIU) in the sport of American football. The Panthers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Div ...