Florida State assistant coach D.J. Eliot, who helped mold one of the most dominant defensive lines in the country, will join Mark Stoops in Kentucky as the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator.
Stoops, the Seminoles defensive coordinator the last three years, was introduced as the Kentucky head coach Sunday.
Fisher said Wednesday that Eliot will return to FSU to help the team prepare for the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl against Northern Illinois and coach during the game. Stoops will return to FSU during the dead period for recruiting, which starts Dec. 17, and may be on sidelines for the Orange Bowl.
“They brought it up to me,” Fisher said of the coaches returning. “They said, ‘It’s been so good being here, we got an opportunity.’
“(Mark) and I have a very good relationship and he said he would do anything to help us.”
Fisher will need to fill two positions, including defensive coordinator. He is not sure if either will be named before the Orange Bowl.
Eliot, 36, has coached the Seminoles’ defensive ends the last three years, a group that included Brandon Jenkins, Bjoern Werner and Cornellius Carradine, all of whom could be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in April. Eliot also has worked as the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach at Rice for three years along with stints at Tulsa, Texas State, Miami, Houston and Wyoming. He was a graduate assistant at Mimi in 2002.
