Brian Olmo | Editor-in-chief
Former football team captain Reggie Peterson made allegations of verbal abuse, deception and possible assault against Head Coach Mike MacIntyre in a post on X on Thursday, Nov. 21.
THE REASON I LEFT FIU FOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/iAHh5Be8mA
— Reggie Peterson ⁴² (@42Pete_) November 21, 2024
Peterson had retired from the team before the start of the 2024 season, citing politics as one of the main factors.
Multiple former players have since spoken out, replying to Peterson’s post with their own stories and experiences.
PantherNOW had the opportunity to speak with Peterson to learn more details about his allegations against MacIntyre.
A statement from the university is included at the end of the article.
The following is a transcript of the interview. Brian Olmo has been abbreviated to BO and Reggie Peterson has been abbreviated to RP.
The Chair-throwing Incident:
BO: Let’s talk about the chair-throwing incident. Can you set the scene for me in that locker room during the FIU-FAU game?
RP: Of course. It’s 2022, versus our rivals FAU. You know, Mac, his first year there, he wanted to set a statement by beating FAU. So we were very intense all week. That’s all he preached, was intensity, intensity, intensity to beat in FAU that week.
RP: So he had a great game plan. You know, Monday through Thursday, we’re ripping and we’re going hard. So when he gave a great game plan, the game came in, things didn’t go to his liking. You know, as a head coach, that’s got to be frustrating.
RP: So halftime, he instantly just started cursing from A to Z and started flipping tables and kicking chairs. He was totally upset, like 10 out of 10, like 100% upset. So he’s cussing and his words, word for word, he says “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can do this. I gave you guys an amazing game plan, but you don’t want to do it. I should have never took this head coaching job.”
RP: He threw a chair and the chair ended up hitting a player named Caleb Lynum who on Twitter yesterday admitted that Coach Mac did hit him.
My chin still sensitive from that chair smh https://t.co/zLbsPcorBR
— stik7 (@LynumBoi8) November 21, 2024
RP: Julius Pierce, our former center who transferred to Middle Tennessee, he was held back because he was arguing with Coach Mac and Coach Mac was being held back. Pierce was like “I don’t care what you say, you just hit a player!” Coach Mac was like “No I didn’t, no I didn’t!”
RP: So Coach Mac was upset and everybody in that locker room fell apart. There was guys crying to the point that we was about to walk out late out of halftime. There was guys crying, saying that we were supposed to be a team. And then you got about 15 guys that I know that say “I’m done, I’m leaving like I can’t, I can’t play for this man.”
BO: And you said that he didn’t even know he hit someone with that chair? He wasn’t aiming it towards anyone?
RP: He saw red. I never seen that side of Coach Mac before. It shows his passion for us and passion for the game but at the end of the day, what’s wrong is wrong. He threw a chair and he hit a player in the face.
BO: Did he apologize after? Did he do anything after?
RP: No. So right then and there, he just kept saying “No he didn’t, no he didn’t!” Obviously, coaches saw it, players saw it. Like over 100 people were in that locker room. You know how halftimes are, it’s packed in there.
RP: So a lot of players saw it, ended up trying to cool him down. We went out there. We didn’t play good because of what just happened at halftime and the team fell apart. I don’t remember him apologizing in the team meeting whatsoever.
RP: Right after the season, people transferred. You know big names like Tyrese Chambers, Rivaldo Fairweather, Gaethan Bernadel, Julius Pierce, Shamar Hobdy-Lee, Lyndell Hudson. These are all guys that were passionate about winning and after seeing that, they lost them. They were devastated after that.
Athletic Director Scott Carr:
BO: You said in your post that you brought this up to the Athletic Director and “it went in one ear, out the other.” When did you bring this up to the AD and what was his response?
RP: Yes, I told the AD in September. I forgot what time I talked to him, like, what specific date. I had so many meetings. I had a meeting with HR, had meetings with the AD. I had meetings everywhere. So I went to go talk to the AD, and I’m letting him know these things. And what was so iffy to me, when I mentioned it to the AD, he said, “Oh, wow. He didn’t know that.”
RP: My thing is, there’s people on the team that said they talked to the AD about it in 2022. That was my problem, right? When he said that, I noticed something in that moment. Like, okay, something’s not right. Why is he acting like he just heard about it?
Verbal abuse allegations:
BO: Now, you mentioned instances of verbal abuse between you and MacIntyre. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
RP: Yeah, so when I went to go talk to Coach MacIntyre, there’s plenty of times where he told me that I was just a terrible person. I’m not a leader.
BO: And you mentioned that your religion was questioned at one point?
RP: So we were in practice one day and Coach Mac was preaching intensity this whole entire practice. I need to see some tackling and etcetera. I ended up tackling Flex [Lexington Joseph], and it was aggressive. Coach Mac ended up stopping practice and he mentioned that play. “Lately, how you’ve been playing on a football field hasn’t been very Christian-like.”
RP: And I was like, how are you going to question my religion? I pray for people on this team all the time. I brought them closer to Christ. You literally gave me the Perseverance award for praying over this team. So how are you going to throw my religion in my face because we’re not agreeing on something?
“MacIntyre is gathering up players to defend him:”
BO: Is there anything else that you want to say about MacIntyre that you did not initially mention in your post?
RP: Of course. So like I told you, he doesn’t understand how close I am with this football team. I think Mac thinks that the team is closer to him, I think, than to me. The team has more loyalty towards me because we worked out together: blood, sweat and tears. We’ve been through so much together. We’re the ones playing on the football field, not really him.
RP: So I have players, and I was just told this from 12 of our players, I’m not gonna say their names, but I was told that Coach Mac is asking players to defend him because of what I posted on Twitter.
RP: The thing is, players don’t want to defend because they know what I said is true. They know what I said is true about the chair incident, about the helmet incident, about him lying about money, lying about playing time. So it’s like Coach Mac is forcing their hand. He’s getting a position coach to text them.
BO: I see.
RP: I can read the text right now. It says “If any of you disagree with Reggie please text Scott Carr in support of Coach Mac. I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. I won’t know if all or none of you do so no pressure. Very thankful for all of you.”
RP: Yeah, it’s to the point that I’ll repeat to you what a player told me.
RP: “Reggie, you are right. I agree with you 100%. We want to back you. That’s why I’m so happy that the alumni are backing you, people that are no longer under him and that don’t have to worry about Coach Mac doing them wrong. We’re still on the team. If I wasn’t on his team, I would say everything that you are saying, but I’m scared that he’s gonna take away my scholarship, and I have nothing going for me back home. So if he take away my fellowship, how would I get this free education in school? How would I get my life started?”
RP: And that is so sad to the point that players are telling me this, and that’s 12, and eight of them are starters.
Final Thoughts:
BO: Do you have anything you want to say to current players who are currently under MacIntyre? Any message that you want to relay to them?
RP: I know how hard you guys work, and I know that you guys are terrified of what’s going on, and just know I’m not doing this out of anger. I’m not doing this out of spite. I’m doing this for all of us because I know what you guys are going through.
RP: You do not have to be scared of Coach Mac trying to hold you back. If you’re scared that Coach Mac is going to pull your scholarship, if anything happens to you, just be truthful about it. And yeah, just be fearless. Don’t be scared.
PantherNOW has yet to receive a response from MacIntyre or Carr. A representative of the university’s media relations team replied with a statement.
“The FIU administration is aware of issues raised surrounding the football program. They are being taken very seriously. The matter is being addressed following the university’s standard procedures; therefore, we have no further comment at this time.”
Follow Brian Olmo on X: @Brian_Olmo11
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