Joe Cauthen has coached in the American Conference, the Southeastern Conference and various outposts in between.
He's been in charge of defensive units, positional groups and worked from the NCAA Division II level to the sport's highest-resourced programs.
Cauthen, now, is adding another chapter to his career storybook.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Cauthen is joining the Florida International (FIU) staff of head coach Willie Simmons.
Cauthen, per sources, will be the defensive line coach for the FIU Panthers.
It's a strong addition for Simmons as he enters Year 2 in his inaugural Football Bowls Subdivision head-coaching foray after generating program-record success prior to that at Florida A&M.
Cauthen most recently served as defensive line coach in Ryan Silverfield's Memphis Tigers program, being elevated to oversee the position group after first joining Silverfield's staff as an analyst.
He's coordinated defenses at Arkansas State, Buffalo, Houston and Utah State at the FBS level while he's also called the defensive shots at Football Championship Subdivision program Stephen F. Austin as well as NCAA D-II powerhouse Valdosta State.
His arrival at FIU to join Simmons' staff comes on the heels of the program's 7-6 debut campaign under Simmons, a Tallahassee, Florida, native whose playing career started at Clemson and concluded at The Citadel.
After winning 39 games in his final four seasons atop the FAMU program, Simmons spent the 2024 season as a top assistant coach for Manny Diaz at Duke before he was named head coach of the FIU Panthers.
Simmons & Co. will try to follow up their 2025 winning campaign when they open the 2026 season Sept. 5 at in-state foe South Florida. The USF program will be under the guidance of first-year, first-time head coach Brian Hartline, the former top Ohio State Buckeyes assistant who also had a strong NFL playing career that included time with the Miami Dolphins.