Florida State Gives Pair Of Assistants Pay Increases

Florida State‘s two youngest and lowest-paid assistant football coaches, Dameyune Craig and D.J. Eliot, have received raises and one-year contract extensions, according to documents released by the university Monday.

Craig, who coaches quarterbacks and serves as the Seminoles’ recruiting coordinator, will see his base salary increase from $192,500 to $205,000 annually. The same goes for Eliot, who coaches FSU’s defensive ends.

Both coaches also are now under contract for an extra year, through January 2014.

The 37-year-old Craig, who played for FSU coach Jimbo Fisher when Fisher was an assistant at Auburn in the mid-1990s, is the Seminoles’ least experienced coach. He had never been a full-fledged assistant on the Division I-A level before Fisher hired him in January 2010.

Although Fisher is very hands-on with FSU’s quarterbacks, Craig is popular with Seminoles fans for his recruiting prowess. The Mobile, Ala., native has received much of the credit for helping FSU snare several top prospects from the state of Alabama; that list includes quarterback Jacob Coker last year and two-sport star Jameis Winston earlier this month.

Eliot, who hails from Oklahoma and played linebacker at Wyoming, came to FSU two years ago from Rice, where he coached the defensive line and served as recruiting coordinator. He had just four years of Division I-A experience when Fisher hired him.

Under Eliot’s direction, FSU’s defensive ends have become a team strength, with starters Brandon Jenkins and Bjoern Werner each receiving All-ACC honors.

Craig and Eliot weren’t the only FSU coaches to receive rewards this offseason. Defensive coordinator Mark Stoops received a raise and contract extension in January, and Fisher received a one-year extension. The financial terms of his deal remained the same.

 


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