McCarthy brought in to coach receivers
Florida Atlantic hired D.J. McCarthy as its new wide receivers coach on Monday, according to multiple sources.
McCarthy is returning to FAU after a short stint as an assistant coach in the Canadian Football League. He was director of player development for the Owls during the 2017 season, Lane Kiffin’s first as FAU’s head coach.
The move comes after FAU parted ways with Gary Harrell, who previously held the position of receivers coach, following Saturday night’s loss to Charlotte that finished the Owls’ season without bowl eligibility at 5-7.
An FAU spokesperson was reached, but declined to comment on the hiring.
McCarthy hit the ground running on Monday, already on the recruiting trail for the Owls. He visited Miami Northwestern, which ironically was Harrell’s high school alma mater.
“He came through. He talked to some kids,” said Northwestern coach Max Edwards, whose team is preparing for a Class 6A state semifinal at Naples on Friday. “He did his job. He did well.”
McCarthy comes back to Boca Raton after spending this past football season as wide receivers coach for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. He was initially hired for the director of player development role with the Owls in February 2017 after Kiffin took over in December of 2016.
McCarthy spent the 2016 season as receivers coach at Florida A&M. He was assistant head coach and director of player personnel at Bethune-Cookman from 2012 to 2015.
McCarthy has a lengthy resume of coaching college wide receivers at various schools over the past decade. He’s held the role at LSU, UCLA, UCF and Nevada between 2000 through 2010. He also spent time in the NFL as a defensive assistant dealing with the secondary and special teams for the Raiders from 1998 to 2000.
A Boca Raton High graduate, McCarthy played collegiately at Washington where he graduated in 1994 and was a member of the 1991 Huskies team that split a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes. He also coached at his high school alma mater, Fort Lauderdale High and West Hills College in California during the 1990s.