IRVING, Texas (July 20, 2016) – Seniors Michael Montero, Jonnu Smith and junior Anthony Wint have been named to this year's 2016 preseason All-Conference USA Football Team, as chosen by the league's 13 head coaches. 
 
Smith, who has been named to the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List as well as an Athlon first-team preseason all-conference selection, appeared and started in eight games for the Panthers being named an All-C-USA Honorable Mention selection in 2015. The Ocala, Florida, native caught 36 passes for 397 yards and four touchdowns. Before missing the final four games due to injury, Smith caught a pass in 32-straight games. Despite missing games due to injury, Smith was second on the team in touchdown catches. He tied a career-high in receptions with 10 versus Old Dominion (Oct. 24), tallying a career-best 183 yards, fourth-most in school history, and two touchdowns versus the Monarchs. He was named the Mackey Tight End of the Week (Week 8) after his performance versus ODU. Following his junior season, Smith is first at FIU in career catches (136), yards (1,495) and touchdowns (14) by a tight end.
 
Montero, who has been named to the Rimington Award and Wuerffel Trophy Preseason Watch Lists, started in all 12 games at center for the Panthers, earning Second-Team All-C-USA honors last season. The native of Miami was named game captain three times (at Indiana - 9/12; UTEP - 10/10; Charlotte - 11/7) and was part of an offensive line that helped gained 4,173 yards (fifth-most in school history), including 2,854 through the air (second-most in school history). He helped FIU record a school-record 22 TD passes and 15 rushing TDs (sixth-most in school history). He also helped FIU produced 518 yards total offense (seventh-most in school history) with 150 yards on the ground and 368 yards through the air versus UTEP. Guiding FIU to over 400 yards of offense six times, Montero aided FIU in scoring multiple TDs on offense in 10 of the team's 12 games.
 
Wint, who has been named an Athlon first-team preseason all-conference selection, appeared and started in all 12 games for the Panthers and was named a Second-Team All-C-USA selection in 2015. The Homestead, Florida, native led FIU with 88 tackles (41 solo), ranking No. 16 in C-USA in total tackles. Wint also notched 5.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, one interception, two pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. His two fumble recoveries ranked No. 24 in the nation. He set single-season career bests in tackles, tackles for loss, sacks, pass breakups and fumble recoveries in 2015, while recording 10-or-more tackles five times, including a career-high 13 at Indiana (Sept. 12). He recorded his first collegiate interception versus NC Central (Sept. 19) and notched a career-best 2.0 tackles for loss at LA Tech.
 
Below is a complete listing of the 2016 C-USA Preseason Awards.
 

2016 C-USA FOOTBALL COACHES PRESEASON AWARDS

 

Offensive Player of the Year

Nick Mullens, Sr., QB, Southern Miss
 

Defensive Player of the Year

Trey Hendrickson, Sr., DE, Florida Atlantic
 

Special Teams Player of the Year

Jonathan Barnes, Jr., K, Louisiana Tech
Dalton Schomp, Sr., P, Florida Atlantic
 

Offense

QB       Brent Stockstill, So., Middle Tennessee
QB       Nick Mullens, Sr., Southern Miss
RB        Kalif Phillips, Sr., Charlotte
RB        Ray Lawry, Jr., Old Dominion
RB        Ito Smith, Jr., Southern Miss
RB        Aaron Jones, Sr., UTEP
RB        Jarveon Williams, Sr., UTSA
RB        Anthony Wales, Sr., WKU
OL        Michael Montero, Sr., FIU
OL        Reggie Bain, Jr., Florida Atlantic
OL        Darrell Brown, Sr., Louisiana Tech
OL        David Mahaffey, Sr., Louisiana Tech
OL        Michael Selby, Sr., Marshall
OL        Clint Van Horn, Sr., Marshall
OL        Maurquice Shakir, Sr., Middle Tennessee
OL        Cameron Tom, Sr., Southern Miss
OL        Forrest Lamp, Sr., WKU
OL        Will Hernandez, Jr., UTEP
TE        Jonnu Smith, Sr., FIU
TE        Ryan Yurachek, Jr., Marshall
WR       Trent Taylor, Sr., Louisiana Tech
WR       Richie James, So., Middle Tennessee
WR       Zach Pascal, Sr., Old Dominion
WR       Taywan Taylor, Sr., WKU
 

Defense

DL        Larry Ogunjobi, Sr., Charlotte
DL        Trey Hendrickson, Sr., Florida Atlantic
DL        Jaylon Ferguson, So., Louisiana Tech
DL        Gary Thompson, Sr., Marshall
DL        Rashaad Coward, Sr., Old Dominion
DL        Dylan Bradley, Sr., Southern Miss
DL        Nick Usher, Sr., UTEP
DL        Marcus Davenport, Jr., UTSA
LB        Anthony Wint, Jr., FIU
LB        Azeez Al-Shaair, So., Florida Atlantic
LB        TJ Ricks, Sr., Old Dominion
LB        Alex Lyons, Sr., Rice
LB        D'Nerius Antoine, Sr., Southern Miss
LB        Alvin Jones, Jr., UTEP
DB       Ocie Rose, So., Florida Atlantic
DB       Jalen Young, So., Florida Atlantic
DB       Xavier Woods, Sr., Louisiana Tech
DB       Jeremy Cutrer, Sr., Middle Tennessee
DB       Kishawn McClain, Jr., North Texas
DB       Justice Davila, Jr., Old Dominion
DB       Picasso Nelson Jr., Jr., Southern Miss
DB       Michael Egwuagu, Sr., UTSA
 

Special Teams

K          Jonathan Barnes, Jr., Louisiana Tech
P          Dalton Schomp, Sr., Florida Atlantic
KR        Kylen Towner, Jr., WKU
PR        Warren Redix, So., UTEP
LS        Darrell Travis, Sr., Louisiana Tech
 
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The 2016 FIU football season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 1, when the Panthers host the Indiana Hoosiers.


FIU's 2016 schedule is highlighted with games against Miami Beach Bowl and 2015 C-USA champion WKU, R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl champion Louisiana Tech, St. Petersburg Bowl champion Marshall, Popeyes Bahama Bowl participant Middle Tennessee, and New Era Pinstripe Bowl participant Indiana. In addition, the Panthers will face Maryland, Massachusetts, UCF, Florida Atlantic, UTEP, Charlotte and Old Dominion. 
 
For FIU football ticket information, contact the University Credit Union Box Office at 305-FIU-GAME (348-4263).
 
For the latest information on Panthers football, follow us on Twitter, @FIUFootball, and check out Pete Pelegrin's in-depth coverage of FIU Athletics on his official blog, The Prowl, at www.FIUSports.com.



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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.