Maryland football is losing its first assistant coach of the offseason, as the Terps' special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach, John Papuchis, has accepted a job on Mike Norvell’s staff at Florida State to be the Seminoles’ special teams and defensive ends coach, according to a report by Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports.

Papuchis, a Gaithersburg, Maryland, native, spent just one season in College Park under head coach Mike Locksley. The Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, Md.) alum was hired by Locksley last December.

Papuchis had Maryland’s special teams looking decent at times during his first season in College Park. While the Terps ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in punt and kickoff coverage, they did have one of the conference’s most prolific return games, leading the league in punt return average and ranking fourth in kickoff return average. Papuchis also helped Maryland running back Javon Leake earn Big Ten special teams player of the year.

Although Maryland’s defense left a lot to be desired this season, the linebackers were arguably the most consistent unit. Papuchis didn’t inherit a ton of talent at the position and lost all-conference inside linebacker Tre Watson to graduation, but he helped develop young linebackers for the Terps such as Ayinde Eley and Chance Campbell, who were two of the better playmakers for Maryland on the defensive side of the ball in 2019.

Papuchis is the second Maryland assistant to leave for Tallahassee in the last three years, joining former Terps’ offensive coordinator, now UMass head coach Walt Bell, who left to become Wille Taggart’s offensive coordinator after the 2017 season.

Prior to coming to Maryland, Papuchis spent three years (2015-18) on Larry Fedora’s staff at North Carolina, and before that, he spent six years at Nebraska, including two as the defensive coordinator.