Matt House joins Kentucky Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats have made the hiring of Matt House official.

The former defensive coordinator of the Florida International Panthers, House makes a similar pilgrimage from the Sunshine State to the Bluegrass as Mark Stoops once did. Like Stoops, House has a long defensive background that includes multiple NFL players he's coached.

House joins Stoops' staff at Kentucky as inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.

#BBN, Help welcome our new Inside Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, @CoachMHouse! #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/fWvV2Bcj4R

— UK Stoops Troops (@UKStoopsTroops) May 12, 2016

Fired up to be a part of the Big Blue Nation!! Ready to get to work! #BBN

— Matt House (@CoachMHouse) May 12, 2016

"I'm very excited to bring Matt into the program," Stoops said. "He brings a wealth of experiences from the NFL and college football.  I've spoken before about how I like having coaches with defensive coordinator experience in the staff room and Matt has that as well."

With the addition of House, UK also announced that defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, who coached inside linebackers in spring football, will take over the outside linebackers this coming season.

House joins the Wildcat coaching staff after spending the past three seasons as a defensive coordinator in the college ranks, helping Pittsburgh to two bowl games before becoming the defensive coordinator at FIU last season. 

"I'm excited to work with Coach Stoops, as he has a great reputation for defense," House said. "I wanted the opportunity to be at a great university that competes in the best conference in college football."

House spent three years at Pitt before heading to FIU, coaching the secondary his first season in 2012 before being promoted to defensive coordinator/linebackers coach for two seasons. During those two years, Under House, Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald was drafted 13th overall by the Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft and has since become an All-Pro player. 

In 2013, House helped Pitt rank 34th nationally in total defense, allowing 367.5 yards of total offense per game. As the Pitt secondary coach in 2012, House's unit helped the Panthers rank 20th nationally in pass defense, 21st nationally in pass efficiency defense and 26th nationally in interceptions.  At various times at Pitt, he worked with the kickoff, kickoff return and punt return teams.

Before his recent collegiate success, House spent four seasons in the NFL. He served as a defensive quality control coach and assistant linebackers coach for the St. Louis Rams from 2009 to 2011 after a stop with the Carolina Panthers in 2008 as a special teams assistant and strength and conditioning assistant.

House, a native of Harrison, Mich., earned his bachelor's degree from Michigan State in 2000. He and his wife, Jessi, have a daughter, Avery, and three sons, Jackson, Jacob and Trent.

Matt House Coaching Career