Florida State University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Graduate Assistant (Defense)
Malik Slater joined the Florida State football staff in 2023 as a graduate assistant and works with the linebackers.
Slater came to FSU after spending the 2022 season as a graduate assistant at Liberty. He worked with the defensive line and bandits, including coaching the entire group during the Boca Raton Bowl week. In 2022, Liberty ranked first in the country with an average of 9.3 tackles for loss per game and was third with an average of 3.46 sacks per game. The Flames also ranked 14th nationally with 24 takeaways, more than double their 2021 total. Slater mentored Durrell Johnson, who led the country with 27.5 tackles for loss and was a second-team Walter Camp All-American before being signed by the Dallas Cowboys.
Slater spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Tusculum, coaching the defensive line and bandits for one season and then coaching inside linebackers and adding defensive run game coordinator duties for 2021. The Pioneers won the SAC conference championship during the spring 2021 season.
Slater began his collegiate playing career at Jacksonville University. He played in 21 games at Jacksonville, totaling 113 tackles, 7.5 for loss with 2.5 sacks, and was an all-conference honorable mention selection in 2015. He then transferred to Valdosta State and was a two-year starter at linebacker. He recorded 115 tackles, 7.0 for loss, in 20 career games for the Blazers. He was a first-team all-conference and all-region performer his senior season and was named the FCS Senior Bowl Defensive MVP. Slater also earned an invitation to the Tropical Bowl All-Star Game.
A Tallahassee native who attended Rickards High School, Slater earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing from Valdosta State in 2020 and completed his master’s in sports administration from Tusculum in 2021.
