Mathieu Araujo was enjoying his new job as the defensive coordinator for the University of Maine’s football team.
He began his new position on Jan. 3 after being offered the job by first-year UMaine head coach Jordan Stevens.
Stevens and Araujo had been co-defensive coordinators at Yale University.
But Stevens now finds himself looking for another defensive coordinator after Araujo accepted a job as an assistant defensive backs coach with the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins.
Miami has a new head coach in Mike McDaniel. One of the other members of the Dolphins coaching staff is assistant linebackers coach Steve Ferentz, son of former UMaine head coach and current Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz.
The 28-year-old Araujo said the Dolphins job offer came out of nowhere and that his decision to leave UMaine after such a short time was a difficult one.
“It is one of those crazy opportunities that you never know if you will ever get again,” Araujo said. “It was a shock to me.
“It was just poor timing,” he added.
Araujo said he had a great relationship with the coaching staff and the players at UMaine and everything was going along smoothly.
Araujo’s coaching resume included one year working with the running backs and receivers at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine in 2015.
It was his first full-time coaching job.
“It wasn’t a surprise to me that Matt got a call to move up to the next level,” Stevens said. “He had built some relationships with people in the Dolphins organization, and they know how good a coach he is and how talented he is. I was hoping to have him longer but he made what he felt was the best decision for him.”
Stevens said the program is in good shape and he expects to have another defensive coordinator on board within a week or two. He said it could be someone new or someone already on the staff.
“I’m going through the process and doing my due diligence to make sure we have the best fit for the program,” Stevens said.