Malik Slater joined the Florida State football staff in 2023 as a graduate assistant and works with the linebackers.
The 2023 team completed a 13-0 regular season that culminated in the program’s 16th ACC championship and a berth in the Orange Bowl. FSU was the only team in the nation to force more incompletions than completions allowed, and its 48.3 opponent completion percentage was the lowest by a P5 defense since 2016.
Florida State also led the country with 80 pass breakups, 90 passes defended and an average of 6.43 passes defended per game while ranking sixth nationally in opponent passing efficiency rating at 103.83 and seventh with 12 passing touchdowns allowed. The Seminoles’ aggressiveness was also showcased by ranking sixth in the country with 3.29 sacks per game and holding opponents to a 28.8 percent third-down conversion rate. The defense was responsible for 12 of FSU’s program-record 25 all-conference selections,
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.
