Kentucky announced the hiring of former FIU defensive coordinator Matt House as its new inside linebackers coach Thursday.

“I’m very excited to bring Matt into the program,” Stoops said in a media release. “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.”

At FIU, House’s defense ranked No. 76 in total defense. Before joining FIU, House was the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh, coaching the No. 33 and No. 34 defenses of the ’14 and ’15 seasons. His NFL experiences came with the Carolina Panthers in 2008 (strength and conditioning/special teams assistant) and the St. Louis Rams from 2009-11 (defensive quality control coach).

“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.”The vacancy on Kentucky’s staff was created when outside linebackers coach Andy Buh left to become the defensive coordinator at Maryland. UK defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, who coached inside linebackers the past three seasons, is expected to takeover as outside linebackers coach.