Shamir Sterlin heads into the 2025 college football season as a sophomore at the FIU Panthers, a 19-year-old playmaker with his life in front of him and a list of dreams he’s yet to achieve. Despite his youth, he carries himself with a maturity that belies his age, emerging as a natural leader built on a commitment to service while wearing a smile that brightens a room.
Shamir Sterlin Opens Up on Being a Shining Light at FIU
“I know sometimes it’s hard to see past the light, and it’s hard when there’s no one in your corner,” Sterlin tells PFSN in an exclusive sit-down interview. “So, as a youth, I always wanted to reach out and help others in need and always try to be the light.”
They’re the words of a much older man than the one who sits before me, just weeks before FIU opens the 2025 college football season against Bethune-Cookman. Sterlin is a true sophomore, just 19, a teenager. He won’t turn 20 until November. In the largest ever class of nominees for the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team, he’s one of the youngest to be recognized for his work.
Yet, in his presence, you wouldn’t know it. There’s no awkward bashfulness of youth. Sterlin doesn’t bring a sullen teenage demeanor to the table on a Friday afternoon when he could be doing anything other than answering relentless questions from a man over twice his age. The spotlight from his accomplishments hasn’t inflated any ego, hasn’t made him cocky or over-confident.
No spotlight could shine brighter than the smile he wears on his face. This isn’t put on for show; it’s a natural reflection of who the FIU defensive back is. Sterlin is the smiling servant. His desire to be the light starts with his outward visage, which has its foundations in a passion for servitude and is buoyed by an upbringing that taught him the lessons of life that shaped him.
“I had immigrant parents,” he begins, explaining the journey that shaped him. “They were both from Haiti. They came here when they were teenagers. They are very hardworking. My mom, she has been working two jobs since I was born, basically. My dad was a truck driver, so he was always on the road. So, basically, my oldest brother raised me, and I grew up in the church.”
“The biggest lesson my brother always taught me was just to serve and love others before you do yourself. So, I was always part of some type of organization when it comes to community service. The biggest one for me was an organization called ‘End It,’ teaching underprivileged kids what it means to be able to grow up and be educated and make it out of the situation.”
“Every single time I meet somebody, they always think I’m about to become a junior or senior,” he laughs as I ask him about the maturity he exudes.
“I think the wisdom and the knowledge I have gained all come from being around my older siblings so much. I was never with my age group. I just love speaking and gaining wisdom. Knowledge is such a beautiful thing, and I’m always seeking it.”
“I know how meaningful it is to serve the community and how much it could change someone’s life. Then, if someone sees me do it at such a young age, that means they could do it also.”
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The AFCA Allstate Good Works Team recognizes student-athletes for their efforts away from the field. It shines a light on college football players who do incredible work in the communities, achieve excellence in the classroom, and emerge as leaders both inside the program and in the broader local area. Sterlin has built on his foundations through charitable causes while at FIU.
“Right now, I’m a board member of Pickup for Cancer Inc,” he explains. “With our organization we go around different parks, picking up aluminium cans, scrap metals, keys, anything of that sort, and then use them to raise funds for cancer research.”
“When I get the opportunity to go home, I go serve with my church,” Sterlin continues. “It’s called Graceway Village. We prepare food for the homeless and sit down and have a conversation with them. That’s my favorite. You don’t realize how thankful you are for what you have on a daily basis.”
“Being able to sit down and have a conversation with them to understand what led them down that road, what things happened. That’s where knowledge and wisdom comes from. It comes from a sense of knowing how quickly life could change for someone. I’m just forever thankful for every single opportunity that I have, for every single item of clothing I have.”
In addition to his community service, academics have been an important part of Sterlin’s journey from Port St. Lucie to FIU and are another element of the national recognition he’s receiving from the Allstate Good Works Team. He achieved a 5.0 GPA at the high school level and is on the CUSA academic honor roll.
“My brother, he was always big on academics,” Sterlin tells me. “He’s always been like, ‘Oh, don’t just focus on football. Make sure you get your academics right.’ So, I always looked at other ways in which I could do things outside of football. That’s when academics, when community service came into play, and that’s just been a vital role in my life ever since.”
One of five children, Sterlin has examples all around him that help drive his focus and maturity. He jokes about how his brother is a lawyer and his sister is a nurse, and how he “gotta catch them up.” But there’s a seriousness of gratitude when discussing where his steely determination to succeed in all elements of his life comes from.
“My drive 100% comes from my mother,” Sterlin begins. “She became a travelling nurse later in her years, around, like, 40. She was still working, like, two jobs while studying. I see the amount of drive and sacrifice she put into that, so I gotta put the same thing into me. I’m always trying to figure out ways where I can elevate myself and take full advantage.”
From Treasure Coast to FIU, Sterlin brings Enthusiasm and Energy To the Football Field
For years now, Sterlin has elevated himself on the football field. Before arriving at FIU in 2024, he was a standout defensive back at Treasure Coast High. In three seasons, he tallied 155 tackles, five interceptions, and 14 pass deflections and earned All-Area First Team honors while also competing for Treasure Coast Elite 7v7.
Playing football in the talent-rich Sunshine State, there was no shortage of challenges for the blossoming young cornerback.
“I mean, I was going against five stars and four stars on a regular basis,” Sterlin opens up on his time at Treasure Coast. “We went against powerhouse teams, and I just took the opportunity to learn and figure out how do I compare to those who are getting highly recruited? I took every chance to compete with them. It prepared me like no other.”
For Sterlin, one competitor stood out more than any other.
“Jeremiah Smith,” he responds when I ask him who the toughest competitor he’s ever faced during his football career is. “He moves across the field with a type of grace. Like, when he runs, you could tell it’s just effortless for him when it comes to pinpointing the ball and things of that nature. Definitely a one-of-one for sure.”
While his experiences at Treasure Coast prepared him well for his time at FIU, Sterlin nearly didn’t end up in Miami at all. Heavily recruited by the Northern Illinois Huskies, he originally committed to play for the MAC outfit. However, “a crazy amount of love” and the opportunity to remain close to home and be able to visit his dad ensured his path led to 11200 SW 8th Street.
Year 1 with the Panthers was tough. Entering the season with high expectations, he saw early playing time against the Indiana Hoosiers and equipped himself well. However, a hamstring cut short a blossoming freshman campaign. In the midst of tragedy, Sterlin’s maturity once again shone through.
“Man, it was a huge one,” Sterlin reflects on the mental hurdle of injury-inflicted absence. “Especially as I’m getting all this hype coming into this season. I had a good spring, good fall camp, good couple of games, and then, bam, injury happened. It was definitely tough on me in the sense that I was riding such a high, but then just sunk so low, so quickly, in a matter of an instant.”
“But what kept me grounded was my faith, knowing that God has something planned for me and knowing that there’s always a right time and place for everything. So, this had to happen. It had to happen, and I had to experience it. Hey, the only way to go when you reach rock bottom is up. That’s the plan.”
That’s the plan for FIU, too. After three successive seasons with a 4-8 record under Mike MacIntyre, the Panthers opted to make a change for the 2025 college football season. Willie Simmons takes over the reins of the program. Sterlin, whose entire identity involves uplifting the community around him, can already feel how that move has impacted the culture around the team.
I sat down with Shamir Sterlin as he heads into his sophomore year with the FIU Panthers as an @WeAreAFCA Allstate Good Works Team nominee 🙌
In a PFSN exclusive, we talked community work, thriving in the classroom, and the influence of new head coach @HCWillieSimmons… pic.twitter.com/Ru2iNfmnxs
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) July 20, 2025
“There’s definitely a big difference with Coach Simmons,” Sterlin explains. “We have a young, energetic coaching staff. It’s amazing. Everybody’s bonding more, loving on each other more. Being able to see someone of your color, especially in a predominantly African-American team, just seeing someone lead you and be in that position, there’s more of a bond. We love it.”
It feels like something special is brewing around FIU this summer. Sterlin is enthusiastic and animated when he says, “We have so many weapons that the Conference USA isn’t ready for.” Part of that is the coaching staff, but part of it is the locker room leadership. That starts with a man who enjoys suiting up on Saturdays, but has the wisdom to know that doesn’t define him.
“Football is not life. Football is not everything. There’s life after football. There’s life once you take the pads off, once practice is over, you have to live. I feel like, especially, we’re in a place and time where it isn’t always shined on or loved to be doing the things we do, but it matters. The little things we do matter for sure.”
