FAMU head coach Willie Simmons was thrilled to have the opportunity to return to the capital of Florida to coach the school he always had personal ties with in 2018. Virtually all of the graduates in his family attended FAMU. His wife is a FAMU alumna and grew up watching and marveling at the Rattlers’ championship success.
The All-American quarterback who grew up 20 miles from Tallahassee in Quincy, Florida had admiration for the HBCU, but was offered a full scholarship to Clemson and went there to play for Tommy Bowden. After graduating in three years, Simmons transferred to FAMU. He worked out all Summer with the squad and was primed to take over the high-powered offense of Black College Hall of Famer coach William “Billy” Joe.
Unknown to either of them was the FAMU administration’s plan to move to NCAA Division-I. FAMU was successfully admitted to what is known as the FBS division. Unfortunately, that meant that virtually every transfer who had come to FAMU from another FBS was immediately ineligible. Simmons was crushed. His dreams of wearing orange and green were gone with the stroke of a pen.
Simmons gets the call in 2018
Dr. John Eason, then FAMU Director of Athletics, bypassed the search committee process at FAMU and hired Simmons as head coach after three seasons at Prairie View A&M. Citing a feeling after meeting the Simmons family that he was the right fit at the right time, Eason brought on Simmons and it has been a welcome addition to the Rattler legacy ever since.
“From what I had heard about him and from my experience when I was coaching at Georgia, having to face him as the quarterback from Clemson, I knew he was a smart guy who knew football,” Eason said. “With recommendations from Rick Stockstill, the head coach at Middle Tennessee where Simmons was an assistant and others, I felt that he would be a good fit for FAMU.”
Prior to Simmons’ arrival, FAMU had suffered with nearly a decade of losing seasons. A coaching carousel had not been the answer to the high expectations of Rattler fans and they were getting restless. FAMU won just a single game in 2015. The championship pedigree at FAMU had no place for losing.
Simmons came in with a youthful exuberance and full understanding of the culture. The results were immediate. In 2018, the Rattlers finished 6-5. That ending of the season was littered with possibilities. FAMU had a chance to go to the Celebration Bowl as the MEAC representative if only they had won one more game. Curiously, the team that started their skid was the Howard Bison.
That was followed with a 9-2 season that would have seen FAMU represent the MEAC in the Celebration Bowl if not for APR issues that preceded Simmons’ tenure but also impacted it.
In 2021 FAMU transitioned to the SWAC
During the throws of a global pandemic, FAMU transitioned to the SWAC. It was not a hard decision as traditionally FAMU had a history with the headliner schools in the SWAC back when they were all Division II programs.
In the third year the Rattlers broke through the honeymoon period with a big 35-14 win over the Prairie View Panthers in the SWAC Championship game. It was FAMU all the way as they held true and overmatched PVAMU with extensive talent and depth.
While the game was exciting, Simmons’ true personality and dedication to playing the game the right way was best exhibited in FAMU’s last two plays. Running back Lelan Wilhoite had an exciting run the previous play with just under two minutes to play. He was stopped on the Prairie View 8-yard line. Simmons called for the victory formation as some fans cheered for the Rattlers to score again. FAMU quarterback Jeremy Moussa took two kneel-downs and the victory celebration began.
Simmons was deliberate in the game’s ending.
“My philosophy is believing in not doing unnecessary things. Us scoring there wouldn’t have had an impact on the game one way or another. We’re not an FBS school trying to impress with style points like we saw this past weekend. Bubba (McDowell) is a true friend of mine. To try to score and beat him by 28 points instead of 21 points, what does that do for our friendship? What does that do for the morale of his team? I believe the football gods reward people that do it the right way. I’ve been on the other side of some lopsided losses and they’re never fun. There was nothing to play for at that point,” Simmons said.
FAMU has plenty to play for this week as it makes its Cricket Celebration Bowl appearance against MEAC champion Howard University in Mercedes Benz Stadium on Dec. 16 at noon.
