With the departure of Willie Simmons less than a month after winning the HBCU National Championship, FAMU is in search of its next head coach. Simmons took the opportunity to step to the FBS level at a Power 5 school as running backs coach for the Duke Blue Devils. It was a step up and a solid move for a young talented coach looking to move up in the ranks of FBS coaching.
FAMU is now left to find a replacement to help defend the title in 2024. FAMU has two choices: 1) It can hire a coach to maintain the system carefully crafted over the past five years or 2) choose an outsider and allow that individual to build the program in his image. It is a complicated predicament.
Since 2018 the Rattler Nation has invested deliberately in the football program
FAMU Football, the FAMU administration, FAMU Foundation, FAMU National Alumni Association, Rattler Boosters, 220 Quarterback Club, National Rattler “F’ Club, alumni and friends have all joined to craft a winning program at FAMU since Simmons arrived in 2018. Support has come from levels never seen before at the university.
Simmons won at least nine games for the next four seasons of competition after starting 6-5. That includes an appearance in the NCAA FCS Playoffs in 2021. It was snubbed for the playoffs in 2022 with a 9-2 record, won the SWAC Eastern Division regular season title, hosted and won the SWAC Championship and won the school’s first Celebration Bowl. The 2023 national championship is FAMU’s first undisputed title since Billy Joe’s 1998 squad did it.
Simmons vocalized his needs for the program. He campaigned for resources to fill in the gaps and put resources that were missing from the program. After the debacle in 2022 to start the season, where several players were not certified to play, FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D put in place a robust academics and compliance system. The new system would be sustainable as it was overseen by the general university and employed 12 new people to bolster the department. The results have been amazing as APR scores have soared since the implementation of academic monitoring and appropriate compliance oversight.
Four solid options for maintaining the program FAMU built
The candidates for maintaining the momentum already created by FAMU Athletics over recent years has some choices. Here is a list of probable options to maintain the successful program put in place by the Rattler nation over the past five years
Billy Rolle: Rolle came in with Simmons in 2018 and was the special assistant to the head coach and nickelbacks coach. He was a longtime head coach in Miami high school football at its highest level. He has the state record of winning state championships with three different schools. Rolle has been through the entire rebuild of the program and has been the alumni favorite to replace Simmons according to various social media interactions. He was not on the sidelines this season as his Florida retirement parameters called for him to be away from the job for six months. Initially thought to be ineligible for the position, a late Wednesday confirmation from the agency overseeing his status proved he is indeed eligible to return to the FAMU coaching staff immediately.
James Colzie III: Colzie came to the Rattler staff in 2022 and has been a solid addition to the squad. He was named interim head coach to fulfill the position during this critical recruiting period as national signing day is merely a few weeks away. Colzie also has the support of the current football team leadership committee as they penned a letter in support of him.
Quinn Gray: Gray is the head coach at Albany State University. He is an offensive mind with the experience of Billy Joe’s Gulf Coast offense as well as high-powered offenses in the NFL and NFL Europe League. Gray fits the profile because regardless of the head coach, the team will need an offensive coordinator.
Ryan Smith: Smith led the Rattler defense to the No.1 ranking for a large part of 2023. It ended the season as the No.2 defense in all of FCS. Defense wins championships and FAMU can certainly credit its defense for maintaining the house until the offense, which was littered with immobility, could regain its swag.
Two possible options to bring in a new system to FAMU
The second option of going outside of the current system and bringing in a new system has both pros and cons. The obvious con is that current players in the transfer portal era bolt with no regard when things undergo major changes. We’ve seen it all over the NCAA. A decision to bring in an outside coach is a decision for a long term overhaul of the program.
Trei Oliver: Oliver appears to head the list of outside candidates. Heis currently the coach at North Carolina Central University. He was runner-up in the MEAC this season, but won the 2022 MEAC Championship. His Eagles would pull of the upset of Deion Sanders’ Jackson State Tigers in the 2022 Celebration Bowl. Oliver is considered one of the top minds in FCS football and has reportedly been scouted by FBS teams.
Fred McNair: McNair, as of the writing of this article, is in limbo at Texas Southern University after leaving his head coaching position at Alcorn State. McNair is a known winner. He previously owned the SWAC East and led his program to multiple SWAC Championships. There may be a little more complexity to bringing in McNair as a decision from the TSU Board of Regents might come at any juncture, especially now that alumni are growing restless in waiting on their next head coach.
Whatever the decision FAMU VP/AD Tiffani-Dawn Sykes chooses, FAMU faithful are anxiously awaiting the new plan. While many alumni have expressed their opinions, ultimately the athletics director, university president and the FAMU Board of Trustees have the last say in the successor to Shotgun Simmons and his legacy.