THIS IS AN OP-ED ARTICLE WRITTEN BY VAUGHN WILSON, HIS VIEWS AND OPINIONS ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS OF THE HBCU GAMEDAY BRAND AS A WHOLE.
Since Jan.1, 2024, Florida A&M has been without a head football coach. Just two weeks after hoisting the Celebration Bowl trophy in Mercedes Benz Stadium, head coach Willie Simmons announced his resignation and headed to North Carolina to assume the running backs coach position at Duke University. The transition is a move up for Simmons who now coaches at a Power 5 school, and left FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes with some heavy decisions to make.
Since Simmons’ transition, there has been a rift drawn between parties in the Rattler nation. With the success of the team over the previous six years since Simmons arrived, the Rattlers have but five conference losses. Though the team transitioned from the MEAC to the SWAC, the Rattlers have maintained a high position in conference standings.
In 2021, the Rattles finished 9-2 in the regular season, with one SWAC loss to Jackson State, and made an appearance in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. In 2022, they accomplished an identical feat in the regular season but were snubbed from the playoffs. In 2023, the Rattlers went 12-1 losing only to the USF Bulls of the FBS division. They would win their first-ever SWAC Championship and on Dec. 16, they would hold off the Howard Bison to win the Celebration Bowl 30-26. The Rattlers were the undisputed HBCU FCS national champions.
Rattlers have endured turmoil since Simmons’ departure
Since Simmons’ exit, it has been one of the most eventful replacement processes in recent memory. FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes has held the decision close without much interaction with stakeholders. Those stakeholders include the FAMU Board of Trustees and directly related affinity groups.
Shortly after Christmas, Sykes contacted several of the university’s groups and requested funding for a “coaches compensation” fund. It was widely thought, but not stated, that the funding was to offer Simmons to encourage him to remain. However, it was never officially declared for that purpose. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised, with the biggest take coming from the FAMU National Alumni Association, which raised $140,000 in a matter of a few days.
Shortly thereafter, things began to sour between Sykes and the Rattler Boosters, the National Rattler “F” Club, and the FAMU National Alumni Association. Many alumni began to push for FAMU to hire former FAMU football player Billy Rolle. Rolle was currently on the staff as he had to take a six-month hiatus to satisfy his retirement qualifications. If Simmons had remained, it was understood that he would be brought back on staff in January. He was brought in by Simmons in 2018 and served as Special Assistant to the Head Coach.
While several alumni and groups began to lobby for Rolle, the Rattler football team did the same for James Colzie, who was already on staff. Sykes named Colzie the interim head coach while the search was underway to give some continuity to the team in the absence of a head coach.
Meanwhile, the tension between Sykes and the FAMU NAA hit a new low on Jan. 11, when the Board of Directors voted to tender a letter of no confidence with an overwhelming majority and an even larger rejection of coach Shawn Gibbs (Fort Valley State) that she was touting to be the next head coach. This odd situation was unfortunate for all involved as the unity that had assisted in building the football program back up after serving probation under Alex Wood’s tenure (the infractions happened before he came aboard) had residual effects during Simmons’ early years at FAMU.
Now FAMU appears to be in as divided a position as it has been in a long time
Sykes has shunned strong suggestions from her financial base. A bit of a risky proposition for a department that appears to be working with funding challenges for this year. Sykes took over the reins on Jan. 4, 2023. During the Board of Trustees special meeting on the football coach update on Jan. 16, former FAMU Board of Trustees chairman Kelvin Lawson brought up the point about the department’s financial constraints. He even requested a financial update and action plan for solving the deficit in athletics.
In larger schools with much greater resources, athletic directors make sure to involve the bigger donors in decisions. Ensuring transparency and involvement in the process is a standard in selecting a high-profile position like a football coach. The last thing any knowledgeable athletic director wants to do is risk keeping donors happy.
In the case of FAMU, Sykes wants to ensure that the football that already has a proven outcome, is made into what she envisions for the program. In every action she has taken, it indicates that she alone wants to make the decision. Even if that involves ignoring the recommendations of her most important affinity groups. She has every right to do exactly that.
Two things were very apparent in the FAMU BOT meeting: 1) Sykes must do a better job of communicating not only with the groups, but the board itself was critical of their understanding of what she was doing as it pertains to the search and 2) Sykes is the sole person responsible for hiring the football coach.
Sykes agreed to communicate more directly with trustees. She also agreed to provide the action plan for filling the athletic department’s shortfall in funding. In addition, she was asked to hear the input of her affinity groups through the presidents or relative representatives of said groups. With Sykes invoking a search firm in the process of hiring the coach, FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D. suggested that the search firm speak with the groups and use that info to inject into the search. It was never suggested that Sykes herself face these constituents and hear their suggestions directly.
Trustees vote to enact a committee of affinity groups
FAMU Trustee Vice-Chairman Deveron Gibbons, J.D. was very direct in his commentary that he felt ill-informed in the process. He was one of the affirmative votes in the 11-2 decision to enact the committee of stakeholders.
Through the process of all of this was the process of healing. FAMU will need to heal to be successful. The success of the team over the last six years was largely due to a savvy head coach in Simmons; however, without the collaborative efforts of the Rattler Boosters, 220 Quarterback Club, National Rattler “F” Club, FAMU Foundation and FAMU National Alumni Association, repeating the financial support of athletics is unattainable. Those groups have stepped up to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Their combined donations could be anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 in hard-invested dollars. It would be hard-pressed to run an athletic department at FAMU without their sincere efforts.
It is abundantly clear that Sykes wants virtual autonomy to decide on the next head football coach. Even though she walked into one of the best FCS football programs in the country, she feels she alone should make the decision. She has the right to. While Rattlers have petitioned and cried out to make preparations to make another run with the current system, Tiffani-Dawn Sykes has loudly said that it is not her desire, or she would have hired one of the two coaches in the midst, who were referred to by Trustee Otis Cliatt II in one of his final statements.