Quinn Gray learned the game of college football from legendary head coach Billy Joe while at FAMU in the 1990s and 2000s.
Playing quarterback for Billy Joe in the legendary Gulf Coast Offense required Gray and his counterparts to do more than just hand off the ball or put it in the air. Now the head coach at Albany State University, Gray recalled how his time playing for Joe helped prepare him for his career as a coach.
“Obviously as a quarterback at Florida A&M, you had to know the offense inside out. So you had to know everything about what the defense was trying to do to you and also know our offense in and out because you called all the plays,” Gray said in an exclusive interview with HBCU Gameday.
“Billy Joe gave you the game plan during the week and on Friday he made sure that we were good to go and Saturday was up to you to go out there and win those games. Although he may have given you some insight during the game and from some suggestions, but Coach Joe relied on us to know what we were doing out there and take what the defense was giving us to go out and call plays against 34, 35 year old defensive coordinators that we were 19, 20, 21 year old quarterbacks.So that part of the game helped me and my counterparts – Pat Bonner, Oteman Sampson, Ja’Juan Seider – guys like that go out and and defeat some formidable foes back in in that time.”
Playing quarterback at FAMU at that time also meant fierce competition. Gray was part of a quarterback room that was as deep and talented as any HBCU or FCS squad from 1997 through 2001. Gray started his career as a backup to Sampson as a freshman, then took a back seat to Pat Bonner in 1998 as the offense continued to put up prolific numbers. He earned his stripes as a starter in 1999 before an injury vaulted Seider, currently the offensive coordinator at Penn State, into the starting role. Had Gray come along now, the transfer portal might have been an option. But Gray says he never felt compelled to leave the program.
“You know, what kept me at FAMU was I always felt like I got a fair shot. Whether I performed well enough to earn the spot position that was all up to me. There was never a time where I felt like I was being mistreated. There was never a time where I felt like I wasn’t given the fair shot to win the starting position.”
Quinn Gray went on to lead FAMU to MEAC titles in 2000 and 2001 before going on to an NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Now heading into his second season at Albany State, Gray says he still draws on his experience as a college quarterback making adjustments in several areas – including recruiting.
We got to be able to adjust the minds of these kids and understand what their thought process is. You got kids that you make offer to – you know, you offer scholarships – but sometimes they want bigger and bigger. And, you know, as a coach, that bigger isn’t coming. But they choose to wait. And as a coach, what do you do? Do you wait for them to get that disappointing news and say, okay, coach, I’ll come? Or do you go out and find somebody who would appreciate that opportunity a lot sooner than somebody that waiting on.
“So, the ever-changing landscape of college football – you have to be able to adjust to it and make the necessary changes when it comes to recruiting and dealing with the portal.”