‘We still don’t lose at Bragg’: Florida A&M has many new faces, but the culture remains the same

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — In the days leading up to Florida A&M University’s season opener, the energy is high. Speakers on the football field blare the music of BossMan Dlow, Future and Kodak Black, and players laugh and rap along between reps.

During the Rattlers’ final week of fall camp, the coaching staff focused on drills to prepare players for every possible outcome that could happen on the field, from two-minute drives to special teams field goals to sudden turnovers. Players from last year’s roster, including offensive lineman TJ Lee and defensive back Deco Wilson, pressed teammates to pay attention to details and repeat reps if they weren’t done correctly the first time.

First-year Florida A&M University coach James Colzie III and this year’s returners know all eyes are on the Rattlers this season. The defending Celebration Bowl champions, who will face Norfolk State University on Saturday at the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Atlanta, look a lot different than last year, with a new coach and dozens of new players and coaching staff.

“I’m understanding the responsibility that’s bestowed upon me as the 19th head football coach. It’s been a really, really good ride,” Colzie said. “We’re getting ready to start playing, and that’s really when you truly get judged by everybody surrounding the program.”

Over the last three seasons under former coach Willie Simmons, Florida A&M finished with a 30-6 overall record, 22-2 in conference play, an FCS playoff appearance and a Black college football national championship. However, for people in the program – and those who have been watching it for decades – there’s a high level of confidence Colzie can continue Florida A&M’s winning ways.

Despite the new faces on the team and coaching staff, and the pending announcement of a new athletic director following the departure of vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes on Aug. 13, the Rattlers say their objective remains the same: Get better every day.

“Colzie knows the culture – he was here last year. … Ain’t really nothing really changed around here but the players and some of the staff,” wide receiver Jamari Gassett said. “We still got the same culture. We are still FAMU Rattlers. We still don’t lose at Bragg [Memorial Stadium].”

Since Colzie was named head coach in January, he and his staff estimate they’ve brought in more than 40 new players to fill holes left by others who have transferred or graduated, such as former quarterback Jeremy Moussa, the 2023 Southwestern Athletic Conference offensive player of the year.

Colzie also added Casey Walker, who coached at Louisiana Tech for two seasons, as the new defensive line coach; Andre Pope, who coached at Alabama State University a season ago, as defensive backs coach; and Henry Burris, a Canadian Football League Hall of Famer who twice won league MVP, as quarterbacks coach.

From the offensive line coach to the wide receiver coach, every Florida A&M position coach is preaching the fundamentals.

“We got certain things at FAMU that are non-negotiable,” Colzie said. “Then we have obviously some things that I might have put my spin on it, but the formula is still the same as far as making sure we win the Southwestern Athletic Conference East, making sure we win the SWAC and making sure we have the opportunity to play in the Celebration Bowl.”

Over the last three years, the preseason has been a challenging period for Florida A&M. In August 2022, 25 players were ruled academically ineligible, days ahead of their season opener at North Carolina. In July 2023, rapper Real Boston Richey filmed an unauthorized video in the Rattlers’ locker room.

This year, Florida A&M athletic director Sykes announced she was no longer working for the university. Sykes was the university’s eighth athletic director, including interim leaders, since 2014. The university has named assistant vice president for athletics administration Michael Smith as acting athletic director.

“She changed my life. To be given the opportunity to be the 19th head football coach, I won’t take that for granted,” Colzie told reporters last week. “Obviously, [I] wasn’t in the room and don’t know the ins and outs on what happened. But she was extremely gracious to me, and I’m extremely excited to be the head coach at FAMU. And I know she definitely had a major, major part in allowing that to happen.”

Despite the turmoil surrounding the athletic director position, running back Kelvin Dean said the team’s focus hasn’t wavered.

“At the end of the day, like, that can affect our play on the field. We still got to go,” Dean said. “Everybody here [is] still trying to get to the league and feed their parents. So regardless of what goes on outside, you got to, like, to use this as a safe haven to kind of come in and not worry about other things, just football.”

Colzie has been working his new position in stages.

He and his staff initially focused on bolstering the defensive line and wide receivers group and maintaining the foundation Simmons established before his departure. Florida A&M estimated the team has lost 20 to 30 players on defense since last season.

New transfers from Power 4 and Group of 5 schools have added a lot of defensive depth, and defensive lineman Allen Smith Jr., a preseason All-SWAC selection and one of the seniors returning from last year’s team, raved about the competitive nature of this year’s roster. In the final week of fall camp, skirmishes flared during offensive and defensive lineman drills that had to be broken up by the coaching staff.

“At the end of the day, that’s your brother. Y’all gotta go to war and go against Norfolk, but you are just competing out here,” Allen said. “You just allow your play to talk for itself, like, we are trying to eliminate all the rowdiness and just play ball, play in between the whistles. [I’m] looking forward to actually hitting somebody for real.”

During practices, Colzie is working closely with the defensive backs, emphasizing fundamentals such as proper hip movements, stances and alignments and telling his players not to let a receiver cross their face.

With the introduction of so many new faces, former Rattlers linebacker Isaiah Major, the 2023 SWAC defensive player of the year, is helping out his former team as a graduate coach for the linebackers. Major spends most of practice pulling players to the side to get them caught up on terminology.

He said the differences between last year’s fall camp and this year’s camp are minimal – Colzie just makes the team do more conditioning.

“Just the culture that comes with FAMU – he’s upheld it, kept the standard that’s always been around,” Major said. “It’s not a problem for him to go and get recruits or for people to be drawn in. So it’s pretty electric around here. It’s a nice energy. Guys get the chance to come out to compete. 

“Ultimately, that’s his motto. He gives everybody a chance to come out and compete, a chance to earn a spot. You can’t do nothing but respect that.”

Defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Milton Patterson said the team isn’t worried about outside expectations.

“There’s no challenge or pressure to meet the past of 2023, and I want to make sure the guys understand that our standard is we’re working to be the best in the nation, period,” Patterson said. “So if that happens to get us to the same place it did last year because we’re chasing greatness as opposed to previous records, then that puts us on track to continue the standard.

“That’s the same mindset we had in 2023. The fans worried about starting in Atlanta [and] finishing in Atlanta. We worry about being the best every time we get out on the field, and that ultimately gets us to that same place.”

On Monday, Colzie named Florida Atlantic University transfer quarterback Daniel Richardson as the starter for the Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge.

Graduate student Kelvin Dean, who won Celebration Bowl offensive MVP in 2023, is expected to anchor the Rattlers’ running back room, which lost three out of its four leading rushers from a season ago.

Florida A&M offensive coordinator Joseph Henry, a holdover from the previous staff, described the Rattlers’ new offensive system as FTS — “feed the studs” — and will rely on speed and team standouts to fill in the gaps left by the graduation of Moussa, wide receiver Marcus Riley and running back Terrell Jennings.

“Last year’s team won a championship. We haven’t won a game yet,” Henry said. “We’re going to continue to work like we’re 0-0. We’re out to prove ourselves. We are not last year’s team.”

Though Colzie doesn’t know yet whether having so many new players and about how they will play together on the field is an advantage, he and his staff are embracing the moment. The Week 0 matchup will be a strong indicator of whether his efforts in the offseason have prepared the team for the upcoming season. 

After evaluating the team during fall camp, he believes the Rattlers once again can compete for a Celebration Bowl title.

“We’re going to be well-coached, well-versed, in everything that they’re trying to accomplish,” Colzie said. “It’s going to be extremely important for us to come in focused, ready to play, making sure we’re disciplined, making sure we’re making the right decisions. We’ll use this week to make sure we are continuing to hone in on the needed details that we’ll need to follow as we try to start the season 1-0.”

Expectations for the program haven’t changed, though.

“We coming,” Kendall Bohler, a redshirt senior and defensive back, said. “Every team we play gonna get [their] best shot just because we FAMU, whether we won that championship or not. But we did, though. So every team we’re gonna play, we’re gonna get their best shot. Every time we hit the field, we coming hard and coming to play.”