Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons reaffirmed commitment to and belief in quarterback Jeremy Moussa on Monday, a day after he took to social media to respond to criticism of his performance.
“He’s an unquestioned leader of this team and unquestioned starter,” Simmons said Monday during the SWAC coaches’ media availability. “There is no quarterback competition. Moussa can’t play himself out of the position. We go as he goes.”
Simmons said he decided to display online public support for his quarterback due to the stream of questions and comments from fans and Florida A&M stakeholders regarding Moussa this season.
The preseason All-SWAC selection leads the conference with 1,244 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and a league-high 248 passing yards per game through five outings.
But the production has not been enough to subside the growing calls for the senior to be replaced or the position to be reevaluated despite the Rattlers being on top of the SWAC East by a full game over Alabama A&M, Alabama State, and Jackson State.
“The criticism is gonna come. We talked about that very first day he stepped foot on campus,” said Simmons. “To be the quarterback at FAMU, you’ve got to be able to handle the criticism. So, you know, there wasn’t defending him per se it was just to let everyone know you can talk all you want to, but until you coach them, and until you call the plays here, there’s no quarterback controversy.
He’s (Moussa) is gonna be the guy, you know, for the for the rest of the season.”
Simmons explained further that he doesn’t take any of the social media interactions with fans personally and described the virtual conversations as “in fun” and “loves the fanbase” for their passionate interest in the program.
However, he wanted to be proactive in sharing his perspective on the quarterback situation and where Moussa stood. Simmons admitted that the long bus ride from Itta Bena, Mississippi, to Tallahassee, Florida allowed him the time and space to respond.
“Me saying that yesterday (Sunday), I’m going to answer questions in the media, and I’m going to answer questions to my quarterback club (meeting) on Wednesday,” said Simmons. I wanted to get it out there before I even had to get in front of the media.
“Jeremy is our guy. He’s been here two years and won 13 games. He’s the preseason player of the year and an NFL prospect. I mean, he’s the guy. Is he playing as well as he can? No. But nobody is at this point, and he’s the only one taking the criticism. So, I just want to get ahead of it so I don’t have to keep answering questions.”
