The next Florida A&M football coach will not be known until after the school first utilizes a search firm to identify that person.
During a special Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, the FAMU athletics director, announced that she wants to use a search firm to assist with finding the next coach.
The FAMU Board of Trustees passed a motion for university President Dr. Larry Robinson to form a search committee that includes university affinity groups and stakeholders with the goal of fostering communication and collaboration.
Sykes said she wants a coach to be named before National Signing Day on Feb. 7 as the school looks to replace Willie Simmons, who resigned to take a position as running back coach at Duke on Jan. 1.
“I’m willing to do what is needed to continue developing relations and building trust with our constituents,” Sykes said during the meeting that was streamed on the university’s website. “Your valuable feedback will be combined with my vision for the role and requirements for the job to allow the search firm to identify candidates that fit our collective desire to profile.”
Sykes has come under fire since it was reported by Rattler Nation Blog that she recommended Fort Valley State head coach Shawn Gibbs for the job.
The fallout of the report led to outrage among the Florida A&M fanbase. In addition, the school’s National Alumni Association gave a vote of no confidence for Gibbs becoming the team’s next head coach and for Sykes’ ability to lead the athletic department.
After reports of being a candidate for the head coach job at Florida A&M, Fort Valley State athletics director Renae Myles Payne has announced that Gibbs would remain with the Wildcats following a contract extension.
Currently, FAMU assistant head coach James Colzie III, Rattlers’ interim head coach, is the preferred candidate by players and some alumni groups. Others also support assistant and former Florida A&M football player Billy Rolle for the role.
Three FAMU football players — quarterback Junior Muratovic, tight end Jeremiah Pruitte, and offensive lineman Jalen Goss — spoke during the meeting and implored university leaders to make a decision on a coach to maintain continuity within the football program.
The football team has already seen several players enter the transfer portal, and its director of recruiting, Devin Rispress, left Florida A&M for a recruiting role at the University of Colorado.
“Every day that we don’t have a coach, we’re falling behind our competition,” Goss said. “With this whole coaching situation, we plan to keep what we have to run it back and bring back the national championship. To do that, we need a coach that will keep our assistant coaches.”
