Supporters of Florida A&M University's Rattlers football have asked the university president to stop the process of searching for a new head coach and to include others in the effort.
The school's fundraising group, the FAMU Boosters, requested in a letter to university President Larry Robinson dated Tuesday that Robinson suspend the search for a new football coach to replace Willie Simmons.
'Not a good fit': FAMU Boosters ask AD to suspend football coaching search amid concerns https://t.co/kzxUKtDByM
— Tallahassee Democrat (@TDOnline) January 10, 2024
Simmons resigned Jan. 1 after six years and an HBCU national championship and Southwestern Athletic Conference title in 2023 to become the running backs coach at Duke.
Selvin Cobb, president of FAMU Boosters, told the Tallahassee Democrat that Robinson had confirmed Shawn Gibbs of Division II Fort Valley State as a top candidate to replace Simmons.
FAMU Vice President Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes' is leading the coach search.
"There has been no presentation of other highly qualified candidates being considered," Cobb wrote in the letter. "Therefore, the Boosters are requesting that you suspend any further head coach search activity until the Athletic Director addresses the university community on this subject."
Cobb also requested in the letter that Robinson and Sykes include major stakeholders in an official search committee process.
In a statement to the Tallahassee Democrat on Wednesday, Robinson acknowledged the FAMU community's devotion but didn't directly respond to the request.
"We appreciate the passion of our stakeholders and welcome their input," Robinson said. "Athletics is an integral part of our culture. We are working to hire the next football coach at FAMU."
According to the Tallahassee Democrat report, Gibbs, who played football (1993-97) at North Carolina Central University, is 16-5 in two seasons at the small Georgia school, He previously spent 19 years as an assistant coach at the HBCU level, mainly in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Fort Valley State went 8-3 in 2023, beating Johnson C. Smith 23-10 in the inaugural Florida Beach Bowl in Ft. Lauderdale last month.
FAMU alumni, supporters and fans have been voicing across social media their discontent over the alleged candidate and lack of transparency regarding the coaching search as rumors spread that Sykes had made a decision.
FAMU constituents have pointed to the program's recent success and say that an in-house candidate or a coach familiar with the Rattlers' tradition would be a better fit.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported that the FAMU National Alumni Association scheduled a virtual meeting Wednesday night "for a discussion regarding the AD’s pending hire of a head football coach." The FAMU Board of Trustees has also scheduled a special meeting Jan. 16 to discuss the coaching search.
Cobb voiced his concerns regarding the coaching search to Robinson during a telephone call with him Tuesday.
"I wanted the President to know I thought, at this time, this was a bad decision," Cobb told The Tallahassee Democrat on Wednesday. "To me, he's just not a good fit."
Cobb said in the letter that members of his organization are "getting hundreds of calls about the search process for the new football coach. There are also, countless negative discussions on social media amongst alumni that are not worth explicitly repeating in this letter."
Cobb said membership was upset that Sykes didn't attend the group's monthly virtual Executive Board meeting Tuesday. Cobb said Sykes, as she has done in the past, was scheduled to provide an athletics program update. Cobb wrote that "Without advance notice or explanation, she did not attend. This is unacceptable given the unprecedent record setting attendance on this call."
The Tallahassee Democrat said it had reached out to FAMU athletics for a response from Sykes.
The Rattlers this season won their first SWAC title and the Celebration Bowl over Howard in Atlanta. Near the end of December, the Tallahassee Democrat and others reported new Duke coach Manny Diaz had targeted Simmons as the Blue Devils' running backs coach.
FAMU leadership worked feverishly behind the scenes to increase its financial commitment to Simmons, his assistant coaches and the program’s infrastructure. The university committed to increase Simmons’ annual salary by at least $100,000 to $400,000 and fulfill current and past contractual incentive bonuses to Simmons and his assistants.
The FAMU community responded by donating exponentially higher than what was requested as nearly $140,000 was raised in about two days in an effort to retain Simmons and bolster the program. However, Simmons still resigned, saying he wanted to pursue his dream to become a head coach in the Power 5 Conference.
Following Simmons' resignation, Sykes named assistant head coach/cornerbacks coach James Colzie as the program's interim head coach.
FAMU football players, led by their leadership council, have also voiced their concerns regarding the coaching search with in-person meetings with Sykes last week and with Robinson on Wednesday. The group has told the Tallahassee Democrat it felt neither Robinson nor Sykes were "receptive" to their concerns.
It also previously endorsed Colzie as the team's permanent coach in a letter to FAMU leadership.
