looks to remain atop HBCU football this season.
The defending Black College Football National Champions opens 2024 against Norfolk State in Saturday’s MEAC/SWAC Challenge at Atlanta’s Center Parc Stadium.
The Week 0 game starts at 7:30 p.m. Fans can follow the game via ABC’s television broadcast or the Rattlers mobile app audio presentation.
The Rattlers will open their home slate on Aug. 31 when they welcome the South Carolina State Bulldogs to Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
Here’s some information on FAMU and its football program that fans should know before the Rattlers take the field on Saturday.
FAMU football history: All-time record, championships
FAMU football began its football program in 1952, holding a 594-340-22 record.
The late Jake Gaither is the Rattlers’ winningest coach with 209 victories against 36 losses and four ties.
The Rattlers enter their fourth season in the Southwestern Athletic Conference since leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2021. FAMU has a 167-106-6 record against SWAC opponents.
The Rattlers have won 38 conference championships, 31 outright, seven shared across the Southern Intercollegiate Conference, MEAC, and SWAC. FAMU’s last conference title was the SWAC Championship in 2023.
FAMU has 17 national championships.
The Rattlers won the inaugural NCAA Division I-AA, now known as Football Championship Subdivision, title in 1978. FAMU is the only HBCU that has accomplished that feat.
FAMU has 16 Black College Football National Championships, last claiming the 2023 title after beating Howard in the Celebration Bowl.
A look at FAMU as an institution and senior leadership
FAMU is the top-ranked public HBCU and one of the top 100 universities in the US News and World Reports rankings.
According to Florida Virtual Campus, FAMU has a Fall 2024 enrollment of 10,028 students, with 8,504 being undergraduates and 1,524 in graduate studies.
Dr. Timothy Beard, 62, has served as FAMU’s interim President since Aug. 5, replacing former President Dr. Larry Robinson, who resigned in July.
Acting Athletics Director Michael Smith leads the FAMU sports department, replacing last week’s departure of Tiffani-Dawn Sykes.
Who is first-year FAMU head football coach James Colzie III?
James Colzie III enters his first season as FAMU’s 19th full-time head football coach. Colzie replaces Willie Simmons, who left FAMU after six years to become Duke’s running backs coach.
Colzie, 49, is a former Florida State Seminoles cornerback, helping the program to its first national championship in 1993. Colzie also played on FSU’s baseball team during the 1994 season.
The Miami native Colzie has been on FAMU football’s coaching staff since 2022, joining as the defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. In 2023, Colzie was promoted to the Rattlers’ assistant head coach.
Colzie has been on two national championship coaching staffs as an assistant, Valdosta State in 2007 (Division II) and FAMU in 2023 (Black College).
Colzie has been a head coach before, coaching Saint Mary’s University in Nova Scotia to a 23-19 record and two Loney Bowl appearances during his 2016-2021 tenure.
What starters did FAMU football lose from its 2023 Black College National Championship team?
FAMU football lost 20 starters from last season’s 12-1 and Celebration Bowl-winning team.
Former FAMU quarterback Jeremy Moussa and linebacker Isaiah Major both graduated.
Moussa was the 2023 Deacon Jones Trophy co-winner, an award given to the top player in HBCU football. Major was the SWAC Defensive Player of the Year.
All-SWAC selections, including defensive linemen Gentle Hunt (Illinois) and Anthony Dunn Jr. (Toledo), linebacker Johnny Chaney Jr. (Colorado), and Lovie Jenkins (Murray State), transferred elsewhere.
What starters return from FAMU football's 2023 Black College Championship team?
FAMU football returns nine starters from last season.
On offense, running back Kelvin Dean Jr. and offensive linemen Charles Davis, Ashton Grable, and TJ Lee are back.
The Rattlers’ Dark Cloud Defense returns defensive tackle James Ash and cornerback Kendall Bohler.
FAMU still has kickers Cameron Gillis, Michael Smith, and punter Trey Wilhoit on special teams.
A look at FAMU football's returning stat leaders
Passing
- Junior Muratovic, Quarterback: 12 of 24 completions, 138 yards
Rushing
- Kelvin Dean Jr., Running Back: 73 attempts for 391 yards, three touchdowns
Receiving
- Jamari Gassett, Wide Receiver: 24 receptions for 320 yards, three touchdowns
- Jeremiah Pruitte, Tight End: 13 receptions for 202 yards, one touchdown
- Kelvin Dean Jr., Running Back: 11 receptions for 136 yards, three touchdowns
Defense
- Kendall Bohler, Cornerback: 39 tackles (two tackles for loss), one interception
- Deco Wilson, Safety: 39 tackles (1.5 tackles for loss), three interceptions, one forced fumble
- James Ash, Defensive Tackle: 32 tackles (six tackles for loss), one interception
- Allen Smith Jr., Defensive Lineman: 30 tackles (5.5 tackles for loss), 3.5 sacks, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries
Points Leaders
- Cameron Gillis, Kicker: 82 points
- Kelvin Dean Jr., Running Back: 36 points
- Jamari Gassett, Wide Receiver: 18 points
A state-by-state look at FAMU football's roster
FAMU has 102 players on its football roster. Forty-eight of those players are newcomers.
The Rattlers have 67 players from Florida, with 10 being from Tallahassee. Trailing the Florida Rattlers are 13 players from the state of Georgia.
California has five players on FAMU’s roster. Alabama, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and South Carolina have two players.
Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah all have one Rattler apiece representing them.FAMU also has one international player in Gillis from Budapest, Hungary.
FAMU Athletics contributed to this report.
Florida A&M vs. Norfolk State ― Week 0, MEAC/SWAC Challenge
When: Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast: ABC (Television), Rattlers Mobile App (Audio)
Tickets: Purchase Here
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email atgdthomas@tallahassee.comor on the app formerly known as Twitter@3peatgee.
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