‘Going in right direction': FAMU vies for return to championship-winning ways

Miami Herald

9 hours ago

James Colzie III hasn't sugarcoated it. He's admitted repeatedly that his first season as Florida A&M's football coach last fall fell short of Rattler standards.
Their 7-5 record was especially glaring coming just one year after the program won the Celebration Bowl and claimed the Black College Football National Championship.
'The lights were bright last year,' said Colzie, reflecting on 2024 before turning his attention to his second season. 'We've got work to do. It is a new season. I'm excited about what our team's going to look like.'
While last year brought growing pains and unanswered questions for Colzie and FAMU, this offseason has been defined by confidence and a clear direction.
'January 1 of 2024, compared to January 1 of 2025 ― the vision was clear,' Colzie said. 'We knew what we needed to do, and there were things we needed to and could address.'
As a result, 'There's a different aura right now as far as where our football team is, where our staff is, and where I am as the head coach of this prestigious institution,' he noted. 'We're going in the right direction. Our Rattler fanbase and alumni's expectations are what their expectations are.'
On the field, one of the most pressing matters is settling on a starting quarterback — a role Colzie jokes ranks only below the university president in stature.
The Rattlers opened fall camp with five quarterbacks — returners Traven Green and Bryson Martin and transfers Tyler Jefferson, RJ Johnson III and Jett Peddy — competing to succeed two former HBCU All-Americans, Jeremy Moussa and Daniel Richardson.
Competition has been 'wide open' thus far, with Johnson, a redshirt sophomore from Toledo, and Peddy, a junior from Long Beach City College, impressing early.
Defensively, the Rattlers are aiming to restore their 'Dark Cloud Defense' — the moniker for their once-dominant unit. Last year, they fell far short of living up to that name.
The Rattlers allowed 27.2 points per game and 167 yards per game on the ground. They ranked last in the SWAC in forced fumbles (10) and 10th in interceptions (nine).
'It's going to take hard work. You get out what you put in,' said defensive end Davion Westmoreland, a graduate student named Preseason All-SWAC First Team. 'If we continue to trust the process and get one percent every day, we'll get the results and outcome that we want.'
Westmoreland, senior linebacker Nay'Ron Jenkins — the team's top returning tackler with 73 — and senior cornerback Jameel Sanders, named to the Aeneas Williams Award Preseason Watch List as one of HBCU's top defensive backs, headline the defense. They're joined by redshirt junior T.J. Huggins, who led FAMU in 2024 with three interceptions and seven pass breakups.
FAMU will open the season against Howard in the Orange Blossom Classic on Aug. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in a rematch of the 2023 Celebration Bowl. The Rattlers rallied to win 30-26 to claim the Black College Football title.
The rest of a challenging schedule includes a non-conference game at Florida Atlantic the next week, top Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team North Carolina Central at home on Oct. 11 and defending Black College Football national champ Jackson State at home on Nov. 1.
At last month's Southwestern Athletic Conference Media Day in Birmingham, Ala., FAMU was predicted to finish second in the Eastern Division behind Jackson State. Offensive lineman Ashton Grable said that doesn't matter to Rattlers players.
'We're just trying to get back to a championship level,' he said. 'We've got to buy into what our coaches are trying to teach us and get back to winning.'