Florida A&M has named its 19th full-time head football coach.
The program announced on Saturday that it’s removed James Colzie III’s interim title to appoint him as the Rattlers’ new head coach.
New FAMU head coach Colzie replaces Willie Simmons, who spent six season leading the Rattlers. Simmons resigned from FAMU on Jan. 1 to become Duke’s running backs coach.
“I am thrilled to announce Coach James Colzie Ill as our new head football coach,” FAMU Vice President and Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes said in a released statement. “Coach Colzie’s dedication as interim head coach and now as our permanent leader exemplifies his commitment to excellence.”
To identify Colzie, FAMU hired search firm Renaissance Search and Consulting and assembled a search committee that included a representative from university-affiliated organizations.
The Miami native Colzie beat out 45 other applicants to land the job with the Rattlers.
“I am eternally grateful to [FAMU] President Dr. Robinson and our Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes for their confidence in me,” Colzie said.
“It’s truly an honor to join names like William Bell, Jake Gaither, Rudy Hubbard, Billy Joe, and Willie Simmons to hold the illustrious title of Head Football Coach at Florida A&M, and I am ready to do my part of carrying on the tradition of this storied university as the #1 public HBCU in the country.”
Colzie, a former Florida State football and baseball player, joined the Rattlers staff under Simmons as the cornerbacks coach. Colzie added assistant head coach to his title in the 2023 season that saw FAMU win its first Southwestern Athletic Conference and Celebration Bowl titles last December.
Throughout the search process, FAMU football players have advocated for Colzie to become the team’s permanent head coach. Additionally, Rattlers running back and Celebration Bowl Offensive Most Valuable Player Kelvin Dean Jr. served on the search committee.
“The 2023 Celebration Bowl Champions have already started the work to duplicate last season’s success,” Colzie said. “My job will be to surround these incredible young men with an outstanding coaching staff to ensure a great student-athlete experience while they are on the Highest of Seven Hills.
“FANGS UP!”
Here’s some quick facts about new FAMU head football coach James Colzie III
Colzie, a Miami native, enters the FAMU head coaching job with 23 years of coaching experience.
Additionally, he head coached the St. Mary’s University Huskies for seven years from 2016 to 2022, finishing with a 23-19 record, according to his FAMU Athletics profile. He also led the SMU Huskies to two Atlantic University Sport championship appearances.
Colzie was a late addition to the Rattlers’ staff in 2022, joining the team summer 2022 to coach the cornerbacks.
This past year, Colzie oversaw All-American cornerback Kendall Bohler and All-SWAC cornerback Eric Smith.
Colzie’s cornerbacks helped FAMU associate head coach and head coach of the defense, Ryan Smith’s ‘Dark Cloud Defense’ finish second in Football Championship Subdivision total defense in 2023.
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
No one covers the Rattlers like the Tallahassee Democrat. Subscribe using the link at the top of the page and never miss a moment.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Rattlers announces interim coach as new head coach
