'Not a good fit': FAMU Boosters ask AD to suspend football coaching search amid concerns

Saying the school's major stakeholders have been "shut out and completely left out of the room," FAMU Boosters, Inc., have requested university President Larry Robinson to suspend the search for a new football coach to replace Willie Simmons.

The school's fundraising group made its request in a letter Tuesday to Robinson and copied to FAMU Vice President Director of Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, who is directing the search for a new coach.

Selvin Cobb, president of FAMU Rattlers Boosters, Inc., told the Tallahassee Democrat in an interview that Robinson had confirmed Shawn Gibbs of Division II Fort Valley State as Sykes' top candidate to replace Simmons.

"There has been no presentation of other highly qualified candidates being considered," the letter states. "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."

"We also request that major stakeholders are represented in the official Search Committee process for the Football Coach by you appointing an official Search Committee that can keep stakeholders abreast and provide discussion forums about the candidates," the letter continues.

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.

In a statement to the Democrat 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."

Gibbs, who played football (1993-97) at North Carolina Central University, is 16-5 in two seasons at the small Georgia school and 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 vehemently voiced their displeasure across social media 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 believe an in-house candidate or a coach familiar with the Rattlers' tradition would be a better fit.

And the furor doesn't appear to be subsiding.

The FAMU National Alumni Association has 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 next Tuesday to discuss the coaching search, among other items regarding Sykes' year-long tenure.

Cobb voiced his concerns regarding the coaching search to Robinson during a telephone call with him on Tuesday.

"I wanted the President to know I thought, at this time, this was a bad decision," Cobb told The Tallahassee Democrat 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 did not 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 Democrat has reached out to FAMU athletics for a response from Sykes.

The Rattlers were riding an unprecedented high last month, winning their first SWAC title and the Celebration Bowl over Howard in Atlanta. Near the end of December, the 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, too, donating exponentially higher than what was requested as nearly $140,000 was raised over 48 hours in an effort to retain Simmons and bolster the program. However, Simmons still tendered his resignation, 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 Wednesday. The group has told the 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.

Read the letter from FAMU Boosters to President Larry Robinson

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida A&M football coach search should be suspended, boosters say