FAMU football's head coaching search, which began around 3pm on New Year’s Day, appears to be nearing an end as various sources suggests that Athletics Director Tiffani Dawn Sykes has narrowed her search and is reportedly close to hiring Ft. Valley State University Head football coach Shawn Gibbs as the Rattler's 19th head coach.
In his second season at the helm of the FVSU Wildcat football team, Gibbs has compiled a 16-5 record as a head coach. His experience includes 19 seasons as an assistant coach with stops at North Carolina Central University (2003-06), Grambling State University (2006-2010), and NC A&TSU (2011-21). At each of his assistant coaching stints Gibbs, an NCCU grad, followed head coach Rod Broadway.
According several sources, AD Sykes considers coach Broadway a professional mentor and has been relying on his counsel during her search process.
FAMU faithful not pleased
As news of the potential hire began to spread across social media, it was met with a "resounding round of boos".
"I hope this isn't true. This could go bad for Larry (President Robinson) real quick, if he lets the AD hire this guy," wrote one alum on Facebook.
"Lawd she (AD Sykes) doesn't know about THE FAMULY....she's gonna be outta of here before the first game in the fall if she messes up the football structure that's been happening here for the last five years," read another comment of Facebook.
Most Rattler fans were underwhelmed and downright mad threatening to withholding their support of FAMU athletics.
Many of the FAMU faithful appear to be solidly behind former Rattler football assistant coach Billy Rolle. Rolle joined the FAMU coaching staff in 2018, when former head coach Willie Simmons arrived, and served as the assistant head coach and defensive backs coach up until his retirement this past summer.
The Miami native made an indelible mark as a high school football head coach in his hometown earning the distinction of being the only coach Florida history to win state championships at three different high schools.
Rolle developed multiple division I and NFL players while coaching in Miami. Teddy Bridgewater, Amari Cooper and Jacory Harris are a few of the standout athletes to excel with the propulsion of his tutelage.
Rolle won a total of four state championships. He led Miami Northwestern to state titles in 1998 and 2007. Miami Killian to its lone state title in 2004, and Miami Southridge to a state championship in 2016.
Hubbard says look in-house
“I’d like to see somebody already on that staff (as next coach). Billy Rolle played for me, and I know he’s a good man and coach. If the program were in shambles, you go outside to get someone to fix it. But when you’re rolling like we are, the guys there have the formula to dominate”, said former FAMU football head coach Rudy Hubbard, the only HBCU coach to win a NCAA National Championship.
I think we should hire from within the RATTLER FAMILY AND NOT NO OUTSIDER HE MAY BE A GOOD COACH BUT HE IS NOT A TRUE HEARTED RATTLER. I HOPE OUR Athletic Director really give this some serious thought before she makes this decision. BLESSINGS ALWAYS TO THE RATTLER NATION 🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍
ReplyDeleteCoach Billy Rolle should be FAMU’s next head football coach.
ReplyDeleteFire Tiffany AND Larry Robinson if this goes down!!!!
DeleteIt’s so disrespectful to just completely ignore the players & alumni.She literally hired who she wanted. Those guys in that locker room is are National Champions they should have HUGE input on who THEIR next Head Coach should be!! There’s not a player in that locker room that would be okay with that. She gonna lost the entire staff a lot of players are gonna hit the portal it’s just stupid to make that hire! If it’s not James Colzie, Billie Rolle, KJ Black it’s irrelevant!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt’s so disrespectful to just completely ignore the players & the alumni who supports the program. How do you expect people to continue to support famu when you ignored them. She literally hired who she wanted. Those guys in that locker room are National Champions they should have HUGE input on who THEIR next Head Coach should be!! There’s not a player in that locker room that would be okay with Gibbs being their head coach. She gonna lose the entire staff, a lot of players are gonna hit the portal, & the culture that Simmons build is gonna be completely ruined. it’s just stupid to make that hire! If it’s not James Colzie, Billie Rolle, KJ Black it’s irrelevant!!!!
ReplyDeleteWake up Larry Robinson, surely you can't be on board with this craziness.??? Well, you will lose me and my support.
ReplyDeleteIs her mentor, Rod Broadway, looking out for what's best for FAMU or for someone who has followed him for 19 years? I don't know this coach and have no reason to not to like him except it is a step back for our program. From what I read, his ties are to the North Carolina area. He has no ties to the South, no ties to Florida and it's recruiting grounds.
ReplyDeleteRattler National will soon see what I have been saying. Robinson and the AD is not a good fit for rattlers. Wake up Ratters They are haters of the Rattler family. No Respect!! ….they are JS
ReplyDeleteYou all will recall that Rod Broadway had hoodwink FAMU before when he had accepted the FAMU HC job and then turned around and stayed at Grambling.
Deletehttps://restorationnewsmedia.com/articles/wilsontimes/gramblings-broadway-could-end-up-at-famu/
This can't be so. Please say it ain't s0
ReplyDeleteGreetings, AD Sykes,
ReplyDeleteAs a FAMU alumnus it has been great to see our Rattler football team return to its winning ways. After many years of alumni supporting or Rattler football team, through the worst of times, coach Simmons' tenure restored our faith and trust in the program.
Most Rattler faithful have felt a little blind sided by the resignation of Coach Simmons. However, we understand he has a career goal, which includes short-term and long-term objectives that he must pursue to achieve his career goal.
Nonetheless, FAMU has been and will always be a very unique institution with its alumni support and expectations.
As an example growing up as a second generation FAMUan it was widely know and taught that the "Jake-Gather Community" FAMU alumni were very instrumental in shaping the University's politics.
In many cases critical decisions were authored and orchestrated from, through, and by that Jake-Gather crew (J-G cerw). If University administrators took their suggestions and acted on those suggestions and it didn't produce positive results, the administrators would have them as an umbrella to protect themselves.
However, if the J-G crew took a stance on a critical issue and communicated said stance to the administrators and the suggestions fell on death ears, things got interesting. No refuge was offered if the things went awry.
Now years latter there's no longer exist a J-G crew that wheels that level of influence. What has supplanted the "Jake-Gather crew" are the many and endearingly faithful FAMU Rattler alumni. These are the faithful who fill the stands and answer the calls for funding special programs related to our athletes.
They buy Champions game packages, pay alumni dues, and craft special giving through their affiliation with their respective FAMU Greek affliations.
FAMU graduates are spread all over the globe. They will always answer the call for supporting FAMU.
It has been said that you are a FAMUAN either by birth, attendance, or direct family affiliation. That perspective still persistent at this institution.
Our university is at a dynamic crossroad with the exit of Coach Simmons. However, at the alumni level, a clear choice has been articulated, Coach Billy Rolle.
Like the J-G crew of old, if the Alumni's perspective and suggestion of Coach Rolle is put in place and it doesn't sustain a level of continuity, it's on the alumni.
Additionally, most Rattler alumni remember the 1979 win against the University of Miami.
After coach Howard Schnellenberger's coaching staff recovered from that shock they closely evaluated the Rattler's roster. What their evaluation revealed was a significant number of Central and South Florida students athletes of the FAMU roster.
Coach Schnellenber and his staff created a strategy to reconstruct their roster with African-American athletes from Central to South Florida. That strategy worked and produced one of the winningest college football programs in history.
Coach Rolle has South Florida recruiting bestowed upon him simply by birth. He is a product of the region, respected statewide, and has proven credentials.
He clearly presents a palatable choice and fits our immediate need for consistency and continuity.
We look forward to and expect the FAMU Rattler football team to continue it's winning traditions. Installing an outside coach with a new system, without the support of the players and alumni, will be interpreted as sabotaging the program's future success.
Lastly, it is sometimes great to take the advice of those we trust as mentors and colleagues. However, they relish in a suggeston that was followed when the results are positive.
But, mentors and colleagues also get to walk away and resume their lives when those same suggestions are implemented and the outcomes are bad.
Best regards,
I totally agree to hire from within and keep the Powerhouse Legacy's going forward 🧡💚🏈🐍🐍🐍
DeleteDon't fix what is not broken! Please keep it in the Famuly! I am FAMU legacy, my parents were Rattlers, as well as my sister, brother and myself. My vote if I had one would be Billy Rolle! I was a Rattler student when we won the 1st National Championship. Don't mess this up!
ReplyDeleteWell it's been my experience that change can be a good thing hiring from within would've been the smart thing to do but that's not the case don't he's more than qualified but he's not a Rattler but if the legacy is in fact in place than all he can do is build on it be optimistic RattlerNation (SCSU BulldogNation)
ReplyDeleteIf Sykes hires Gibbs inspite of all of the opposition he better not fail. He will be judged fairly or un fairly with the success this year. For example if we don't win the Florida Classic the fan base will be outraged. So I hope she understands that she has not made any of the success this season happen. If this hire tears the football program apart. It may mean that we need a new AD.
ReplyDelete