Florida A&M University head coach Willie Simmons is going out on top. The Rattlers coach announced his departure from the HBCU program and resigned on Monday to become the running backs coach for Duke University. The move feels like an extension of the Coach Prime effect, where HBCU coaches, with success, find a home in a more extensive program at a predominantly white higher education institution.
“Thank you’ doesn’t seem fitting to express my sincere gratitude to the coaching and support staff (former and current) that I’ve been blessed to work with during my time here,” Simmons wrote in a lengthy post on X. “My deepest gratitude is to the young men I’ve been blessed to lead… These young men are our future leaders, and I am proud of the great professionals, husbands, fathers and community advocates they are destined to become.”
Deion Sanders had crusaded at Jackson State University for more visibility for Black coaches and a fair chance across the university athletic spectrum. This move to Duke, although not to a head coaching spot, did provide a higher salary, but there were other factors in the decision.
Exiting FAMU
It was reported that FAMU’s leadership worked diligently behind the scenes for days to match the $100,000 increase to his salary and meet current and past contractual incentive bonuses to Simmons, his assistant coaches, and the infrastructure of the football program.
However, Simmons kept it moving, and with the accolades he brought to FAMU recently, he is taking his talents to the North Carolina Power Five school. Simmons spent seven seasons at FAMU, and in 2021, Simmons turned down an offer from South Carolina to become its running backs coach.
Recently, he led the Rattlers to a 12-1 overall record this season, clinching the program’s first SWAC Championship and first Celebration Bowl victory. Simmons was also named regional coach of the year last month by the American Football Coaches Association, the second year he received the honor.
The Price of Success
During the 2022-23 season, FAMU Football had a Single Year APR score of 950. They also had no ineligible football players during the 2023 football season. Over 30 graduates played on the 2023 team, with six football players graduating in December ’23. Over 20 football players graduated in the last calendar year with no pending postseason ban.
“2023 was one of the best years in the history of FAMU, and our athletic program, with football leading the way, contributing to an outstanding year of accomplishments,” Florida A&M President Larry Robinson wrote in a statement. “We wish Coach Simmons and his family well as they move on.”
As HBCUs continue to develop and build their resources for the always lucrative football program, they are losing coaching talent and quickly becoming a platform to vie for more considerable opportunities at the Power Five level.