It’s been an active and eventful last 14 months for Florida A&M Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tiffani-Dawn Sykes.

It’s been a period where she’s had to adapt and immerse herself to lead a historic program as a first-time athletic director.

And for that, Sykes is excited about where FAMU Athletics is and where it’s headed.

“Absolutely amazing,” Sykes described her first year at FAMU in an exclusive interview with the Tallahassee Democrat.

“There were several things that I laid out in my 30-60-90-day plan, like learning the words to the alma mater. And I love the fact that at the end of games, I can stand alongside student-athletes and alumni and sing words that I truly believe in for an institution that I represent and have grown to love so much.

“We have celebrated many championships. And our successes in the classroom are largely attributed to Nike and the FAMU Foundation, who’s allowed us to put our student-athletes in a position academically that data hasn’t shown we have been in before.”

When Sykes began her tenure at FAMU on Jan. 4, 2023, she broke a barrier by becoming the institution’s first outright female athletic director.

Additionally, she had one more history-making moment last December when the Rattlers football team won their first Celebration Bowl for the Black College Football National Championship. With FAMU’s victory, Sykes became the first woman athletic director to oversee a Celebration Bowl-winning football program.

Those accomplishments are what Sykes can reflect on and be proud of as March marks Women’s History Month.

“I’m grateful. I could pinch myself,” Sykes, 44, said.

“We have a lot of really successful women within the athletics department that allow FAMU to be in the position that it’s in. It’s empowered me to get up every day and lead from a place that allows me to create experiences for woman student-athletes, coaches, and administrators.”

FAMU Athletics maneuvering the impacts of winning championships

In 2021, FAMU made a move to leave nearly four decades of history with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to join the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Nearly three years later, FAMU has established SWAC dominance by collecting seven league titles across six sports: volleyball (2), tennis, baseball, women’s cross country, football, and women’s track and field.

During Sykes’ stint at FAMU, Rattlers sports earned five conference championships, the most recent being women’s track and field in the SWAC Indoor Championships. Those five SWAC titles have been claimed in the last calendar year.

“For us to come in and establish dominance early in our tenure within the conference is very exciting for FAMU,” Sykes said. “Our college athletes and our coaches are competitive by nature. That’s why we’re in this business.”

Winning comes at a cost.

Last December, Sykes reported that FAMU Athletics was operating in an $817,000 budgetary deficit. Sykes said a part of the deficit is due to FAMU’s recent success, which increases operating funds because of extended seasons.

With the assistance of FAMU President Dr. Larry Robinson, FAMU Finance and Administration, and University Advancement, Sykes devised a five-step action plan to address the budgetary shortfall.

• Focus efforts to realize and book earned revenues.

• Have met obligations to pay NCAA penalties of $75K through the Athletics foundation account.

• Ensuring expense control through the end of the fiscal year and maintain this approach to live within our budget in future years.

• Efforts with University Advancement have identified $900K in funds that can be used to buy down athletics scholarships expenses to help cover athletics operating expenses.

• In the process of implementing the Board of Governor-allowed out-of-state student-athlete fee waivers. This process is expected to realize at least an additional $660K and can anticipated scholarship expenses.

Sykes has also implemented fundraising campaigns and is hopeful that FAMU Athletics will end with a balanced or small budgetary surplus by the fiscal year’s end on June 30, 2024.

FAMU launched a 50/50 raffle, allowing fans to support the Rattler Athletic Fund. By purchasing a raffle ticket, fans directly support a local or national non-profit while entering to win a lump-sum cash prize.

The program also introduced Rattlers Plus, a mobile application for FAMU fans to stream home games behind a paywall.

Recently, FAMU sold championship fan rings and pendants to commemorate the Rattlers’ 2023 SWAC and Celebration Bowl title wins. The money raised helps offset paying for the FAMU football team’s championship rings.

The team will receive two rings for winning the SWAC and claiming the Celebration Bowl. The Rattlers’ ring ceremony is scheduled for April 12.

“We are always looking for creative ways to raise funds,” Sykes said of her efforts to increase revenue streams for FAMU Athletics.

“It’s important to recognize that for the past three years, athletics was the benefit of CARES Act funding to the tune of over $2 million annually that’s no longer there. I have worked with internal and external constituents and tried to meet with as many donors as possible.

“We can’t do it without the help of our supporters. We need them to buy season tickets, purchase their Investing in Champions Packages, and commit monthly donations to ensure our athletes have a great experience.”

FAMU athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes managing program's implementations

Ahead of the 2022 FAMU football season opener, the Rattlers faced an eligibility and compliance incident that sidelined 26 players.

FAMU, which had an athletic director vacancy at the time, turned to Sykes to lead its athletic program. Sykes was hired away from Ivy League school Dartmouth, where she served as the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Varsity Sports and Senior Woman Administrator.

The Portsmouth, Virginia native Sykes was billed as a compliance expert with years of experience and a National Association for Athletics Compliance membership.

The FAMU Athletics executive team comprises five people, including Executive Assistant Marquel Broussard, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, and Senior Woman Administrator Brittney Johnson. Both Broussard and Johnson have years of compliance experience.

Sykes says that FAMU’s latest NCAA Academic Progress Rate submission indicates more teams with a perfect single-year score than ever reported. She added that FAMU football has recorded its highest single-year APR score in program history.

The NCAA will release APR data later this spring.

FAMU operates 15 sports (nine women and six men).

“There’s no secret that FAMU garnered national attention due to some eligibility issues,” Sykes said.

“Brittney Johnson has carried a heavy load in organizing the compliance department to keep us out of the news for that and ensure that student-athletes can worry about winning ball games and not if things are done as it relates to their eligibility and paperwork.”

Looking ahead, Sykes is looking to revive the historic FAMU Relays, which is a collegiate showcase track meet held on FAMU’s campus. The FAMU Relays haven’t happened since the 68th annual meet in 2021.

Sykes says preliminary discussions have begun to return FAMU Relays to Pete Griffin Track in 2025.

“As soon as I got in this role, conversations began about having FAMU Relays,” Sykes said.

“Being an HBCU fan, I’ve heard about FAMU Relays for years. I associate the FAMU experience with FAMU Relays because we have a historically and currently successful track and field program. When you think about people like Pete Griffin and Bob Hayes, it’s only fitting to acknowledge and commemorate what they added.”

FAMU athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes shares biggest lessons learned

When Sykes got the nod to lead FAMU’s athletic program, she called the opportunity a “dream realized.”

One must have thick skin when the face of a program. Additionally, leaders must realize that others won’t always agree with their decisions.

Last January, Sykes was under public scrutiny by FAMU fans and stakeholders due to her handling of the Rattlers’ head football coach hiring process.

Sykes had planned to recommend Fort Valley head football coach Shawn Gibbs to replace former FAMU coach Willie Simmons, who left on Jan. 1 to become Duke’s running backs coach. The process led to social media outcry for FAMU stakeholder inclusion and votes of ‘no confidence’ in Sykes’ leadership, and her endorsed football coach candidate Gibbs.

“I know that I come in every day and make decisions for the future of our athletes first and coaches second,” Sykes explained.

“But I learned that you can’t always please everybody. While everyone may not understand or like my decisions, I sleep well at night knowing that the student-athletes have been the center of all the decisions that I’ve made.

“And I’ve got to be good with whether people like it or not.”

FAMU football players and fans advocated for an internal hire in hopes of retaining the remaining coaching staff and roster from the 2023 SWAC and Celebration Bowl championship team.

On Jan. 27, Sykes named James Colzie III as FAMU’s 19th full-time head football coach with the help of an appointed search committee and Renaissance Search and Consulting. Colzie, former the team's assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach, signed a three-year contract worth $720,000 to lead the Rattlers football program.

Colzie was Sykes’ third coaching hire as FAMU’s athletic director. Last July, she hired Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Bridgette Gordon to lead FAMU women’s basketball. In August, Sykes tapped Capri Howard, a former bowler for the SWAC’s Jackson State, to oversee FAMU bowling.

“I would use the words 'passionate’ and ‘supportive’ to describe the Rattler fan base,” Sykes said. “Many of them are supportive of me in my role, our student-athletes, and coaches, whether financially through the Rattler Athletic Fund or an encouraging word via Twitter or an email.

“Our fans show up and show out. And I appreciate their passion to support FAMU Athletics.”

FAMU athletic director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes hopes for continued connection with Rattler Nation

The two-time HBCU graduate of Virginia State and Grambling State Sykes has landed an opportunity of a lifetime.

Despite having two decades of experience in sports administration, Sykes is always open to polishing up her knowledge to strengthen herself as an athletic director.

She says her most important lesson at FAMU has been to pace herself.

“I’ve learned that it’s better to go slow than to try to go fast and not have anyone come along with you,” Sykes said after taking a moment to reflect. “Our supporters feel the need to be included in many processes.”

Sykes looks forward to continued growth in building FAMU as one of the top athletic programs in college sports.

She’s coined her leadership philosophy as positioning every FAMU athlete with a degree in one hand and a championship ring on the other.

As Sykes’ second calendar year as FAMU’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics is underway, she has one message for Rattler Nation.

“Keep showing up,” Sykes said to all who love FAMU.

“We did very well with fans turning out for our football games. Basketball fans have steadily turned out in larger numbers further into the season. And even when we travel, our student-athletes love that we can be on the road and see the sea of Orange and Green.

“Keep showing up no matter where we are.”

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.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Athletics: VP/AD Sykes Sykes looks back on 1st year leading Rattlers